Anointing

Anointing as a social custom

In personal grooming

Ec 9:8 The associations here are of joy and well-being.

See also Ru 3:3; Ps 92:10; Is 57:9; Am 6:6; Mt 6:17

Anointing guests as a mark of honour

Psalm 23:5 NKJV

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.

See also Lk 7:36–39; Lk 7:44–47; Jn 12:3

Anointing corpses as a burial preparation

Mark 16:1 NKJV

Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.

See also Mt 26:6–12; Jn 19:38–40

Anointing religious objects

Ex 40:9–11 Anointed objects are set apart (consecrated), to be used only in the performance of religious ceremonies.

See also Ge 28:18; Ex 30:22–33

Anointing people for office

Priests

Exodus 40:12–15 NKJV

“Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of meeting and wash them with water. You shall put the holy garments on Aaron, and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest. And you shall bring his sons and clothe them with tunics. You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to Me as priests; for their anointing shall surely be an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.”

See also Le 4:16; Le 21:10–12; 1 Ch 29:22

Kings

1 Kings 1:39 NKJV

Then Zadok the priest took a horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!”

See also 1 Sa 10:1; 1 Sa 16:12–13; 2 Sa 5:3; 2 Ki 11:12

A prophet

1 Ki 19:15–16 the only reference to the anointing of a prophet

Anointing people for other purposes

For purification

Leviticus 14:15–18 NKJV

And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own left hand. Then the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. And of the rest of the oil in his hand, the priest shall put some on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the blood of the trespass offering. The rest of the oil that is in the priest’s hand he shall put on the head of him who is to be cleansed. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord.

For healing

Mk 6:13 It has been suggested that anointing in a healing context may be related to the use of oil for medicinal purposes.

See also Jas 5:14

The figurative use of anointing

Anointing by God

1 Sa 26:9 Israel’s king is frequently referred to as “the Lord’s anointed”. His physical anointing is seen as symbolising a divine anointing. The word “Messiah” literally means “the anointed one”; Is 45:1 Cyrus, as God’s agent for a specific task, is referred to as “his anointed”.

See also 2 Sa 23:1; Ps 2:2; Ps 45:2; Ps 89:20; Eze 28:14

God’s people in the OT

1 Chronicles 16:22 NKJV

Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.”

Christian believers

2 Corinthians 1:21–22 NKJV

Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

See also 1 Jn 2:20; 1 Jn 2:27 This anointing is not received in an outward ceremony but by sharing in the Holy Spirit’s anointing of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ as God’s Anointed One (the Messiah)

Ac 4:26–27 Jesus Christ’s receiving of the Holy Spirit at his baptism was his “anointing” for his Messianic work; Ac 10:38 Note the link between anointing and the Holy Spirit.

See also Da 9:25–26; Lk 4:18; Is 61:1; Heb 1:9