Bible Dictionary
Cassia
Cassia was an aromatic bark used in the holy anointing oil, traded as a spice, and used to perfume garments.
Definition
Cassia was a fragrant aromatic bark, probably from a species of Cinnamomum closely related to cinnamon. Two biblical terms refer to cassia or strips of its bark, and the substance was used as spice and perfume.
Biblical Usage
Cassia was an ingredient of the holy anointing oil and an article traded with Tyre. It was also used with myrrh and aloes to scent garments.
Historical Background
The cassia of Scripture was probably imported from eastern Asia and used in powdered or bark form. It must be distinguished from the unrelated plants that produce senna.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(1.) Hebrew kiddah’, i.e., “split.” One of the principal spices of the holy anointing oil (Ex. 30:24), and an article of commerce (Ezek. 27:19). It is the inner bark of a tree resembling the cinnamon (q.v.), the Cinnamomum cassia of botanists, and was probably imported from India. (2.) Hebrew pl. ketzi’oth (Ps. 45:8). Mentioned in connection with myrrh and aloes as being used to scent garments. It was probably prepared from the peeled bark, as the Hebrew word suggests, of some kind of cinnamon.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(Exodus 30:24; Ezekiel 27:19) The cassia bark of commerce is yielded by various kinds of Cinnamomum, which grow in different parts of India. The Hebrew word in (Psalms 45:8) is generally supposed to be another term for cassia.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>kash'-a: Two Hebrew words,</p><p>(1) qiddah, which is mentioned, along with myrrh, cinnamon, calamus and olive oil, as one of the ingredients of the "holy anointing oil" (Ex 30:24); it was, too, one of the wares in which Vedan and Javan traded with Tyre (Eze 27:19); it is identified in the Peshitta and the Targum with (2).</p><p>(2) qetsi`oth (plural only, probably referring to the strips of bark), a word from which is derived the Greek kasia, and hence, cassia (Ps 45:8).</p><p>It is probable that both (1) and (2) refer to Cassia lignea, the inner bark of Cinnamomum cassia, a plant growing in eastern Asia closely allied to that which yields the cinnamon of commerce. It is a fragrant, aromatic bark and was probably used in a powdered form. Both as an ingredient in unguents and as one of the perfumes at funerals, cassia, like cinnamon, was much used by the Romans. The cassia of Scripture must be clearly distinguished from the entirely distinct Cassia lanceolata and C. obovata which yield the familiar senna. The proper name KEZIAH (which see) is the singular form of ketsi`oth.</p><p>E. W. G. Masterman</p>