Comentario sobre Exodo 30:25

רקח מרקחת A COMPOUND COMPOUNDED — רקח is a noun and its accent proves it, for it is on the first syllable, on the ר, so that it is a noun just as are רֶקַח in (Song 8:2) “I would cause thee to drink of the mixed wine (מיין הרקח)” and רֶגַע in (Exodus 33:5) “one moment (רֶגַע אחד)”, and it is not a participle like (Isaiah 51:15) “[I am the Lord] who stireth up (רוֹגַע) the sea”, or (Isaiah 42:5) “Who spreadeth forth (רֹקַע) the earth”, where the accent is on the last syllable. Any thing (ingredient) which is mixed with another so thoroughly that one becomes impregnated with the other as regards the smell or the taste is called a מרקחת.

AND THOU SHALT MAKE IT A HOLY ANOINTING OIL, A PERFUME COMPOUNDED AFTER THE ART OF THE PERFUMER. In line with the simple meaning of Scripture, the preparation of the Oil of Anointment was in accordance with the view of Rabbi Yehudah, who said¹³⁴Kerithoth 5a. that they first soaked the spices in water in order that they would not absorb the oil which was poured upon them Now this soaking [of which Rabbi Yehuda speaks] was not mere soaking in water alone. Rather, they put ground spices in a vessel full of water and then they poured upon them a hin of olive oil.¹³⁵Verse 24. Then they placed this vessel upon another vessel full of water, and put it over a low flame with embers, and boiled it until the water [in the upper vessel] evaporated, and they retained the oil which was upon it. Such indeed is the way that perfumers make all aromatic oils. This is why Scripture shortened the explanation and commanded merely that they make this oil a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer, without explaining the process by which it is to be made, for the way of the perfumers was known among them. And so I found in Tractate Shekalim of the Yerushalmi:¹³⁶Yerushalmi Shekalim VI, 1. “Rabbi Yehudah says: They boiled [the spices] in water and put the oil on top of it; as soon as [the oil] retained the odor [of the spices] they would take off the oil, just as druggists do, for it is said, And thou shalt make it a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer.”

רוקח מרקחת, a mixture of spices of a mixture of same, i.e. the result of two mixtures, having been boiled in water after having been mixed thoroughly with the other listed ingredients.