HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H5373
נֵרְדְּ
ne.red — nard
1) spikenard, nard 1a) an odoriferous aromatic plant from India
3 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY
Spikenard
Original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek connected to this term
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
Historical dictionary entry
(Heb. nerd), a much-valued perfume (Cant. 1:12; 4:13, 14). It was “very precious”, i.e., very costly (Mark 14:3; John 12:3, 5). It is the root of an Indian plant, the Nardostachys jatamansi, of the family of Valeriance, growing on the Himalaya mountains. It is distinguished by its having many hairy spikes shooting out from one root. It is called by the Arabs sunbul Hindi, “the Indian spike.” In the New Testament this word is the rendering of the Greek nardos pistike. The margin of the Revised Version in these passages has “pistic nard,” pistic being perhaps a local name. Some take it to mean genuine, and others liquid. The most probable opinion is that the word pistike designates the nard as genuine or faithfully prepared.
Scripture references
Song of Solomon 1:12Song of Solomon 4:13Song of Solomon 4:14Mark 14:3John 12:3John 12:5Mark 14:3-5Matthew 20:2
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.