Stacte () and nataph (, nataf) are names used for one component of the Solomon's Temple incense, the Ketoret, specified in the Book of Exodus (). Variously translated to the Greek term (AMP: ) or to an unspecified "gum resin" or similar (NIV: ), it was to be mixed in equal parts with onycha (prepared from certain vegetable resins or seashell parts), galbanum and mixed with pure frankincense and they were to "beat some of it very small" for burning on the altar of the tabernacle.
This incense was considered restricted for sacred purposes honoring Yahweh; the trivial or profane use of it was punishable by exile, as laid out in (KJV).
The Hebrew word nataf means "drop", corresponding to "drops of water" (). The Septuagint translates nataf as stacte, a Greek word meaning "an oozing substance," which refers to various viscous liquids, including myrrh.
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel explained, "Stacte is simply the sap that drips from the tapping of the wood of the balsam tree" (Kerithot 6a). It is not exactly clear from what plant nataf was derived, however, it most likely was a myrrh extract of the highest grade or the light resin which exudes naturally from the myrrh tree before harvest. Alternately it may have been myrrh scented with styrax (Styrax officinalis or Styrax benzoin, a close relative of and of the same genus as Styrax officinalis) or opobalsamum (rare type of myrrh tree mentioned frequently in ancient Jewish writings as "balm" or "balsam").
Contenders for stacte
Myrrh extract
Most ancient sources refer to Stacte as being a product of myrrh. It is variously described as the transparent parts separated or extracted from the myrrh resin, the myrrh that exudes spontaneously from the tree, or the product of myrrh heated over fire.
The ancient Greek botanist Theophrastus described the manufacturing of stacte: "From the myrrh, when it is bruised flows an oil; it is in fact called "stacte" because it comes in drops slowly." The ancient Roman historian Pliny, in Natural History, described stacte as "the liquid which exuded naturally from the myrrh tree before the gum was collected from man-made incisions". Pancirollus described myrrh as a drop or tear distilling from a tree in Arabia Felix, and stacte as a drop of myrrh, which is extracted from it, and yielding a most precious liquid. Dioscorides wrote that stacte was made from myrrh. He recorded that after having bruised the myrrh and dissolved it in oil of balanos over a gentle fire, hot water was poured over it. The myrrh and oil would sink to the bottom like a deposit; and as soon as this has occurred, they strained off the water and squeeze the sediment in a press.
Ben-Yehoshua, et al., write "Stacte, which appears in the Bible in Exodus (30:34), probably refers to the liquid form of myrrh" and states that ancient writers referred to "a naturally flowing gum, called stacte, which sometimes flows from the bark of the tree without any cutting, before the actual harvest."
Stoddart, who lists myrrh as a balm, informs us that "Myrrh—after the almost clear stacte has passed through—is reddish brown ... Stacte is the thinnest moiety of myrrh, the very best of which is forced through tiny holes in the intact bark at the start of spring." Pomet wrote that to obtain stacte one must first gather the myrrh "that flows spontaneously from the tree" and to look for portions of the resin which are "clear and transparent, apt to crumble, light." He says to choose the myrrh "that when it is broke, has little white spots in it." We are told that "stacte is that liquid part which is found in the center or middle of the lumps or clots of myrrh." Pomet also wrote that stacte is that "which is first so gather'd from the tree without force, and also press'd from the myrrh ... there is prepar'd from it, an extract, an oil or liquor of myrrh."
The Gerrhaean tribute to Antiochus III in 205 BC included one thousand talents of frankincense and two hundred of "stacte myrrh."
Cant. 5:5 reads, "I rose up to open to my beloved; And my hands dropped with myrrh, And my fingers with stacte" referring to myrrh and the stacte which seems to have exuded from it. This would seem to agree with Sauer and Blakely who note that stacte was extracted from myrrh.
Abrahams informs that "With regard to the Tabernacle incense, most scholars agree that the term 'stacte' is of Latin and Greek origin, and that stacte represents myrrh." A. Lucas informs us in no uncertain terms that stacte is indeed a product of the myrrh tree. Tucker says that "Common myrrh is obtained from Commiphora myrrha; this is the species from which . . . stacte, was obtained."