Anointing in the Bible Encyclopedia - ISBE

a-noint'-ing: A distinction was made by the ancient Hebrews between anointing with oil in private use, as in making one's toilet (cukh), and anointing as a religious rite (mashach). 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 (Ruth 3:3). The fierce protracted heat and biting lime dust of Israel made the oil very soothing to the skin, and it was applied freely to exposed parts of the body, especially to the face (Ps 104:15). (2) The practice was in vogue before David's time, and traces of it may be found throughout the Old Testament (see Dt 28:40; Ruth 3:3; 2 Sam 12:20; 14:2; 2 Chron 28:15; Ezek 16:9; Mic 6:15; Dan 10:3) and in the New Testament (Mt 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 (2 Sam 14:2; compare Mt 6:17), and to resume it a sign that the mourning was ended (2 Sam 12:20; 14:2; Dan 10:3; Judith 10:3). It often accompanied the bath (Ruth 3:3; 2 Sam 12:20; Ezek 16:9; Susanna 17), and was a customary part of the preparation for a feast (Eccl 9:8; Ps 23:5). One way of showing honor to a guest was to anoint his head with oil (Ps 23:5; Lk 7:46); a rarer and more striking way was to anoint his feet (Lk 7:38). In Jas 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 Zeutschrift, XVIII, 50 ff) 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, 383 ff; compare Wellhausen, Reste des arabischen Heidenthums, 2nd ed., 125 ff) and to believe that the cukh or use of oil for toilet purposes, was of agricultural and secular origin, and that the use of oil for sacred purposes, mashach, 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 (matstsebhah), 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 mashach in Hebrew, which is borne out by the Arabic, seems to have been "to daub" or "smear." It is used of painting...