Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Bdellium"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Bdellium
occurs only in Gen. 2:12, where it designates a product of the
land of Havilah; and in Num. 11:7, where the manna is likened to
it in colour. It was probably an aromatic gum like balsam which
exuded from a particular tree (Borassus flabelliformis) still
found in Arabia, Media, and India. It bears a resemblance in
colour to myrrh. Others think the word denotes "pearls," or some
precious stone.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Bdellium \Bdel"lium\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?; cf. Heb. b'dolakh
bdellium (in sense 1).]
1. An unidentified substance mentioned in the Bible (--Gen.
ii. 12, and --Num. xi. 7), variously taken to be a gum, a
precious stone, or pearls, or perhaps a kind of amber
found in Arabia.
2. A gum resin of reddish brown color, brought from India,
Persia, and Africa.
Note: Indian bdellium or false myrrh is an exudation from
Balsamodendron Roxb?rghii. Other kinds are known as
African, Sicilian, etc.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
bdellium
n : aromatic gum resin; similar to myrrh
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