Cassia

kash'-a: Two Hebrew words,

(1) qiddah, which is mentioned, along with myrrh, cinnamon, calamus and olive oil, as one of the ingredients of the "holy anointing oil" (Exod 30:24); it was, too, one of the wares in which Vedan and Javan traded with Tyre (Ezek 27:19); it is identified in the Peshitta and the Targum with (2).

(2) qetsi`oth (plural only, probably referring to the strips of bark), a word from which is derived the Greek kasia, and hence, cassia (Ps 45:8).

It is probable that both (1) and (2) refer to Cassia lignea, the inner bark of Cinnamomum cassia, a plant growing in eastern Asia closely allied to that which yields the cinnamon of commerce. It is a fragrant, aromatic bark and was probably used in a powdered form. Both as an ingredient in unguents and as one of the perfumes at funerals, cassia, like cinnamon, was much used by the Romans. The cassia of Scripture must be clearly distinguished from the entirely distinct Cassia lanceolata and C. obovata which yield the familiar senna. The proper name Keziah (which see) is the singular form of ketsi`oth.

E. W. G. Masterman