Cinnamon

Cinnamon appears in the UPDV as a sweet-bark aromatic that moves through four distinct registers: a measured ingredient in the holy anointing oil, a perfume on the strange woman's bed, a planted spice in the bride-as-garden catalogue, and the lead aromatic in Babylon's collapsed luxury trade.

Ingredient In The Holy Anointing Oil

In the chief-spice recipe given to Moses, sweet cinnamon is named as the second component, weighed at half the measure of the flowing myrrh: "of flowing myrrh five hundred [shekels], and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty" (Ex 30:23). The proportion clause fixes cinnamon at two hundred and fifty shekels, half the myrrh-weight, alongside calamus at the same measure.

Perfume On The Strange Woman's Bed

In Proverbs, cinnamon stands at the tail of the seducer's three-spice bed-perfuming list: "I have perfumed my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon" (Pr 7:17). The aromatic register here is the boast of the strange woman, with cinnamon closing the myrrh-aloes-cinnamon triple as the catalogue-tail spice on her perfumed couch.

Spice In The Bride-As-Garden

The Song of Solomon plants cinnamon in the lover's garden-spice catalogue alongside the chief aromatics: "Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices" (Song 4:14). Cinnamon appears as the fourth named aromatic, paired with calamus, and the summary phrase "with all the chief spices" grades it among the top tier of the garden's spices.

Lead Aromatic In Babylon's Trade

In the merchandise list of fallen Babylon, cinnamon heads the spice-and-staples run: "and cinnamon, and spice, and incense, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep; and [merchandise] of horses and chariots and slaves--even souls of men" (Rev 18:13). Cinnamon is exhibited as the opening luxury aromatic of the catalogue, immediately followed by spice, incense, ointment, and frankincense, before the list widens into liquids, grains, livestock, and finally horses, chariots, and slaves.