Definition

abstractly, a seasoning (with spicery); concretely, an unguentkettle (for preparing spiced oil)

Etymology

feminine of H4840 (מֶרְקָח);

Where the KJV renders it

• pot of ointment
• well

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.