Bible Dictionary
Stacte
Stacte was a fragrant liquid or gum that formed one ingredient of the holy incense. It may have been drops of myrrh or another aromatic resin.
Definition
Stacte was an odorous distillation or fragrant gum collected in drops from a plant. It may have been myrrh in drops, gum from the storax shrub, or another similarly collected aromatic gum; its exact identity is uncertain.
Biblical Usage
Stacte was one ingredient of the holy incense offered on the golden altar. It occurs in the supplied biblical material in connection with the composition of that sacred perfume.
Historical Background
The Hebrew term comes from a root meaning “to distil,” and the Greek name refers to material oozing out in drops. The gum of storax was valued medicinally and in perfumery, but the precise identification remains uncertain.
Scripture References
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(Heb. nataph), one of the components of the perfume which was offered on the golden altar (Ex. 30:34; R.V. marg., “opobalsamum”). The Hebrew word is from a root meaning “to distil,” and it has been by some interpreted as distilled myrrh. Others regard it as the gum of the storax tree, or rather shrub, the Styrax officinale. “The Syrians value this gum highly, and use it medicinally as an emulcent in pectoral complaints, and also in perfumery.”
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(Heb. nataf) the name of one of the sweet spices which composed the holy incense. See (Exodus 30:34)—the only passage of Scripture in which the word occurs. Some identify the nataf with the gum of the storer tree (Styraz officinale), but all that is positively known is that it signifies an odorous distillation from some plant.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>stak'-te (nataph, "drops" (Job 36:27); stakte, meaning "oozing out in drops"): One of the ingredients of the holy ointment (Ex 30:34; Ecclesiasticus 24:15, margin "opobalsamum," the King James Version "storax"). The marginal reading is a concession to Jewish tradition, but see SPICE, (1). Dioscorides describes two kinds of stacte, one of pure myrrh and one of storax and a fat mixed. See MYRRH. This nataph must have been either myrrh "in drops," as it is collected, or some other fragrant gum, similarly collected, such, for example, as gum tragacanth.</p>