Reference: Ointment
Easton
Various fragrant preparations, also compounds for medical purposes, are so called (Ex 30:25; Ps 133:2; Isa 1:6; Am 6:6; Joh 12:3; Re 18:13).
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and thou hast made it a holy anointing oil, a compound mixture, work of a compounder; it is a holy anointing oil.
As the good oil on the head, Coming down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, That cometh down on the skirt of his robes,
From the sole of the foot -- unto the head, There is no soundness in it, Wound, and bruise, and fresh smiting! They have not been closed nor bound, Nor have they softened with ointment.
Who are drinking with bowls of wine, And with chief perfumes anoint themselves, And have not been pained for the breach of Joseph.
Mary, therefore, having taken a pound of ointment of spikenard, of great price, anointed the feet of Jesus and did wipe with her hair his feet, and the house was filled from the fragrance of the ointment.
and cinnamon, and odours, and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and cattle, and sheep, and of horses, and of chariots, and of bodies and souls of men.
Fausets
See ANOINT.)
Hastings
With two exceptions, 'ointment' in our English Version is the rendering, in OT, of the ordinary word for 'oil,' and in some passages the ointment may have consisted of oil only. In most of the references, however, perfumed oil is undoubtedly meant. The two are distinguished in Lu 7:46 'My head with oil thou didst not anoint; but she hath anointed my feet with ointment (myron).' The extensive use of myron in NT in the sense of 'ointment' shows that myrrh was then the favourite perfume. The dead body, as well as the living subject, was anointed with this ointment (Lu 23:56). Another 'very costly' unguent is described as 'ointment of spikenard' (Mr 14:3; Joh 12:3), for which see Spikenard. These much-prized unguents were kept in pots of alabaster, as in Egypt, where they are said to retain their fragrance for 'several hundred years' (Wilkinson, Anc. Egyp. i. 426, with illust.).
In the Priests' Code there is repeated reference to a specially rich unguent, 'the holy anointing oil,' the composition of which is minutely laid down in Ex 30:23-25. The ingredients, in addition to a basis of olive oil, are rendered in RV as 'flowing myrrh,' sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus, and cassia. The penalty for the unauthorized manufacture and sacrilegious use of this sacred chrism was excommunication.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
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And thou, take to thyself principal spices, wild honey five hundred shekels; and spice-cinnamon, the half of that, two hundred and fifty; and spice-cane two hundred and fifty; and cassia five hundred, by the shekel of the sanctuary, and olive oil a hin; read more. and thou hast made it a holy anointing oil, a compound mixture, work of a compounder; it is a holy anointing oil.
And he, being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, at his reclining (at meat), there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment, of spikenard, very precious, and having broken the alabaster box, did pour on his head;
with oil my head thou didst not anoint, but this woman with ointment did anoint my feet;
and having turned back, they made ready spices and ointments, and on the sabbath, indeed, they rested, according to the command.
Mary, therefore, having taken a pound of ointment of spikenard, of great price, anointed the feet of Jesus and did wipe with her hair his feet, and the house was filled from the fragrance of the ointment.
Morish
Except in Ex 30:25 (where the Hebrew words are mishchah and roqach, and may be translated "an oil of holy ointment, a perfume"), and in 1Ch 9:30; Job 41:31 (where the words are derived from roqach), the Hebrew word is shemen, which is constantly translated 'oil.' It is used for 'fatness, oil, spiced oil,' and hence 'ointment,' with which on joyful occasions the head was anointed, Ps 133:2, and is elsewhere called the 'oil of gladness.' Ps 45:7: cf. Pr 27:9,16; Ec 7:1; 9:8; Am 6:6. As an emollient it was applied to wounds or bruises. Isa 1:6. In the N.T. the word is ?????, 'oil mingled with fragrant spices:' with such Mary anointed the Lord, and its perfume filled the house, Joh 12:3,5; it was also used by a woman 'which was a sinner.' Lu 7:37-38. The ointment would be more or less costly according to the ingredients.
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and thou hast made it a holy anointing oil, a compound mixture, work of a compounder; it is a holy anointing oil.
And some of the sons of the priests are mixing the mixture for spices.
He causeth to boil as a pot the deep, The sea he maketh as a pot of ointment.
Thou hast loved righteousness and hatest wickedness, Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee, Oil of joy above thy companions.
As the good oil on the head, Coming down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, That cometh down on the skirt of his robes,
Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart, And the sweetness of one's friend -- from counsel of the soul.
Whoso is hiding her hath hidden the wind, And the ointment of his right hand calleth out.
Better is a name than good perfume, And the day of death than the day of birth.
At all times let thy garments be white, and let not perfume be lacking on thy head.
From the sole of the foot -- unto the head, There is no soundness in it, Wound, and bruise, and fresh smiting! They have not been closed nor bound, Nor have they softened with ointment.
Who are drinking with bowls of wine, And with chief perfumes anoint themselves, And have not been pained for the breach of Joseph.
and lo, a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having known that he reclineth (at meat) in the house of the Pharisee, having provided an alabaster box of ointment, and having stood behind, beside his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with the tears, and with the hairs of her head she was wiping, and was kissing his feet, and was anointing with the ointment.
Mary, therefore, having taken a pound of ointment of spikenard, of great price, anointed the feet of Jesus and did wipe with her hair his feet, and the house was filled from the fragrance of the ointment.
'Wherefore was not this ointment sold for three hundred denaries, and given to the poor?'
Smith
Ointment.
(An oily or unctuous substance, usually compounded of oil with various spices and resins and aromatics, and preserved in small alabaster boxes or cruses, in which the delicious aroma was best preserved. Some of the ointments have been known to retain their: fragrance for several hundred years. They were a much-coveted luxury, and often very expensive. --ED.)
1. Cosmetic. --The Greek and Roman practice of anointing the head and clothes on festive occasions prevailed also among the Egyptians, and appears to have had place among the Jews.
2. Funereal. --Ointments as well as oil were used to anoint dead bodies and the clothes in which they were wrapped.
3. Medicinal. --Ointment formed an important feature in ancient medical treatment.
Isa 1:6; Jer 8:22; Joh 9:6; Re 3:18
etc.
4. Ritual.--Besides the oil used in many ceremonial observances, a special ointment was appointed to be used in consecration.
Ex 30:23,33; 29:7; 37:29; 40:9,15
A person whose business it was to compound ointments in general was called an "apothecary."
The work was sometimes carried on by woman "confectionaries."
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and hast taken the anointing oil, and hast poured it on his head, and hast anointed him.
And thou, take to thyself principal spices, wild honey five hundred shekels; and spice-cinnamon, the half of that, two hundred and fifty; and spice-cane two hundred and fifty;
a man who compoundeth any like it, or who putteth of it on a stranger -- hath even been cut off from his people.'
and he maketh the holy anointing oil, and the pure spice-perfume -- work of a compounder.
and hast taken the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle, and all that is in it, and hallowed it, and all its vessels, and it hath been holy;
and anointed them as thou hast anointed their father, and they have acted as priests to Me, and their anointing hath been to be to them for a priesthood age-during, to their generations.'
'And your daughters he doth take for perfumers, and for cooks, and for bakers;
By his hand hath Uzziel son of Harhaiah of the refiners strengthened; and by his hand hath Hananiah son of one of the compounders strengthened; and they leave Jerusalem unto the broad wall.
From the sole of the foot -- unto the head, There is no soundness in it, Wound, and bruise, and fresh smiting! They have not been closed nor bound, Nor have they softened with ointment.
Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? For wherefore hath not the health of the daughter of my people gone up?
for she having put this ointment on my body -- for my burial she did it.
These things saying, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and rubbed the clay on the eyes of the blind man, and said to him,
I counsel thee to buy from me gold fired by fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white garments that thou mayest be arrayed, and the shame of thy nakedness may not be manifest, and with eye-salve anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see.