Why did one of the three kings give Jesus MYRRH?
I’ve got homework on this and I have no idea….
Each item is symbolic:
Gold symbolizes royalty, that Jesus was to be called the King of Kings.
Frankincense was a kind of incense that was burned during holy religious ceremonies. It symbolizes the religious importance and holy nature of Jesus.
Myrrh was used to embalm the dead, and it symbolizes the fact that Jesus would die for the sins of the people.
December 16th, 2009 at 11:33 am
i dont know but my guess would be it was valuable!
References :
December 16th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Each item is symbolic:
Gold symbolizes royalty, that Jesus was to be called the King of Kings.
Frankincense was a kind of incense that was burned during holy religious ceremonies. It symbolizes the religious importance and holy nature of Jesus.
Myrrh was used to embalm the dead, and it symbolizes the fact that Jesus would die for the sins of the people.
References :
December 16th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
This is purely speculation on my part but, since no one who wrote of it had first hand knowledge of the event perhaps it was symbolic of the times in that;
Gold symbolized the wealth of the Roman Empire and it’s domination of the Jews. The Empire was at it’s peak and having no source of their own, were running out of Gold, earlier plundered from conquered peoples, and were in the beginning of a decline.
Myrrh is a gum resin from certain trees, which can be found in Africa and Arabia which was the areas soon to rise and replace the Roman Empire’s influence.
Frankincense is also a gum resin similar to myrrh from the tree Boswellia Thurifera found in the Middle East and Somalia which was the cradle of the earliest civilizations beginning around 3500 BC, in Mesopotamia (Iraq).
In this manner the gifts may have symbolized the importance of the event to the past, present and future of their time. Just a thought.
This is not to deny all three had commercial value, Gold as currency but also in jewelry, Frankincense was used in incense for religious and government ceremonies and to a lesser degree in perfumes. Myrrh was used in perfumes and incense, but was also used as an embalming ointment and as a medicine for sores and wounds. Today myrrh is used in mouthwashes, toothpaste and make-up.
References :