An apothecary mixed spices and oils, and Scripture mentions the trade in a handful of places. In Exodus 30 the holy anointing oil and the incense are to be made “after the art of the apothecary,” a careful blend that was meant only for the sanctuary. After King Asa died, he was laid in a bed filled with sweet odours made by the same art. Ecclesiastes 10:1 turns the craft into a warning: “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour.” One small folly can spoil a good name, just as a fly spoils a fine perfume.
5 verses
And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.
And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:
And he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of the apothecary.
And they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of David, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odours and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries' art: and they made a very great burning for him.
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.
Matthew George Easton, 1897
Rendered in the margin and the Revised Version “perfumer,” in Ex. 30:25; 37:29; Eccl. 10:1. The holy oils and ointments were prepared by priests properly qualified for this office. The feminine plural form of the Hebrew word is rendered “confectionaries” in 1 Sam. 8:13.