Storax

STORAX. Jacob sent a Present of Storax to the Governor of Egypt, whom he did not yet know to be his Son Joseph.¹ The Hebrew reads Nechoth, which the Septuagint render by Perfume. St. Jerom has follow’d Aquila, who translates it by Storax. Storax is a Plant, which in Magnitude and Form is somewhat like a Quince-tree. It yields a Liquor also call’d Storax. Its Blossom is white, and its Fruit hangs by long Stalks, cover’d with a thin Skin, round and sharp at the Bottom, of the Bigness of a large Nut, wherein there are little Kernels, from whence the Grain is taken. The Storax is a fat thick Liquor, like Balm, and which has a disagreeable Smell. Some do not distinguish Storax from Stacte, which has been spoke of already. It is not at all certain, that the Hebrew word Nechoth signifies Storax. Saint Jerom in Gen. xxxvii. 24. 2 Kings xx. 13. and Isai. xxix. 2. renders it by Aromata; and in Gen xliii. 11. by Storax. The Seventy have always us’d Aromata. Others think it to be Wax, Rosin, Stacte, Balm, or something in general that is very valuable.

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