Hebrew word · H7545
רֹ֫קֵחַ
rokach
spice
Roqach: an aromatic preparation, a perfume or spiced compound. Mirqachat: a blended aromatic mixture. Both come from the root r-q-ch, to mix or compound aromatics.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
spice-mixture, perfume, ointment
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
Roqach: an aromatic preparation, a perfume or spiced compound. Mirqachat: a blended aromatic mixture. Both come from the root r-q-ch, to mix or compound aromatics.
- Against the English
BSB and NIV flatten the pair into "a fragrant blend." WEB has "a perfume compounded," NASB "a perfume mixture," KJV "an ointment compound," and YLT "a compound mixture." Only some of these hint that the Hebrew is piling up one root.
- How it drifted
"Perfume" now suggests a thin alcohol-based scent worn for personal appeal. Here it is a thick scented oil, and in this case it is reserved for sacred use. Alcohol-based perfumery came much later.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Exodus 30:35 uses the same wording for the sanctuary incense ("a perfume, the work of a perfumer"). Mirqachat occurs elsewhere for the priests' spice mixture (1 Chronicles 9:30) and for King Asa's burial spices (2 Chronicles 16:14). The root appears in Ugaritic, and Akkadian perfumers' vocabulary looks closely related.
Where it appears
Exodus · 2
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Exodus 30:25 רֹ֥קַח perfume of
Prepare from these a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer; it will be a sacred anointing oil.
Here: The first of three words in a row from the same root, meaning a prepared aromatic. This tells the hearer the oil is a compounded fragrance and not plain oil.
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Exodus 30:35 רֹ֖קַח perfume
and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.