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The Epiphany

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Phidippides:
We celebrated the Epiphany a few days ago, commemorating the arrival of the three wise men in Bethlehem and their giving of gifts to the Christ Child.  The gifts, of course, were gold, frankincense, and Myrrh.  I read a commentary on this that (if I remember correctly) said gold was essentially a gift given to a king; frankincense used in the worship of God; and myrrh used at times of death.  Basically, each of these gifts therefore had a much larger symbolic significance. 

I was unaware that myrrh was used in connection to death, and in my brief research of the matter I didn't find that it was widely used in connection to funerary practices in the ancient world, but that it was mentioned at various times in the Bible.  Most notably, it was one of the gifts that one of the disciples was bringing to the tomb of Christ right before the Resurrection.  Does anyone else know about myrrh for its funerary connotations?

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