The Anointing of David

Anointing

ANOINTING, ANOINTED. Persons and things were anointed, in the OT, to signify holiness, or separation unto God: pillars (cf. Gn. 28:18); the tabernacle and its furniture (Ex. 30:22ff.); shields (2 Sa. 1:21; Is. 21:5: probably to consecrate them for the ‘holy war’, see Dt. 23:9ff.); kings (Jdg. 9:8; 2 Sa. 2:4; 1 Ki. 1:34); priests (Ex. 28:41); prophets (1 Ki. 19:16). The importance and solemnity of the anointing is shown, first, by the fact that it was an offence meriting excommunication to compound the holy oil for a common purpose (Ex. 30:32–33); secondly, by the authority which the anointing carried, such that, for example, while Jehu’s fellow-commanders scorned the prophet as a ‘madman’, they did not dare resist the implications of his action, but accepted without question that he who was anointed as king must indeed be king (2 Ki. 9:11–13); thirdly, by the effect produced in the anointed, the person or thing becoming holy (Ex. 30:22–33) and sacrosanct (1 Sa. 24:7, etc.). Fundamentally the anointing was an act of God (1 Sa. 10:1), and the word ‘anointed’ was used metaphorically to mean the bestowal of divine favour (Pss. 23:5; 92:10) or appointment to a special place or function in the purpose of God (Ps. 105:15; Is. 45:1) (*Messiah). Further, the anointing symbolized equipment for service, and is associated with the outpouring of the Spirit of God (1 Sa. 10:1, 9; 16:13; Is. 61:1; Zc. 4:1–14). This usage is carried over into the NT (Acts 10:38; 1 Jn. 2:20, 27). The use of oil in anointing the sick (Jas. 5:14) is best understood thus, as pointing to the Holy Spirit, the Lifegiver. Or, on the OT model of setting aside kings by anointing, the oil may signify a separating off of the sickness from the patient to Christ (cf. Mt. 8:17). Bibliography. E. Kutsch, Salbung als Rechtsakt im A. T. (ZAW Beiheft 87), 1963; W. Brunotte, D. Müller, NIDNTT 1, pp. 119–124. J. A. Motyer, “Anointing, Anointed,” in New Bible Dictionary, ed. D. R. W. Wood et al. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 49.

Māshach

Māshach = Anointing

Meshiach = Anointed

Transliteration into Greek Messiah