בְּדֹ֫לַח

From the study of Genesis 2:12

Range of meaning

Occurs only twice in the Hebrew Bible: here, and Numbers 11:7, where manna's 'appearance was like the appearance of bedolach'. In both places it is something precious and recognisable by its look. Lexicons (BDB, HALOT) generally take it as the aromatic gum resin known in Greek as bdellion, from trees of the genus Commiphora, which also produce myrrh.

Against the English

KJV, ESV, BSB and WEB carry over the Greek-derived word 'bdellium', which most modern readers do not know. NIV and NLT translate the meaning as 'aromatic resin'. YLT simply transliterates 'bdolach'.

How it drifted

Very few people know the English word 'bdellium', so readers often assume it is a gemstone because it stands next to 'onyx'. Ancient interpreters split on the same question.

Used elsewhere in the period

Pliny the Elder (Natural History 12.35–36) describes bdellium as a translucent, waxy, sweet-smelling gum from Bactria, Arabia and India. That fits a substance from Havilah if Havilah is in Arabia, and it fits manna looking 'like bdellium' (pale, glistening drops). The LXX did not read it as resin: here it has ἄνθραξ (anthrax, a red gem, 'carbuncle'), and in Numbers 11:7 κρύσταλλος ('crystal'). Some later Jewish interpreters took it as crystal or pearl. The Vulgate keeps bdellium.

From the study of Numbers 11:7

Range of meaning

A precious substance that occurs only twice in the Hebrew Bible: Genesis 2:12, where Havilah has good gold, bedolach and onyx stone, and here. Most lexicons (BDB, HALOT) identify it with Greek bdellion, an aromatic gum resin from trees of the Commiphora family (relatives of myrrh). These trees grow in Arabia, northwest India and East Africa. The resin forms small, pale, semi-transparent drops that look like wax. Akkadian (the language of ancient Mesopotamia) has a similar-sounding word, budulḫu, for an aromatic substance, which points to a traded luxury product. Some ancient Jewish and Greek readers understood it as a gem, a pearl or crystal instead.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, ESV and NASB keep the old loanword 'bdellium', which is accurate but means nothing to most readers. BSB ('gum resin') and NIV ('resin') state the likely identification, but a modern reader may picture sticky dark tree sap, which misses both the gleaming pale look and the value. NLT turns the comparison into a colour (pale yellow).

How it drifted

Nothing drifted in the sense of a changed meaning. The substance simply dropped out of everyday experience, so the comparison no longer tells readers anything. 'Resin' keeps the identification but loses the sense of luxury.

Used elsewhere in the period

Pliny the Elder (Natural History 12.35–36) describes bdellium as translucent, waxy, fragrant and costly, and names Bactria and Arabia as sources. Josephus (Antiquities 3.1.6 §28) says manna was 'like in its body to bdellium, one of the sweet spices', so a first-century Jew understood it as the aromatic resin. In Genesis 2:12 the later Greek translators Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion write bdellion. The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation) has anthrax, a red gem, in Genesis and krystallos, 'crystal', here. Rashi, the medieval Jewish commentator, also glosses it as a precious stone, 'crystal'. The Vulgate (the ancient Latin translation) writes bdellium.