Cassia is one of the aromatic plants mentioned in the Bible. Some claim that when talking about cassia, it refers to its essential oil. However, the different verses in the bible did not exactly state cassia oil but only mentioned the word cassia. Hence it seems that it’s more appropriate to conclude that what is referred in the verses in the Bible is the plant itself.
Cassia was used to make anointing oils
1. Holy anointing oil
In Exodus, we could read that cassia was added to three principal spices and olive oil. The verse did not say cassia oil, but the word oil was mentioned beside the word olive. It’s explained that the primary spices, cassia, and olive oil shall be concocted to become a holy anointing oil. This seems to suggest that the apothecaries will make a cassia-infused oil with the primary spices and use olive oil as the base oil. It seemed rational to think that cassia is not yet in its oil form here but will be processed to become an oil by making an infused oil.
“Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,
And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and oil olive in:
And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be a holy anointing oil.” – Exodus 30:23-25
2. Oil of gladness
The ingredients used for holy anointing oil are myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, olive oil, and cassia (Exodus 30:23-25). Consistently in the book of Psalms, the aromatic plants mentioned for oils of gladness are cassia and myrrh, and aloes. We could read that the garment of a person anointed smells like myrrh and cassia.
Both the holy anointing oil mentioned in Exodus and the oil of gladness in Psalms used cassia, and both were used for anointing. For these reasons, we can conclude that cassia plant must be valuable as it was used for anointing rituals in the Bible.
“To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves. My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee forever.
Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter.
Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.” – Psalms 45:1-2,6-8
We can’t accurately conclude the exact scent of the cassia used in the Bible, since we can’t precisely identify the kind of cassia used for the annointing oils in the Bible. But the writings of Pedianos Dioscorides, or Pedanius Dioscorides, (40CE-90CE) a Cilician Greek military army who lived in Turkey gives us a glimpse of the varieties of cassia that were used in the ancient times. Hence, this might somehow help us to understand about the kind of cassia commonly used in those times. According to Dioscorides there are different varieties of Cassia and he described two kinds of aromatic cassia.
Dioscorides identified the aromatic reddish-yellow cassia to smell like wine and it’s like an astringent with considerable heat. Another variety is the ‘gizir’ or the black kind which he described to smell like a rose and is flexible as it is suitable for bodily use.
Cassia as a trading product
A verse in the book of Ezekiel said that cassia can be found in Tyre markets. It was being traded to different people coming from different places. In the book of Dioscorides, we can also discover that Cassia was not only sold in Tyre but also being sold in shops that sell aromatic things. Dioscorides stated that it was abundant in Arabia.
“Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.
Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.
Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots.
Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams and goats: in these were they thy merchants.” – Ezekiel 27:18-21
More varieties of cassia
Cassia is considered an aromatic plant, and each of its kind has its own scent description and corresponding therapeutic effect. We can’t be certain as to what kind of cassia was being referred to in the Bible, hence it is best to present the other kinds of cassia as well in this post. The two kinds of cassia with pleasant smells are already described above, hence this section lists the other cassia varieties with different kind of smell.
Dioscorides mentioned bastard cassia, which according to him has a taste that is neither sharp nor aromatic. He also said that it’s hard to describe its scent but its unique description will enable you to identify it. Meanwhile, the pale white variety of cassia is warming and has a goat-like smell as described by Dioscorides. Other kinds of cassia that are mentioned by Dioscorides include mosyleticus blasts, aphysemon, Kitto, and car
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References:
- TA Osbaldeston, RPA Wood., The Herbal of Dioscorides the Greek (Modern English Version) 2000
- King James Bible Version
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