“‘Like cassia,
Like camel’s thorn,
I gave forth perfume.
I spread my fragrance,
Like choice myrrh,
Like galbanum,
Like onycha,
Like stacte,
Like the odor of incense in the tabernacle.
Like a terebinth,
I spread out my branches.
My branches are glorious.
My branches are graceful.
Like the vine
I bud forth delights.
My blossoms become glorious fruit.
My blossoms become abundant fruit.”
Sirach continued with his personification of wisdom. Here wisdom compares herself to various fragrances and fruit trees. First, she uses the fragrances of cassia, a kind of cinnamon bark, and camel’s thorn, a sweet coffee smell. Then there are fragrances that came from the gum resins of trees that became the incense used in the Temple, myrrh, galbanum, onycha, and stacte. Thus wisdom smelt like the incense used in the Jerusalem Temple tabernacle. Just as the terebinth tree spread its branches, so too, wisdom seemed to have wide branches. She was also like vines and blossoms on a fruit tree. Wisdom was then beautiful to look at and wonderful to smell.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 