The cinnamon of commerce is actually the inner bark which is peeled from tree starting when the tree reaches 4 to 5 years of age. The finest grade of cinnamon comes from the younger branches. Incisions are made lengthwise with a sharp knife, on both sides of the branch, and the bark is removed in the form of a hollow cylinder. The fruit and coarser pieces of bark when boiled yield a fragrant oil.

The Hebrew word for cinnamon is "kinamôn" or "kinnemôn" and has always been regarded as a deliciously fragrant substance and valued highly as a spice and as a perfume. 

Cinnamon was was one of the principal ingredients used to make precious ointments and the Holy Anointing Oil which Moses was commanded to use in the Tabernacle for anointing the sacred vessels and the officiating priests (see Exodus 30). It was undoubtedly very costly and precious.

In Matthew 6 we see that Jesus was physically anointed - "a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table." There is a very high likelihood the perfume used to anoint Jesus contained cinnamon.

In Acts 10:38 we learn that Jesus was not only anointed physically, but spiritually as well:

³⁸how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. (Acts 10:38 NIV)

We also learn that we too, as followers, are anointed by the Spirit:

²⁰But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. ²¹I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. ²²Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist - he denies the Father and the Son. ²³No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

²⁴See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵And this is what he promised us - even eternal life.

²⁶I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. ²⁷As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit - just as it has taught you, remain in him.

Blessings,

²²Then the LORD said to Moses, ²³"Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane, ²⁴500 shekels of cassia - all according to the sanctuary shekel - and a hin of olive oil. ²⁵Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil. ²⁶Then use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, ²⁷the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, ²⁸the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. ²⁹You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy.

³⁰"Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. ³¹Say to the Israelites, 'This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come. ³²Do not pour it on men's bodies and do not make any oil with the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred. ³³Whoever makes perfume like it and whoever puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from his people.'"

 

¹My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. ²Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye. ³Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," and call understanding your kinsman; ⁵they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words.

⁶At the window of my house I looked out through the lattice. ⁷I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment. ⁸He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house ⁹at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in.

¹⁰Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. ¹¹(She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home; ¹²now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.) ¹³She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said:

¹⁴"I have fellowship offerings at home; today I fulfilled my vows. ¹⁵So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you! ¹⁶I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt. ¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. ¹⁸Come, let's drink deep of love till morning; let's enjoy ourselves with love! ¹⁹My husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey. ²⁰He took his purse filled with money and will not be home till full moon."

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon, from the lions' dens and the mountain haunts of the leopards.

⁹You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.

¹⁰How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!

¹¹Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon.

¹²You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.

¹³Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, with henna and nard, ¹⁴nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices.

¹⁵You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.

 

¹¹"The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more - ¹²cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; ¹³cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.

⁶While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, ⁷a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

⁸When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. "Why this waste?" they asked. ⁹"This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor."

¹⁰Aware of this, Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ¹¹The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. ¹²When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. ¹³I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."