Hebrew word · H7543

רָקַח

rokeach

to mix

A participle of the verb "to mix aromatics" used as a noun: one who compounds fragrances. A perfumer, as a recognised skilled trade.

Appears 8 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) to mix, compound

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to mix, compound

1a2) compounder, mixer, perfumer (participle) (subst)

1b) (Pual) mixed (participle)

1c) (Hiphil) to mix

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Exodus 30:25

Range of meaning

A participle of the verb "to mix aromatics" used as a noun: one who compounds fragrances. A perfumer, as a recognised skilled trade.

Against the English

BSB, WEB, NIV, NASB and ESV say "perfumer." KJV says "apothecary," which in 1611 could cover a dealer in spices and drugs but now suggests a pharmacist. NLT says "incense maker," which is a reasonable craft but blurs oil with the incense of verses 34-38. YLT's "compounder" keeps the root visible.

How it drifted

"Apothecary" narrowed over time toward medicine. The English word did not change what the Hebrew says, but today it gives KJV readers the wrong picture of a medical remedy.

Used elsewhere in the period

Perfumers appear as a guild or trade in Nehemiah 3:8 and as women's work in the royal household in 1 Samuel 8:13 (a related form). Ecclesiastes 10:1 mentions a perfumer's oil spoiled by dead flies. Sirach 38:8 and 49:1 know the perfumer's craft, and the latter has a phrase matching "work of a perfumer." Middle Assyrian tablets from Ashur preserve perfume recipes, one naming a woman perfumer, Tappūtī.

Where it appears

Exodus · 4

  1. Exodus 30:25 רֹקֵ֑חַ a perfumer

    Prepare from these a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer; it will be a sacred anointing oil.

    Here: Literally "one who blends," a known trade in Israel and its neighbours. The third word from the same root closes the description by naming the craftsman the whole process belongs to.

  2. Exodus 30:33 יִרְקַ֣ח he will mix

    Anyone who mixes perfume like it or puts it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’”

  3. Exodus 30:35 רוֹקֵ֑חַ a perfumer

    and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.

  4. Exodus 37:29 רֹקֵֽחַ׃ פ a perfumer

    He also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 9:30 רֹקְחֵ֥י [were those who] mixed

    And some of the sons of the priests mixed the spices.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 16:14 מְרֻקָּחִ֖ים mixed

    And he was buried in the tomb that he had cut out for himself in the City of David. They laid him on a bier that was full of spices and various blended perfumes; then they made a great fire in his honor.

    Here: "Blended." The verb is the technical word for compounding perfumes and incense. The same root names the perfumer (roqeach) who made the holy anointing oil in Exodus 30.

Ecclesiastes · 1

  1. Ecclesiastes 10:1 רוֹקֵ֑חַ a perfumer

    As dead flies bring a stench to the perfumer’s oil, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 24:10 וְהַרְקַח֙ and mix

    Pile on the logs and kindle the fire; cook the meat well and mix in the spices; let the bones be burned.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.