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Anointed
Medical anointing, not necessarily with oil, was customary for the sick and wounded (
History of the Practice
Origin.
Robertson Smith (Religion of the Semites, 2nd. ed., pp. 233, 383ff.) thinks that the religious rite arose from nomadic sacrificial practices. Perhaps it developed from a custom of smearing the sacrificial fat on the pillar (Maṩṩebah) as part of a communal meal (or feast with totem animal). Others feel it is an out-growth of the secular use of anointing for medicinal and cosmetic purposes.
Pre-Hebraic examples.
The practice of anointing is well attested in Babylonian and Egyptian customs well before Biblical times. The specific practice of anointing a king is mentioned in the 14th cent. b.c., Amarna Letter # 37. One text from Ras Shamra refers to anointing Baal (Gordon, # 76; ANET. p. 142a; Baal & Anat, Syria, XVII [1936] pp. 150-173).
Hebraic customs.
Anointing is attested throughout all periods of Heb. history, cf. references below.
Sacral practice in pre-monarchic period.
The earliest usage in pre-monarchic times seems to be that recorded in
Sacral practice during the monarchy.
Non-sacral practice in OT.
Non-sacral usage in OT times is widely attested from the period of the Exodus (
Postexilic and Christian usage.
In
Meaning of the practice
Literal usage.
Persons were anointed (1) to give relief from the sun (
Metaphorical usage.
Objects anointed
Non-cultic.
Non-cultic objects may have been anointed. Some interpreters see such a practice in
Cultic.
Persons anointed
Kings.
Priests.
Prophets.
Although Elijah was commissioned to anoint Elisha as his successor (
Metaphorical usage
Persons endowed with God’s Spirit.
They are called God’s “anointed” (
Technical term for the Messiah.
See Christ; Messiah; Ointment.
Bibliography
J. Pedersen, Israel, III/IV (1940, 1959), passim; P. deVaux, AIs (1961), 103-106; W. LaSor, “The Messianic Idea in Qumran,” Studies and Essays in Honor of Abraham A. Neuman (1962), 343, 364.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
See also ANOINTING.
Jacob W. Kapp