Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:
(thorough-fume). Perfumes largely used by Hebrews in religious rites and for toilet purposes (Ex. 30:35; Prov. 27:9).
Concise Bible Dictionary:
A special perfume was made to burn as incense in the tabernacle. It was compounded of stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense, an equal weight of each: it was most holy. No one was allowed to compound the same for themselves, or they would be cut off from God’s people. It was typical of the excellencies of Christ which were as sweet incense to God (Ex. 30:34, 38). Perfumes are supposed to be more needful in hot countries (Song of Sol. 3:6). In Proverbs 27:9 it is said, “Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart”; but it may also be employed as a mere matter of luxury or of sin when the heart is away from God (Prov. 7:17; Isa. 57:9).
From Manners and Customs of the Bible:
Psalm 45:8. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia.
In many parts of the East the people are excessively fond of perfuming their garments, sometimes making the fragrance so strong that Europeans can scarcely endure it. They sprinkle their clothing with sweet scented oils extracted from spices or sandal wood, and with a great variety of strongly perfumed waters. They fumigate them with powerful incense or by burning scented woods. They make use of camphor, civet wood, sandal wood, aloes, and even sometimes sew chips of perfumed wood into the garments. Reference is made to this custom in Song of Solomon 4:11: “The smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon”; and possibly in Hosea 14:6. Most commentators suppose an allusion to this custom to be made also in Genesis 27:27, where Isaac kissed Jacob, and it is said, “he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord Hath blessed.” This, however, is disputed by some. Kurtz refers to Tuch’s view of the passage, and agrees with his interpretation. “We must, therefore, agree with Tuch, that an aromatic smell of the herbs, flowers, and other produce of the field, must have been felt off the garments of Esau, who was a man of the field; a supposition this which involves no difficulty, considering that the country was so rich in aromatic and smelling herbs” (History of the Old Covenant, vol.1, p. 298).
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