Cinnamon: Heb. kinamon, the Cinnamomum zeylanicum of botanists, a tree of the
Laurel family, which grows only in India on the Malabar coast, in
Ceylon, and China. There is no trace of it in Egypt, and it was
unknown in Syria. The inner rind when dried and rolled into cylinders
forms the cinnamon of commerce. The fruit and coarser pieces of bark
when boiled yield a fragrant oil. It was one of the principal
ingredients in the holy anointing oil
(Exodus 30:23) It is mentioned
elsewhere only in
(Proverbs 7:17; The Song of Solomon 4:14; Revelation 18:13) The mention of it
indicates a very early and extensive commerce carried on between
Palestine and the East.
