ANOINTING
Was a custom in general use among the Hebrews and other oriental nations, and its omission was one sign of mourning, Isa 61:3 . They anointed the hair, head, and beard, Psa 104:15 133:2. At their feasts and rejoicings they anointed the whole body; but sometimes only the head or feet, Psa 23:5 Mat 6:17 Joh 12:3 . It was a customary mark of respect to guests, Luk 7:38,46 . The use of oil upon the skin was thought to be conducive to health. Anointing was then used, and is still, medicinally, Mar 6:13 Jam 5:14 ; but the miraculous cures thus wrought by the apostles furnish no warrant for the ceremony just before death called “extreme unction.” The anointing of dead bodies was also practiced, to preserve them from corruption, Mar 14:8 16:1 Lu 23:56. They anointed kings and high priests at their inauguration, Exo 29:7,29 Lev 4:3 Jdg 9:8 1Sa 9:16 1Ki 19:15,15, as also the sacred vessels of the tabernacle and temple, Exo 30:26 . This anointing of sacred persons and objects signified their being set apart and consecrated to the service of God; and the costly and fragrant mixture appointed for this purpose was forbidden for all others, Exo 30:23-33 Eze 23:41 .The custom of anointing with oil or perfume was also common among the Greeks and Romans; especially the anointing of guests at feasts and other entertainments.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Anointing
Anointing was used in antiquity in three chief connexions: (1) as a part of the toilet, to beautify, strengthen, and refresh the body; (2) medicinally; (3) as a part of religious ceremonial. From the last-named sprang (4) the use of terms of anointing in a metaphorical sense to signify, e.g., the imparting of the Divine Spirit, whether to the Messiah or to the Christian disciple.
1. So far as the first use is concerned, examples within our period may be found in the anointing of the Lords feet (Luk 7:38; Luk 7:46, Joh 12:3) and in Mat 6:17 anoint thy head, and wash thy face.
2. Instances of the second occur in Joh 9:6; Joh 9:11, Rev 3:18 eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, and are generally found in Mar 6:13 they anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them, and Jam 5:14 Is any among you sick? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. The commentators on these texts generally quote passages to prove that the use of oil was well known in medicine, and leave it to be understood that the apostles in the Gospel and the elders in the Epistle are thought of as making use of the simplest healing remedy known to them. This method of interpretation does not seem satisfactory, because the parallels quoted do not bear out the point. In Isa 1:6 and Luk 10:34 oil is used as a remedy for wounds, not for internal sickness. Herod in his last illness was placed in a bath of warm oil (Jos. Bellum Judaicum (Josephus) i. xxxiii. 5), but this was only one amongst several methods of treatment used in his case, and was no doubt employed because of the open and running sores on his body. Galen (Med. Temp., bk. ii.) speaks of oil as the best of medicines for withered and dry bodies, but that does not mean that he would have advocated the indiscriminate use of oil in cases of sickness due to various causes. Philos praise of oil for imparting vigour to the flesh (Somn. ii. 8) must not be pressed into an advocacy of it as a panacea against all forms of disease. It must remain doubtful whether the two NT passages can be reasonably understood to mean that oil was used as a simple medical remedy without deeper signification.
3. The use of anointing in religious ceremony was very varied. It was applied both to persona-as, e.g., to the kings and high priests-and to inanimate things. This is not the place to investigate the original signification of the act of anointing in religious ceremonies (see Robertson Smith, Rel. Sem. 2, 1894, pp. 233, 383; Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics , Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) , Hastings Single-vol. Dictionary of the Bible , Encyclopaedia Biblica , article Anointing), but it seems clear that it came to signify the consecration of persons and things to the service of God, and also the communication to, e.g., the kings, of the Divine Spirit (see E. Kautzsch, in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) v. 659). That is to say, anointing had in part the nature of a sacrament. And it seems probable that something of this sort underlies the passages Mar 6:13, Jam 5:14. The anointing oil was not merely medicinal, but consecrated the patient to God, and, together with prayer, was the means of conveying to him the Divine healing life. We may compare a passage in the Secrets of Enoch (22:8), where Enoch, when carried into the presence of God, is anointed with holy oil, with the result (56:2) that he needs no food, and is purged from earthly passions.
4. Instances of the metaphorical use of anointing to signify the communication of the Divine Spirit are to be found in 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27 ye have an anointing from the Holy One, his anointing teacheth you all things. Anointing here means the material, not the act, of anointing, and so the grace of the Holy Spirit. The same metaphorical use is found in 2Co 1:21, He that hath anointed us is God; and in the passages in which Christ is spoken of as having been anointed, Act 4:27; Act 10:38, Heb 1:9 (OT quot.). A passage in the recently discovered Odes of Solomon (36:5), He hath anointed me from his own perfection, may be referred to here. It is uncertain whether the speaker is Christ or the Christian. Allusions to a custom of anointing dead bodies are found in Mar 14:8 and the parallels, and in Mar 16:1.
Lastly, reference should be made to the abstention from anointing by the Essenes (Jos. Bellum Judaicum (Josephus) ii. viii. 3). This is explained by Schrer (History of the Jewish People (Eng. tr. of GJV).] ii. ii. 212) as a part of an attempt to return to the simplicity of nature; by Bousset (Rel. des Jud 1:2, Berlin, 1906, p. 442) as a protest against the priesthood, whose authority rested upon anointing.
Literature.-See the articles Anointing in Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics , Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) , and Encyclopaedia Biblica ; and, for the development of the doctrine of Extreme Unction in the Church, J. B. Mayor on Jam 5:14 (Ep. of St. James3, 1910); see also Expository Times xvii. [1906] 418ff. and the literature there cited.
Willoughby C. Allen.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Anointing
In considering the ceremonial anointing of the O.T., we have only to do with one word, viz. Mashach (), from which the name Messiah is derived, and which is almost always rendered in the LXX. Other words, indeed, are used, but not in a ceremonial sense. Among passages where such occur, two may be noted: the first is Isa 10:27, ‘The yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing,’ or literally, ‘from the face of the oil;’ the other is Zec 4:14, ‘These are the two anointed ones (literally, sons of oil or brightness) that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.’
Mashach is first used of the anointing of the pillar at Bethel (Gen 28:18; Gen 31:13), and it does not occur again till Exo 25:6, where ‘the anointing oil’ is spoken of. We next meet with it in connection with the consecration and sanctification of Aar on (Exo 28:41). The anointing came after the offering of atoning victims in Aaron’s case, as in the case of the altar (Exo 29:36). The tabernacle, the ark, the table, and various vessels were to be anointed (Exo 30:26-28). They were then regarded as sanctified or set apart, and whatever touched them had this sanctification communicated to it. The unleavened wafers and some other meat offerings were to be anointed (Lev 2:4) in all these cases the unction was the mode of setting apart or sanctifying.
The anointing of a king is first mentioned in the parable of Jotham (Jdg 9:8; Jdg 9:15). It next occurs in the inspired hymn of Hannah (1Sa 2:10), ‘He shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.’ Saul was anointed captain over God’s people, that he might save them out of the h and of the Philistines (1Sa 9:16). Various references are found to the Lord’s anointed, that is to say, the king, both in the historical and poetical books. The following are the most important: Psa 2:2, ‘The rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed;’ Psa 18:50, ‘He sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore;’ Psa 20:6, ‘Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed;’ Psa 45:7, ‘God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows;’ Psa 92:10, ‘I shall be anointed with fresh oil.’
The reference in Psa 105:15, ‘Touch not mine anointed (ones), and do my prophets no harm,’ is thought to be to the priests (compare Hab 3:13). The meaning of the phrase ‘Anoint the shield’ (Isa 21:5) is doubtful in Isa 45:1, Cyrus is called the Lord’s anointed, because he was appointed king for a special purpose in Isa 61:1, the word receives a larger meaning, and teaches that the holy oil wherewith the priest and king and the vessels of the tabernacle were anointed was a symbol of the Holy Spirit. For we read, ‘The Spirit of the Lord God is up on me, because be hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek.’
In Eze 28:14, the king of Tyrus is described as ‘the anointed cherub.’ Some here translate the word ‘extended’ instead of anointed; but compare Isa 45:1 in Dan 9:24, we are told that seventy weeks were determined ‘. to anoint the Most Holy,’ i.e. either the Most Holy Being or the Most Holy Place in Amo 6:6, the word appears to be used of personal decoration with oil, and not of the ceremonial anointing. If this be the case, it is the only place in the whole O.T in which the word is so used. Possibly there is a reference here to the abuse of holy things, a view which would be most in accordance with the accusations implied in the two previous verses.
The verb is used five times in the N.T in four of these passages it refers to the anointing of Christ by his Father, namely: Luk 4:18, which is quoted from Isa 61:1; Heb 1:9, quoted from Psa 45:7; Act 4:27, where it is used with special reference to the quotation from the second Psalm, which immediately precedes it; and Act 10:38, where we are told that God anointed Jesus with the Spirit. What, then, is the idea which we ought to connect with the name Christ or Messiah? It points to One who is King by Divine authority, and signifies that God would set his mark up on Him by giving Him the Holy Ghost without measure. Perhaps also it teaches that the ministrations of the prophet, priest, altar, and tabernacle with all its vessels, were foreshadowings of the work which He was to accomplish.
The anointing of Christians is spoken of in 2Co 1:21, where we are told that ‘He who hath anointed us is God;’ and in accordance with this fact, St. John three times in his First Epistle reminds those to whom he writes that they have a chrism or unction from the Holy One (chap.2:20, 27). this chrism includes not only the special temporary gifts of the Spirit, but also the indwelling and working presence of the Holy Ghost which the Christian receives from the Father through the Son.
The anointing of the sick is described by a different Greek word, namely, . It was a medical rather than a ceremonial act, and was performed by friction or rubbing, not by pouring. So far from St. James’s words (5:14) discouraging the use of medical help, they order it. The same word is used of the anointing of the head and of the body for purposes of decoration or preservation.
Fuente: Synonyms of the Old Testament
ANOINTING
In Old Testament times, a common practice was to appoint priests, kings, and sometimes prophets to their positions by the ceremony of anointing. Holy oil was poured over the head of the person as a sign that he was set apart for the service of God. He now had the right, and the responsibility, to perform the duties that his position required (Exo 28:41; Num 3:2-3; 1Ki 1:39; 1Ki 19:16; 2Ki 9:3; Psa 18:50; Psa 28:8; Psa 105:15). (Concerning the everyday eastern custom of anointing the heads of visitors and guests see HOSPITALITY.)
Things as well as people could be anointed. Moses anointed the tabernacle and its equipment to indicate that they were set apart for sacred use (Exo 30:22-30). The oil used to anoint the priests and the tabernacle was prepared according to a special formula that was not to be used for any other purpose (Exo 30:26-33). Official anointing carried with it the authority of God, and therefore no one could lawfully challenge the appointment (1Sa 10:1; 1Sa 24:6).
Anointing was also associated with the gift of Gods special power, or the gift of his Spirit, for carrying out some specific task (1Sa 16:13). Originally, such anointing was a physical ceremony, but because of this spiritual significance, people began to use the word anoint solely in a spiritual or metaphorical sense. It symbolized the outpouring of Gods Spirit in equipping a person for Gods service (Isa 61:1; Act 10:38).
This usage of the word was later extended even further, so that the Bible could speak of all who receive the Holy Spirit as being anointed (2Co 1:21-22; 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27). Jesus was in a special sense Gods Anointed (Luk 4:18; Act 4:26-27; Act 10:38; see MESSIAH).
Concerning the practice of anointing in relation to such things as burial, massaging, healing and showing hospitality, see OIL; SPICES.
Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
Anointing
ANOINTING.I. In the ancient world, Jewish and pagan alike, it was customary to refresh guests at banquets by pouring cool and fragrant ointment on their heads. Cf. Mart. iii. 12; Psa 23:5, where Cheyne gives an Egyptian illustration: Every rich man had in his household an anointer, who had to place a cone of ointment on the head of his master, where it remained during the feast. There are two instances of the usage in the Gospel history:
1. The anointing in the house of Simon the Pharisee (Luk 7:36-50).Impressed by the fame of Jesus and desirous of closer acquaintance with one who was certainly a prophet, perhaps more,* [Note: According to the v.l. in v. 39, Simon thought Jesus might be the prophet who should arise and herald the Messiah. Cf. Joh 1:21; Joh 1:25; Joh 6:14; Joh 7:40.] Simon bade Him to his table, inviting also a party of his friends. He was a Pharisee of the better sort, yet he shared the pride of his order and put a difference betwixt Jesus and the other guests, withholding from Him the customary courtesies: the kiss of welcome, the ablution of the feet, the anointing of the head. In the course of the meal a woman appeared in the room, wearing her hair loose, which in Jewish society was the token of a harlot. [Note: See Lightfoot on Joh 12:3.] What did she in a Pharisees house? She had come, a sorrowful penitent, in quest of Jesus; and she brought an offering, an alabaster vase of ointment. As He reclined at table, she stole to His couch and, stooping over His feet, rained hot tears upon them, wiped them with her flowing tresses, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment. She should have poured it on His head, but she durst not. [Note: Orig. in Matth. Comm. Ser. 77: Non fuit ausa ad caput Christi venire sed lacrymis pedes ejus lavit, quasi vix etiam ipsis pedibus ejus digna.]
2. The anointing in the house of Simon the Leper (Joh 12:1-11 = Mar 14:3-9 = Mat 26:6-13).On His way up to the last Passover, Jesus stopped at the village of Bethany, where, a few weeks before, He had raised Lazarus; and, in defiance of the Sanhedrins edict (Joh 11:57), He was received with grateful reverence. One of the principal men of the village, named Simon, made a banquet in His honour. He had been a leper, and, if he had been healed by Jesus, it was fitting that his house should be the scene of the banquet.* [Note: Lazarus was not the host, but one of the guests (Joh 12:2). The notion that his house was the scene of the banquet has occasioned speculations about Simon. Theophylact mentions the opinion that he was Lazarus father, lately deceased (Ewald).] But it was a public tribute, and others bore a part in it. Lazarus was present, and the good housewife Martha managed the entertainment. And what part did Mary take? She entered the room with her hair loose and an alabaster vase of precious ointment in her hand, and, approaching the Lords couch, poured the ointment over His feet and wiped them with her hair. See Mary.
There are several points of difference between Johns and Matthew-Marks accounts of the anointing: (1) Matthew and Mark say that it happened in the house of Simon the Leper, and make no mention of Lazarus and his sisters. They simply say that the beautiful work was wrought by a woman. (2) They seem to put the incident two days (Mat 26:2 = Mar 14:1), whereas John puts it six days before the Passover (Joh 12:1). (3) They represent the nameless woman as pouring the ointment not on the Lords feet but on His head, and say nothing of her wiping His feet with her hair. On the ground of these discrepancies it was generally maintained by the Fathers that there were two anointings at Bethany, the incidents recorded by Matthew-Mark and John being distinct. So Chrysostom (in Matth. lxxxi.), who apparently identified the anointing in the house of Simon the Leper (Mt.-Mk.) with that in the house of Simon the Pharisee (Lk.). Origen (in Matth. Comm. Ser. 77) held that there were in all three anointings: (a) in the house of Simon the Leper (Mt.Mk.); (b) in the house of Simon the Pharisee (Lk.); (c) at Bethany by Mary (Jn.); mentioning also the opinion that there were four, Matthew and Mark recording distinct incidents.
Nowadays the tendency is rather to ignore the differences and identify all the narratives, reducing them to one. The Matthew-Mark narrative is regarded as authentic, the Lukan and Johannine narratives being adaptations thereof (Strauss, Ewald, Keim). Even in Origens day a similar view prevailed: multi quidem existimant de una eademque muliere quatuor Evangelistas exposuisse.
It hardly admits of reasonable doubt that there were two anointings, one in the house of Simon the Pharisee, and the other by Mary in the house of Simon the Leper at Bethany. [Note: So Aug. de Cons. Ev. ii. 154.] The discrepancies in the triple account of the latter are not inexplicable. (1) Matthew-Marks omission of the names of Lazarus and his sisters belongs to the larger question of the Synoptic silence regarding the family at Bethany. (2) The position of the incident in Matthew-Mark is merely an example of the freedom wherewith the Synoptic editors were wont to handle the material of the Evangelic tradition, arranging it topically rather than chronologically. They have brought the story into juxtaposition with the betrayal (Mat 26:14-16 = Mar 14:10-11), (evidently by way of casting light on the traitors action. The Lords rebuke at the feast angered him, and, burning for revenge, he went and made his bargain with the high priests. Cf. Ang. de Cons. Ev. ii. 153. (3) The difference regarding the manner of the anointing is an instance of Johns habit of tacitly correcting his predecessors. His account is historical, and it would stand so in the Apostolic tradition; but the Synoptic editors or, more probably, the catechisers in their oral repetition of the tradition, wondering, since they did not know who the woman was, at the strangeness of her action, substituted head for feet, and then omitted the unintelligible circumstance of her wiping His feet with her hair. See Mary.
Literature.Andrews, Life of our Lord, pp. 281283; Ramsay, Was Christ Born at Bethlehem? pp. 9192; Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible , articles Anointing and Mary; Expositor, 1st ser. vi. [1877] pp. 214229; Ecce Homo15 [Note: 5 designates the particular edition of the work referred] , p. 232 ff.; Bruce, Training of the Twelve5 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] , pp. 289308; Ker, Sermons, 1st ser. p. 16 ff.; Vinet, Vital Christianity, p. 294 ff. Reference may also he made to Bunyan, Jerus. [Note: Jerusalem.] Sinner Saved (ed. 1765), pp. 5862; Herbert, Marie Magdalene; Hartley Coleridges fine sonnet on Luk 7:47.
David Smith.
II. Besides the two special incidents already described, some other references to anointing may be briefly dealt with.
1. In Mat 6:17 Jesus tells His disciples that when they fast they are to anoint () the head as usual. The allusion is to that daily use of oil, as an application soothing and refreshing to the skin, which is common in hot countries, and was regularly practised by the Jews. The meaning of Jesus is that His disciples, when they feel it right to fast, should undertake the observance as in the sight of God, and not ostentatiously parade their performance of it before the eyes of men. They should wash and anoint themselves as usual, and not draw attention by any peculiarities of outward appearance to a matter lying between themselves and their heavenly Father.
2. In Mar 6:13 we read of the Twelve on their evangelistic mission, that they anointed () with oil many that were sick, and healed them. The employment of oil as a medicinal agent was familiar in the time of Christ (cf. Luk 10:34, Jam 5:14), and is doubtless referred to here; though the natural virtues of the oil were accompanied in this case by miraculous powers of healing. In Joh 9:6; Joh 9:11 Jesus, before working the miracle upon the blind man, anoints () his eyes with clay which He had made by spitting on the ground. Here, also, the anointing may have had a medicinal aspect (see Meyer and Expositors Gr. Test. in loc. on the ancient belief that both spittle and clay were beneficial to the eyes); though, of course, it is the miraculous agency of Jesus that is paramount in the narrative. In Rev 3:18 Jesus says to the Church of the Laodiceans, and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see, where the effect of the application of collyrium is used as a figure of the healing and enlightenment which are found in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
3. In Mar 14:8 Jesus says of the gracious act of Mary of Bethany in anointing Him at the feast, She hath anointed ( fr. = ointment; probably akin to = myrrh) my body afore-hand for the burying (cf. Joh 12:7). And in Mar 16:1 we read how Mary Magdalene and the other women went to the sepulchre to anoint () the dead body of the Saviour (cf. Luk 23:56, Joh 19:39-40). This application of ointments and spices (cf. Luk 24:1) was an expression of reverence and affection for the departed, and may be compared with the modern custom of surrounding the beloved dead with fragrant and beautiful flowers. These unguents were not used for the purpose of embalming the dead, as among the Egyptians, but were only outwardly applied, and did not prevent decomposition (cf. Joh 11:39).
4. When Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth read from Isaiah 61 the prophetic words, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed ( me to preach good tidings to the poor (Luk 4:18), and went on to say, after closing the book, To-day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears (Luk 4:21), He definitely claimed to be set apart to the Messianic calling. In the OT anointing was the symbol of consecration alike in the case of prophet (1Ki 19:16), priest (Lev 8:12), and king (1Sa 10:1). And in the case of Jesus, who to His people is at once prophet, priest, and king, a spiritual anointing is distinctly affirmed by His Evangelists and Apostles as well as claimed by Himself (cf. Act 4:27; Act 10:38, Heb 1:9). The Hebrew word Messiah ( from to anoint) means the anointed one; and of this word Christ is the Greek equivalent (, from , to anoint, being employed in LXX Septuagint to render ).
5. In 1Jn 2:20 the Apostle writes, And ye have an anointing () from the Holy One, and ye know all things (so Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ; Authorized Version renders unction). Again, in 1Jn 2:27 he says, And as for you, the anointing () which ye received of him abideth in you. (here Authorized Version as well as Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 gives anointing). That the Holy One of this passage is Christ Himself, and that the anointing He dispenses is the bestowal of the Holy Spirit, is held by nearly all commentators. Being Himself anointed with the Holy Ghost (Act 10:38), the Christ has power to impart the same gift to His disciples. Indeed, the bestowal of this gift is constantly represented as His peculiar function (cf. Joh 15:26; Joh 16:7; Joh 16:13-15, Act 2:33).
Literature.H. B. Swete, E. P. Gould, A. F. Hort, and esp. E. H. Plumptre on Mar 6:13; also A. Plummer, and C. Watson on 1Jn 2:20.
J. C. Lambert.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Anointing
a-nointing: A distinction was made by the ancient Hebrews between anointing with oil in private use, as in making one’s toilet (, sukh), and anointing as a religious rite (, mashah).
1. Ordinary Use
(1) As regards its secular or ordinary use, the native olive oil, alone or mixed with perfumes, was commonly used for toilet purposes, the very poor naturally reserving it for special occasions only (Rth 3:3). The fierce protracted heat and biting lime dust of Palestine made the oil very soothing to the skin, and it was applied freely to exposed parts of the body, especially to the face (Psa 104:15).
(2) The practice was in vogue before David’s time, and traces of it may be found throughout the Old Testament (see Deu 28:40; Rth 3:3; 2Sa 12:20; 2Sa 14:2; 2Ch 28:15; Eze 16:9; Mic 6:15; Dan 10:3) and in the New Testament (Mat 6:17, etc.). Indeed it seems to have been a part of the daily toilet throughout the East.
(3) To abstain from it was one token of mourning (2Sa 14:2; compare Mat 6:17), and to resume it a sign that the mourning was ended (2Sa 12:20; 2Sa 14:2; Dan 10:3; Judith 10:3). It often accompanied the bath (Rth 3:3; 2Sa 12:20; Eze 16:9; Susanna 17), and was a customary part of the preparation for a feast (Ecc 9:8; Psa 23:5). One way of showing honor to a guest was to anoint his head with oil (Psa 23:5; Luk 7:46); a rarer and more striking way was to anoint his feet (Luk 7:38). In Jam 5:14, we have an instance of anointing with oil for medicinal purposes, for which see OIL.
2. Religious Use
Anointing as a religious rite was practiced throughout the ancient East in application both to persons and to things.
(1) It was observed in Canaan long before the Hebrew conquest, and, accordingly, Weinel (Stade’s Zeitschrift, XVIII, 50ff) holds that, as the use of oil for general purposes in Israel was an agricultural custom borrowed from the Canaanites, so the anointing with sacred oil was an outgrowth from its regular use for toilet purposes. It seems more in accordance with the known facts of the case and the terms used in description to accept the view set forth by Robertson Smith (Religion of the Semites, 2nd ed., 233, 383ff; compare Wellhausen, Reste des arabischen Heidenthums, 2nd ed., 125ff) and to believe that the sukh or use of oil for toilet purposes, was of agricultural and secular origin, and that the use of oil for sacred purposes, mashah, was in origin nomadic and sacrificial. Robertson Smith finds the origin of the sacred anointing in the very ancient custom of smearing the sacred fat on the altar (maccebhah), and claims, rightly it would seem, that from the first there was a distinct and consistent usage, distinguishing the two terms as above.
(2) The primary meaning of mashah in Hebrew, which is borne out by the Arabic, seems to have been to daub or smear. It is used of painting a ceiling in Jer 22:14, of anointing a shield in Isa 21:5, and is, accordingly, consistently applied to sacred furniture, like the altar, in Exo 29:36 and Dan 9:24, and to the sacred pillar in Gen 31:13 : where thou anointedst a pillar.
(3) The most significant uses of mashah, however, are found in its application, not to sacred things, but to certain sacred persons. The oldest and most sacred of these, it would seem, was the anointing of the king, by pouring oil upon his head at his coronation, a ceremony regarded as sacred from the earliest times, and observed religiously not in Israel only, but in Egypt and elsewhere (see Jdg 9:8, Jdg 9:15; 1Sa 9:16; 1Sa 10:1; 2Sa 19:10; 1Ki 1:39, 1Ki 1:45; 2Ki 9:3, 2Ki 9:6; 2Ki 11:12). Indeed such anointing appears to have been reserved exclusively for the king in the earliest times, which accounts for the fact that the Lord’s anointed became a synonym for king (see 1Sa 12:3, 1Sa 12:5; 1Sa 26:11; 2Sa 1:14; Psa 20:6). It is thought by some that the practice originated in Egypt, and it is known to have been observed as a rite in Canaan at a very early day. Tell el-Amarna Letters 37 records the anointing of a king.
(4) Among the Hebrews it was believed not only that it effected a transference to the anointed one of something of the holiness and virtue of the deity in whose name and by whose representative the rite was performed, but also that it imparted a special endowment of the spirit of Yahweh (compare 1Sa 16:13; Isa 61:1). Hence the profound reverence for the king as a sacred personage, the anointed (Hebrew, meshah YHWH), which passed over into our language through the Greek Christos, and appears as Christ.
(5) In what is known today as the Priestly Code, the high priest is spoken of as anointed (Exo 29:7; Lev 4:3; Lev 8:12), and, in passages regarded by some as later additions to the Priestly Code, other priests also are thus spoken of (Exo 30:30; Exo 40:13-15). Elijah was told to anoint Elisha as a prophet (1Ki 19:16), but seems never to have done so. 1Ki 19:16 gives us the only recorded instance of such a thing as the anointing of a prophet. Isa 61:1 is purely metaphorical (compare Dillmann on Lev 8:12-14 with ICC on Num 3:3; see also Nowack, Lehrbuch der hebraischen Archaologie, II, 124).
Literature
Jewish Encyclopedia, article Anointing; BJ, IV, ix, 10, DB, article Anointing, etc.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Anointing
The practice of anointing with perfumed oils or ointments appears to have been very common among the Hebrews, as it was among the ancient Egyptians. The practice, as to its essential meaning, still remains in the East; but perfumed waters are now far more commonly employed than oils or ointments.
In the Scriptures three kinds of anointing are distinguishable: 1. For consecration and inauguration; 2. For guests and strangers; 3. For health and cleanliness. Of these in order:
Consecration and Inauguration
1. The act of anointing appears to have been viewed as emblematical of a particular sanctification; of a designation to the service of God; or to a holy and sacred use. Hence the anointing of the high priests (Exo 29:29; Lev 4:3), and even of the sacred vessels of the tabernacle (Exo 30:26, etc.); and hence also, probably, the anointing of the king, who, as ‘the Lord’s anointed,’ and, under the Hebrew constitution, the viceroy of Jehovah, was undoubtedly invested with a sacred character.
Fig. 40Anointing
The first instance of anointing which the Scriptures record is that of Aaron, when he was solemnly set apart to the high-priesthood. Being first invested with the rich robes of his high office, the sacred oil was poured in much profusion upon his head. It is from this that the high-priest, as well as the king, is called ‘the Anointed’ (Lev 4:3; Lev 4:5; Lev 4:16; Lev 6:20; Psa 133:2). In fact, anointing being the principal ceremony of regal inauguration among the Jews, as crowning is with us, ‘anointed,’ as applied to a king, has much the same signification as ‘crowned.’
As the custom of inaugural anointing first occurs among the Israelites immediately after they left Egypt, and no example of the same kind is met with previously, it is fair to conclude that the practice and the notions connected with it were acquired in that country. With the Egyptians, as with the Jews, the investiture to any sacred office, as that of king or priest, was confirmed by this external sign; and as the Jewish lawgiver mentions the ceremony of pouring oil upon the head of the high-priest after he had put on his entire dress, with the miter and crown, the Egyptians represent the anointing of their priests and kings after they were attired in their full robes, with the cap and crown upon their heads. Some of the sculptures introduce a priest pouring oil over the monarch.
2. The anointing of our Savior’s feet by ‘the woman who was a sinner’ (Luk 7:38), led to the remark that the host himself had neglected to anoint his head (Luk 7:46); whence we learn that this was a mark of attention which those who gave entertainments paid to their guests. Among the Egyptians anointing was the ordinary token of welcome to guests in every party at the house of a friend; and in Egypt, no less than in Judea, the metaphorical expression ‘anointed with the oil of gladness’ was fully understood, and applied to the ordinary occurrences of life. It was customary for a servant to attend every guest as he seated himself, and to anoint his head.
3. It is probable, however, that the Egyptians, as well as the Greeks and Jews, anointed themselves at home, before going abroad, although they expected the observance of this etiquette on the part of their entertainer. That the Jews thus anointed themselves, not only when paying a visit, but on ordinary occasions, is shown by many passages, especially those which describe the omission of it as a sign of mourning (Deu 28:40; Rth 3:3; 2Sa 14:2; Dan 10:3; Amo 6:6; Mic 6:15; Est 2:12; Psa 104:15; Isa 61:3; Ecc 9:8; Son 1:3; Son 4:10; also Jdt 10:3; Susanna 17; Sir 39:26; Wisdom of Solomon 2:7). One of these passages (Psa 104:15, ‘oil that maketh the face to shine’) shows very clearly that not only the hair but the skin was anointed.
Anointing the Sick
The Orientals are indeed strongly persuaded of the sanative properties of oil; and it was under this impression that the Jews anointed the sick, and applied oil to wounds (Psa 109:18; Isa 1:6; Mar 6:13; Luk 10:34; Jam 5:14). Anointing was used in sundry disorders, as well as to promote the general health of the body. It was hence, as a salutary and approved medicament, that the seventy disciples were directed to ‘anoint the sick’ (Mar 6:13); and hence also the sick man is directed by St. James to send for the elders of the church, who were ‘to pray for him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.’
Anointing the Dead
The practice of anointing the bodies of the dead is intimated in Mar 14:8, and Luk 23:56. This ceremony was performed after the body was washed, and was designed to check the progress of corruption. Although, from the mode of application, it is called anointing, the substance employed appears to have been a solution of odoriferous drugs. This (together with the laying of the body in spices) was the only kind of embalmment in use among the Jews [BURIAL].
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Anointing
There are several Hebrew words thus translated, but some of them occur but once, as
1. In Psa 23:5, “Thou anointest my head with oil,” signifying made fat, the oil used plentifully.
2. Psa 92:10, “I shall be anointed with fresh oil,” from ‘to pour over,’ ‘overflow with’ oil.
3. Isa 10:27, “the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing (text obscure).
4. Zec 4:14, “these are the two anointed ones,” lit . ‘sons of oil,’ cf. Rev 11:4.
5. suk , ‘to anoint the body after washing,’ like in the N.T., is commonly used for the practice among the orientals of anointing the body, or its parts, for comfort, appearance, friendliness, healing, or burial. For the ordinary toilet cf. Rth 3:3; 2Sa 12:20; 2Ch 28:15; Mat 6:17. To neglect this was a sign of mourning 2Sa 14:2; Dan 10:3. As an act of courtesy cf. Luk 7:46; Joh 12:3; the sick were also anointed, Mar 6:13; Jam 5:14; also the dead body, Mar 14:8; Mar 16:1. One of the punishments on Israel was that the olives should not yield oil for the anointing. Deu 28:40; Mic 6:15.
6. mashach, , ‘to spread over, to anoint’ for an office, etc. Kings were anointed: Saul, David, Solomon, Joash, Jehu, and Hazael are examples. Prophets were anointed; for Psa 105:15 should read ‘anointed ones;’ and cf. 1Ki 19:16. Special oil made according to God’s directions was used for the anointing of the priests . Exo 30:30; Exo 40:13. With the same oil the tabernacle and its vessels were anointed. Exo 40:9-10. The meat offering was anointed with oil, Lev 2:1; Lev 2:4, typical of the pure humanity of the Lord Jesus, and of His being sealed by the Holy Spirit. The cleansed leper was anointed with oil. Lev 14:17-18.
Whether this last anointing refers to persons or things and whether the oil is that specially prepared or common oil, the sanctification and power of the Holy Spirit is invariably typified thereby. Anointing with oil for consecration to office is not now enjoined on believers, for they are anointed with the Holy Spirit, and are also priests to God. John reminds even the babes in Christ that they have an unction from the Holy One, and the anointing (the same word, ) abideth in them. 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27. Thus, as in the O.T., the kings, prophets, and priests were anointed as set apart for God, so the Christian is by the Holy Spirit sanctified for God , both as to his position and service. See THE ANOINTED.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Anointing
Of the body
Deu 28:40; Rth 3:3; Est 2:12; Psa 92:10; Psa 104:15; Psa 141:5; Pro 27:9; Pro 27:16; Ecc 9:8; Son 1:3; Son 4:10; Isa 57:9; Amo 6:6; Mic 6:15
Of guests
2Ch 28:15; Luk 7:46
The sick
Isa 1:6; Mar 6:13; Luk 10:34; Jas 5:14; Rev 3:18
The dead
Mat 26:12; Mar 14:8; Mar 16:1; Luk 23:56
Of Jesus, as a token of love
Luk 7:37-38; Luk 7:46; Joh 11:2; Joh 12:3
Omitted in mourning
2Sa 12:20; 2Sa 14:2; Isa 61:3; Dan 10:3
God preserves those who receive
Psa 18:50; Psa 20:6; Psa 89:20-23
Saints receive
Isa 61:3; 1Jn 2:20
In consecration
– Of high priests
Exo 29:7; Exo 29:29; Exo 40:13; Lev 6:20; Lev 8:12; Lev 16:32; Num 35:25; Psa 133:2
– Of priests
Exo 28:41; Exo 30:30; Exo 40:15; Lev 4:3; Lev 8:30; Num 3:3
– Of kings:
b General references
Jdg 9:8; Jdg 9:15
b Saul
1Sa 9:16; 1Sa 10:1; 1Sa 15:1
b David
1Sa 16:3; 1Sa 16:12-13; 2Sa 2:4; 2Sa 5:3; 2Sa 12:7; 2Sa 19:21; 1Ch 11:3
b Solomon
1Ki 1:39; 1Ch 29:22
b Jehu
1Ki 19:16; 2Ki 9:1-3; 2Ki 9:6; 2Ki 9:12
b Hazael
1Ki 19:15
b Joash
2Ki 11:12; 2Ch 23:11
b Jehoahaz
2Ki 23:30
b Cyrus
Isa 45:1
– Of prophets
1Ki 19:16
– Of the tabernacle
b General references
Exo 30:26; Exo 40:9; Lev 8:10; Num 7:1
b Altars of
Exo 30:26-28; Exo 40:10; Lev 8:11; Num 7:1
b Vessels of
Exo 30:27-28; Exo 40:9-10; Lev 8:10-11; Num 7:1
– Jacob’s pillar, at Beth-El
Gen 28:18; Gen 31:13; Gen 35:14 Dedication
Figurative:
– Of Christ’s kingly and priestly office
Psa 45:7; Psa 89:20; Isa 61:1; Dan 9:24; Luk 4:18; Act 4:27; Act 10:38; Heb 1:9
– Of spiritual gifts
2Co 1:21; 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27
– Typified
Exo 40:13-15; Lev 8:12; 1Sa 16:13; 1Ki 19:16
Symbolic, of Jesus
Mat 26:7-12; Joh 12:3-7
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Anointing
Anointing in Holy Scripture is either: I., with oil; or II., with the Holy Ghost. I. With oil. 1. Anointing the body or head with oil was a common practice with the Jews, as with other oriental nations. Deu 28:40; Rth 3:3; Mic 6:15. Abstinence from it was a sign of mourning. 2Sa 14:2; Dan 10:3; Mat 6:17. Anointing the head with oil or ointment seems also to have been a mark of respect sometimes paid by a host to his guests. Luk 7:46 and Psa 23:5. The bodies of the dead were often anointed, not with a view to preserve them from corruption, but to impart a fragrancy to the linen in which the corpse was wrapped. Mar 14:8; Mar 16:1; Luk 23:56; Joh 19:39-40. 2. Anointing with oil was a rite of inauguration into each of the three typical offices of the Jewish commonwealth, (a) Prophets were occasionally anointed to their office, 1Ki 19:16, and are called messiahs, or anointed. 1Ch 16:22; Psa 105:15. (b) Priests, at the first institution of the Levitical priesthood, were all anointed to their offices, the sons of Aaron as well as Aaron himself, Exo 40:15; Num 3:3; but afterwards, anointing seems not to have been repeated at the consecration of ordinary priests, but to have been especially reserved for the high priest, Exo 29:29; Lev 16:32; so that “the priest that is anointed,” Lev 4:3, is generally thought to mean the high priest, (c) Kings. Anointing was the principal and divinely appointed ceremony in the inauguration of the Jewish kings. 1Sa 9:16; 1Sa 10:1; 1Ki 1:34; 1Ki 1:39. The rite was sometimes performed more than once. David was thrice anointed to be king. After the separation into two kingdoms, the kings both of Judah and of Israel seem still to have been anointed. 2Ki 9:3; 2Ki 11:12. (d) Inanimate objects also were anointed with oil in token of their being set apart for religious service. Thus Jacob anointed a pillar at Bethel, Gen 31:13; and at the introduction of the Mosaic economy, the tabernacle and all its furniture were consecrated by anointing. Exo 30:26 to Exo 28:3. Ecclesiastical. Anointing with oil in the name of the Lord is prescribed by James to be used together with prayer, by the elders of the church, for the recovery of the sick. Jam 5:14. Analogous to this is the anointing with oil practised by the twelve. Mar 6:13. II. With the Holy Ghost. 1. In the Old Testament a Deliverer is promised under the title of Messiah, or Anointed, Psa 2:2; Dan 9:24-26; and the nature of his anointing is described to be spiritual, with the Holy Ghost. Isa 61:1; see Luk 4:18. In the New Testament Jesus of Nazareth is shown to be the Messiah or Christ, or anointed of the Old Testament, Joh 1:41; Act 9:22; Act 17:2-3; Act 18:4-5; Act 18:28; and the historical fact of his being anointed with the Holy Ghost is asserted and recorded. Act 10:38; Act 4:27; Joh 1:32-33. 2. Spiritual anointing with the Holy Ghost is conferred also upon Christians by God. 2Co 1:21, and they are described as having an unction from the Holy One, by which they know all things. 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Anointing
Anointing. Anointing in Holy Scripture, is either, I. Material — with oil — or II. Spiritual — with the Holy Ghost.
I. Material.
1. Ordinary. Anointing the body or head with oil was a common practice with the Jews, as with other Oriental nations. Deu 28:40; Rth 3:3; Mic 6:15. Anointing the head with oil or ointment seems also to have been a mark of respect sometimes paid by a host to his guests. Luk 7:46 and Psa 23:5.
2. Official. It was a rite of inauguration into each of the three typical offices of the Jewish commonwealth.
a. Prophets were occasionally anointed to their office, 1Ki 19:16, and were called messiahs, or anointed. 1Ch 16:22; Psa 105:15.
b. Priests, at the first institution of the Levitical priesthood, were all anointed to their offices, Exo 40:15; Num 3:3, but afterwards anointing seems to have been specially reserved for the high priest, Exo 29:29; Lev 16:32, so that “the priest that is anointed,” Lev 4:3, is generally thought to mean the high priest.
c. Kings. Anointing was the principal and divinely-appointed ceremony in the inauguration of the Jewish Kings. 1Sa 9:16; 1Sa 10:1; 1Ki 1:34; 1Ki 1:39. The rite was sometimes performed more than once. David was thrice anointed.
d. Inanimate objects also were anointed with oil, in token of their being set apart for religious service. Thus Jacob anointed a pillar at Bethel. (Gen 31:13; Exo 30:26-28.
3. Ecclesiastical. Anointing with oil is prescribed by St. James to be used for the recovery of the sick. Jam 5:14. Analogous to this is the anointing with oil practiced by the twelve. Mar 6:13.
II. Spiritual.
In the Old Testament, a Deliverer is promised under the title of Messiah, or Anointed, Psa 2:2; Dan 9:25-26, and the nature of his anointing is described to be spiritual, with the Holy Ghost. Isa 61:1. See Luk 4:18.
In the New Testament, Jesus of Nazareth is shown to be the Messiah, or Christ, or Anointed, of the Old Testament, Joh 1:41; Act 9:22; Act 17:2-3; Act 18:4; Act 18:28, and the historical fact of his being anointed with the Holy Ghost is asserted and recorded. Joh 1:32-33; Act 4:27; Act 10:38. Christ was anointed as prophet priest and king.
Spiritual anointing with the Holy Ghost is conferred also upon Christians by God. 2Co 1:21. “Anointing” expresses the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit upon Christians who are priests and kings unto God.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
ANOINTING
(1) Of Objects set apart for Sacred Uses
Exo 29:36; Exo 30:26; Exo 40:10; Lev 8:11; Num 7:1
(2) Examples of Persons Anointed in Consecration
Lev 8:30; 1Sa 10:1; 1Sa 16:13; 1Ki 1:39; 1Ki 19:16
2Ki9:3; 2Ki11:12; 2Ki23:30
(3) Of Guests –SEE Social Life, SOCIAL LIFE
(4) General References to Application of Oil to the Body
Rth 3:3; Psa 92:10; Ecc 9:8; Isa 57:9; Amo 6:6
(5) Figurative
2Co 1:21; 1Jo 2:20; 1Jo 2:27
(6) Application of Oil as a Remedy
Isa 1:6; Mar 6:13; Luk 10:34; Jam 5:14; Rev 3:18