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Onycha Greek , along with equal parts of stacte, galbanum, and frankincense, was one of the components of the consecrated Ketoret incense which appears in the Torah book of Exodus Ex.3034-36 and was used in the Jerusalem’s Solomon’s Temple. This formula was to be incorporated as an incense, and was not to be duplicated for non-sacred use. What the onycha of antiquity actually was cannot be determined with certainty. The original Hebrew word used for this component of the ketoret was , shecheleth, which means “to roar as a lion from his characteristic roar” or peeling off by concussion of sound.” Shecheleth is related to the Syriac shehelta which is translated as a tear, distillation, or exudation. In Aramaic, the root SHCHL signifies retrieve. When the Torah was translated into Greek the Septuagint version the Greek word onycha , which means “fingernail” or “claw,” was substituted for shecheleth.

Some writers believe that onycha was the fingernail-like operculum, or trap door, of certain sea snails, including Strombus lentiginosus, Murex anguliferus, Onyx marinus, and Unguis odoratus. It may be the operculum of a snail-like mollusk found in the Red Sea. This operculum is the trap door of a shell, called by the Latins Conchylium. These opercula may be of different sizes, but their overall shape is that of a claw, which is the origin of the name Unguis odoratus. The name Blatta Byzantina is occasioned by its having usually been imported from Constantinople, the ancient Byzantium. In antiquity the operculum was used as an ingredient in incense. The Baylonian Talmud recorded that onycha was rubbed with an alkali solution prepared from the bitter vetch to remove impurities, it was then soaked in the fermented berry juice of the Caper shrub, or a strong white wine, in order to enhance its fragrance. The operculum was also commonly used as an ingredient in many East Asian incense.

There is some doubt as to whether the onycha of the Old Testament was actually the operculum of a sea snail. H.J. Abrahams says, “The widely held mollusk hypothesis becomes quite perplexing if one considers that the mollusk was counted among the unclean animals in the Bible Chapters Leviticus 119 and 12.” Sea creatures such as the mollusk were an abomination and even their carcasses were to be considered an abomination and anyone simply touching them became unclean. Rabbeinu Bachyei insisted that only kosher species may be used for the mishkan. The Gemara states that only items that one may eat may be used for the work of Heaven. Nachmanides, Torah scholar and famed Jewish theologian, emphasized that the commandment concerning unclean animals pertained also to temple services. James Strong and J. McClintoch write that it seems improbable that any such substance could have been one of the constituent spices of the most holy perfume not only because we know of none bearing any powerful and agreeable odor, but specially because all marine creatures that were not finned and scaled fishes were unclean, and as such could not have been touched by the priests or used in the sanctuary. There is also some doubt that a mollusk would have been referred to as a sweet spice. Bahr states that the odor of the burned shells is not pleasant. Although the word onycha has been interpreted as meaning “nail” it is pointed out that nail or claw is actually an extended connotation of onyx, derived from the translucent and sometimes veined appearance of the gemstone onyx which antiquity often describes as a black stone. Coincidentally onycha is the Greek word which was chosen to replace the original Hebrew word which was shecheleth. One of the Hebrew words that shecheleth seems to be related to, , sh’chalim, refers to a large variety of plants. An ancient Ugaritic text lists onycha among types of vegetables, implying that onycha was a vegetable also. The Talmud specifically states that although onycha shecheleth is not from a tree, it does grow from the ground and that it is a plant Kerithoth 6b. Condor writes Shecheleth, Exod. xxx. 34 is rendered by the Septuagint, onycha, and by the Arabic version, ladana . . . The root of the Hebrew word means to drop or distil, and shecheleth would seem, therefore, to mean some exudation. James Strong writes “the Syriac etymology of the word, namely, to run in drops, exude, distil, would lead to the idea of a resinous and odoriferous substance of the vegetable kingdom.” Another writer says the context and the etymology seem to require the gum of some aromatic plant, perhaps gum-ladanum. The Hebrew word would seem to mean something that exuded, having odorous qualities. “Shecheleth” identifies with the Syriac “shehelta” which is translated as a tear, distillation, or exudation.”