Confectionaries

Confectionaries (Hebrew raqqaḥoth) refers to women skilled in preparing spiced foods, perfumed ointments, and aromatic compounds for royal households. The term appears in 1 Samuel 8:13, in Samuel's warning to Israel about what a king would demand: he will take your daughters to be confectionaries and cooks and bakers. This list of compulsory royal service functions illustrates the economic burdens that centralized monarchy would impose — conscripting women into palace service roles that supported the king's household and hospitality.

The root rāqaḥ (to spice, to compound) relates to the broader ancient craft of perfumery and spice-mixing, which overlapped with food preparation, cosmetics, and the making of medicinal and ritual preparations. The confectionary arts required knowledge of available aromatic substances — spices, herbs, resins — and their appropriate combinations. In the context of Samuel's warning, the confectionaries represent one element of the royal apparatus that would draw on the labor and resources of ordinary Israelite families, fulfilling Samuel's prediction as Israel's monarchy expanded under Saul, David, and especially Solomon.