XVIII. About Anointing
There are two Greek words, both meaning “to anoint,” and as used in the New Testament, referring to different kinds of anointing, and for different purposes. These are translated by the one English word “anoint”. In order to arrive at a full-orbed accurate interpretation of the passages in which the word “anoint” occurs, it is necessary to know what Greek word lies back of the English translation.
One word is aleipho (ἀλειφο). The non-literary manuscripts of the early centuries give us some instances of its use as seen in the following examples: “which you will carefully grease,” spoken of a yoke-band; a man whose wife had gone away, writes to her that since they had bathed together a month before, he had never bathed or anointed himself; an inscription in honor of a gymnasiarch, namely, the head of a gymnasium, does him honor as the “much-honored anointer.” In the first case, the word is used of the action of applying grease to the yoke-band, the purpose of which was to keep it from chafing the ox. In the other two instances, it referred to the practice, common in the orient, of giving the body an olive-oil massage. Olive-oil was used in the east for medicinal and remedial purposes in the case of illness. It provided an excellent rub-down for the tired athlete after exercise. It prevented skin dryness in the hot dry climate of the orient.
We see this use of the word aleipho (ἀλειφο) in Mark 6:13 and James 5:14, where the word is used of the application of oil for medicinal purposes. Thus we find in the latter text, the two God-appointed resources in the case of illness, prayer and medical help. It is also used of the application of ointment. A passage in Xenophon speaks of the greater suitableness of oil for the men and of ointment for women, saying that the latter are better pleased that the men should savour of the manly oil than the effeminate ointment. The ointment had oil for its base, but differed from the common oil in that it was highly scented. We can better understand the words of our Lord to the discourteous Pharisee (Luke 7:46), “My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.” It was as if He said, “Thou withheldest from Me cheap and ordinary courtesies; while she bestowed upon Me costly and rare homages” (Trench). The Pharisee withheld from our Lord the courtesy of common oil for His head, that same anointing oil which the hypocrites denied themselves (Matt. 6:17). The woman anointed His tired, parched feet with the expensive, highly fragrant ointment which she as a woman naturally possessed, rather than with the anointing oil used commonly by men. The same precious ointment was used by Mary of Bethany (John 11:2, 12:3), and by the women at the tomb (Mark 16:1). How the fragrance of that ointment which permeated the room, spoke of the heavenly fragrance of the one Man among all men who combined in His wonderful Person and in most delicate balance, the gentleness of womanhood and the strength and virility of manhood, without either one detracting from the other. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, aleipho (ἀλειφο) is the usual word for anointing with oil for either of the above purposes, although the other word for “anoint” is used in Amos 6:6. It is used in Ruth 3:3; II Samuel 12:20, 14:2; Daniel 10:3; Micah 6:15. Aleipho (Ἀλειφο) is the only word used for anointing with oil in the New Testament, there being no exceptions to this.
The other word used in the New Testament is chrio (χριο). It is never used here in connection with oil, but uniformly of the anointing with the Holy Spirit, although in the secular documents it had the same meaning as aleipho. Chrio (ἀλειφο. Χριο) is used in “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he hath anointed me” (Luke 4:18), a quotation from Isaiah 61:1, where the same Greek word appears in the Septuagint translation. It is used in Acts 4:27, 10:38, of the anointing of our Lord with the Holy Spirit. In II Corinthians 1:21 the word is used in connection with the anointing of the believer with the Spirit. Hebrews 1:9 presents a seeming deviation of the rule that chrio (χριο) is never used in the New Testament in connection with the anointing with oil. We have “God hath anointed thee (the Lord Jesus) with the oil of gladness,” and chrio (χριο) is used. How true the inspired writer was to the genius of the two words as they are used in the New Testament, for the word “oil” here does not refer to literal oil, but is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. In I John 2:20, 27, “unction” and “anointing” are from the noun form that comes from chrio (χριο), and refer to the anointing of the believer with the Holy Spirit.
Chrio (Χριο) is the usual word in the Septuagint of the anointing of the priests and kings at their induction into office. The anointing is with oil, but this oil is symbolic of the anointing of the Spirit, not for medicinal purposes. Aleipho (Ἀλειφο) is used in Exodus 40:15, which speaks of the anointing of the priest, and its usage here is an exception to the usual practice. The priest was anointed once only, at the time of his induction into the priest’s office, the anointing being symbolic of a reality, the anointing with the Holy Spirit who by His presence with him, equipped the priest for his service. Believers in this Christian era are priests in the New Testament sense. They are anointed with the Holy Spirit once and once only, at the moment they are saved. This anointing is the coming of the Spirit to take up His permanent residence in their hearts, thus providing the potential equipment for their service as priests. The baptism by the Spirit is for the introduction of the believer into the Body of Christ, the anointing with the Spirit is His coming to dwell in the Christian, and the fullness of the Spirit is for power for service.
Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 19 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 122–125.
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