Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
MYRRH, a gum, the thickened sap of a low thorny tree (Balsamodendron opsobalsamum) which grows chiefly in Arabia. Myrrh is sold for medical purposes in small globules of a white or yellow color, of a strong and agreeable smell, but a bitter taste. It was an ingredient of the holy ointment, Ex 30:23, and of the embalming substance. Myrrh. (Balsamodendron. ) John 19:89. It was also used as an agreeable perfume, Esth 2:12; Ps 45:8; Prov 7:17, and a valuable gift. Matt 2:1,Rev 1:11.
In Matt 27:34 it is said that they gave Jesus to drink vinegar mixed with gall, which, in Mark 15:23, is called wine mingled with myrrh. It was probably the sour wine which the Roman soldiers used to drink mingled with myrrh and other bitter substances, very much like the bitters of modern times. The myrrh of Gen 37:25; Gen 43:11 represents a different Hebrew word, and, being brought from Palestine or Gilead, was doubtless another substance - probably Gum ladanum, obtained from the cistus, a shrubby plant growing in those districts.
This gum is sold in dark-colored, soft masses, of a more agreeable odor than opium, and possessing similar, though weaker, medical properties, for which it was valued.