Aloes - (Heb. 'ahalim), a fragrant wood (Num. 24:6; Ps. 45:8; Prov.
7:17; Cant. 4:14), the Aquilaria agallochum of botanists, or, as
some suppose, the costly gum or perfume extracted from the wood.
It is found in China, Siam, and Northern India, and grows to the
height sometimes of 120 feet. This species is of great rarity
even in India. There is another and more common species, called
by Indians aghil, whence Europeans have given it the name of
Lignum aquile, or eagle-wood. Aloewood was used by the Egyptians
for embalming dead bodies.
Nicodemus[?] brought it (pounded
aloe-wood) to embalm the body of
Christ (John 19:39); but
whether this was the same as that mentioned elsewhere is
uncertain.
The bitter aloes of the apothecary is the dried juice of the
leaves Aloe vulgaris.
From Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
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