Genesis 43:11

Take of the best fruits— Of the most rare and excellent productions of the land of Canaan; in the Hebrew, of the praise of the land. The authors of the Universal History observe, that "it is to be feared the generality of our expositors have not been very happy in their translation of some of the presents which Jacob sent into AEgypt; which has induced some learned critics, of a later date, to endeavour to give us a more rational account of them." Such were the honey, nuts, and almonds, which could be no great rarities in AEgypt; nor indeed any of the others, except the balm, which was that of Gilead, and of great price all the world over, a small quantity of which was a present worth accepting; but as for resin and wax, as many of our interpreters have rendered it, they could not be worth sending.

Bochart, indeed, in the place above quoted, thinks that it was either resin or turpentine, rather than balm of Gilead; because Gilead was on one side Jordan, and Jacob was then at some small distance from it on the other: but that does not prove that there was none to be bought there, or to be sent for upon such an occasion. He adds, indeed, that Josephus affirms balm to have been unknown in Judea till the queen of Sheba brought some of it to Solomon from Arabia Felix; but Josephus may be mistaken. Besides, how came Gilead to be so famous for it afterwards? The queen hardly brought the trees thither; and if Solomon had sent for them afterwards, he would have planted them, in all likelihood, nearer to him; but whatever it was, it is plain that resin and turpentine could not be a present worth Joseph's acceptance. The next is honey, which was indeed very much admired by the ancients, as well Jews as Gentiles, for a delicious food; but, unless that of Canaan was better than ordinary, it was scarcely worth sending to an AEgyptian prime minister, since it is not probable that that country was without it. It is most likely, therefore, that they were dates, which are called by the same name, דבשׁ debash, as the Jewish doctors observe, and which, when fully ripe, yield a sort of honey not inferior to the other. The Arabic calls dates duboos, and the honey of them dibo, or dibis, to this day; and it is plain that Judea abounded in palm-trees of all sorts, more especially about Jericho, if we may believe Josephus and Pliny. The next is what we translate spices; but the Hebrew word, נכאת nekath, rather signifies storax than spices, being a noble aromatic gum, which was put into all precious spicy ointments. Myrrh, or, as it is in the original, לוט lot, is rather the stacte or laudanum of the Chaldee and Septuagint, the last name coming nearer the Hebrew word. It is thought to be the gum of the cypress-tree, and was one of the aromatics in the perfume prescribed by GOD to Moses. The word botnim, which our version renders nuts, signifies, according to Maimonides and Kimchi, pistaches, a sort of almonds very much esteemed by the ancients, not only for their taste, but also for their stomachic and alexipharmic quality. Theophrastus and Diascorides join the almonds with these, as fruits of the same kind.