Anointing

Anointing is the application of oil or fragrant ointment to a person or thing, and in Scripture it is both a physical act and a charged image for setting apart, gladness, and divine enabling. The text says that God anointed the king “with the oil of gladness above your fellows” (Psalms 45:7), and Isaiah’s speaker says, “The Lord Yahweh’s Spirit is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble” (Isaiah 61:1), with the promise of “the oil of joy for mourning” (Isaiah 61:3). Daniel 9:24 lists “to anoint the most holy” among the things decreed for the holy city, without specifying whether the phrase refers to a place, object, or person. Proverbs 27:9 uses fragrance more broadly: “Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.”

The New Testament ties anointing closely to Jesus. In Luke 4:18 Jesus reads Isaiah 61:1 and applies its anointing to himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.” Acts 10:38 says God “anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power,” and Acts 4:27 calls Jesus God’s “holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.” Hebrews 1:9 applies the psalm’s line to the Son: “You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.” Linguistically, the Hebrew mashiach and Greek christos mean “anointed one,” which is why these texts are read in messianic terms.

Other New Testament passages use anointing figuratively for the Spirit’s work. 1 John 2:20 says, “You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge,” and 1 John 2:27 says that “the anointing which you received from him remains in you” and teaches. Revelation 3:18 speaks of “eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see,” an image of needed spiritual sight. Christian traditions read this material differently: sacramental traditions practice anointing with oil as a physical rite and may hear 1 John 2:20,27 in that sacramental context, while many Protestant traditions read the same verses as the inward teaching of the Holy Spirit and treat Revelation 3:18 as metaphor. Interpreters also differ over whether Daniel’s “most holy” is a place, object, or person (Daniel 9:24).

AI-generated reference entry, grounded in the passages where this term appears — history and Scripture stated as such, interpretation labeled as interpretation. Not a substitute for the text itself.