Gilead is a mountainous region east of the Jordan river. A ‘balm’ is a healing cream. The ‘Balm in Gilead’ is a reference to an Old Testament prophecy in which Jeremiah lamented over the spiritual health of Israel. The prophecy is considered a precursor to the birth of Jesus Christ some 600 years later.

Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? -Jeremiah 8:22

“Balm In Gilead” is an interpolation of a traditional African American spiritual by the name of “There is a Balm In Gilead”. The earliest version of the song can be found in Washington Glass’s hymn “The Sinner’s Cure” in 1854, although that hymn is believed to be largely based on a 1790 hymn by John Newton.