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BDELLIUM*
Substance mentioned twice in the OT, evidently the resinous gum of an Arabian shrub (known scientifically as Commiphora africana). The same genus of Middle Eastern plants includes the shrub from which myrrh is derived and possibly the one from which the biblical “balm” was obtained.
Apart from the Bible, bdellium was described by an English herbalist as an aromatic gum from a tree known in Persia and eastward. In the first century AD the Roman writer Pliny mentioned the same tree and described the gum as waxlike and looking like pearl.
The manna gathered by the Israelites is described in the Bible as having the same color as bdellium (Nm 11:7). Bdellium is also mentioned along with the gold and onyx stone found near the Garden of Eden (Gn 2:12). Because it was included in that list, bdellium was once thought to be pearl or a precious stone.
See also Plants.