"Is there no balm in Gilead?"
Jeremiah 8:22 kjv
- Name of God the Father
- Gilead's "balm" is referred to three times in the KJV
- The place known as Gilead is a mountainous region in present-day Jordan. The balm that bore its name, a healing compound produced from the Commiphora gileadensis tree, was famous across the Middle East in biblical times.
- In Jeremiah 8:22, the prophet was bewailing an idol-worshipping Judah around the time of the Babylonian occupation. If they did not change their ways, he warned, their punishment would be such that they would use up all earthly balms and cry for more. Eventually they would have to turn to God. His healing would be the very real equivalent of the famous balm of Gilead.
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As well as being the name of the region, gilead also meant a hill or mound where one stood to give a testimony.
- The balm of the Commiphora tree may have been soothing, but anyone who has ever stood on their own personal "gilead" and proclaimed their love of the Lord to the world will know that produces a comfort and healing far more profound than any herbal medicine.
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