6. Religious Significance of the Act. — It is somewhat remarkable that the first Biblical instance of anoint- I ing — that of Jacob's unction of his pillow at Bethel ; (Gen. xxviii, 18) — has reference to an inanimate ob- ject ; yet the sacred import of the ceremony is obvi- ous, and must have been derived from primeval cus- tom. At a later date, the formal agreement noticed by Sir G. Wilkinson, between the use of oil among the Egyptians and the Israelites in consecrating to an of- fice, may undoubtedly be regarded as evidence that the Mosaic prescription was framed with some regard
Ancient Egyptian King anointing the Statue of the God Kham.
to the observances in Egypt ; for by the time the for- mer was instituted, the Israelitish people had been long habituated to the customs of Egypt; and it was the part of wisdom, when setting up a better polity, to take advantage of what existed there, so far as it could be safely employed. The king so anointed was sol- emnly recognised as the guest and protege of the lord of the temple ; the statue was set apart for, and so far identified with the god it represented, and both were stamped as fit for their respective destinations. But in the true religion something more and higher was involved in the act of consecration. The article or subject was brought into contact with the holiness of Jehovah, and was made a vessel and instrument of the Spirit of God. Hence, anointing with oil in the times of the old covenant was always a symbol of the gift and grace of the Holy Spirit — in the case of inanimate objects imparting to them a ceremonial sacredness, so as to fit them for holy ministrations ; and in the case of persons, not only designating them to a sacred of- fice, but sealing to them the spiritual qualifications needed for its efficient discharge. — Kitto, s. v. ; Smith, s. v. ; Fairbairn, s. v. See Consecration.
II. Modern. — 1. In the Romish Church the custom of anointing priests is still continued. The ordaining bishop anoints with the holy oil called chrism (q. v.) the palm of both hands, the thumb, and the forefinger of the person to be ordained ; and thus, according to
Q
the expression in the ritual of ordination, the hands receive power to bless, to consecrate, and to make holy. If a clergyman is excommunicated these spots are rub- bed off. This custom, like many others, is a perver- sion of the sacred ceremony by which the Jewish priests and kings were inducted into office.
2. The history of extreme unction (q. v.) in its pres- ent form can be traced back no further than the twelfth century. When the ceremony of anointing is men- tioned at an earlier period, the reference is to the offi- ces of baptism and confirmation. There is no mention of extreme unction in Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertul- lian, or Cyprian, or in any of the writers of the first three centuries. In the fourth century Epiphanius makes no mention of it. It is not found in the " Apos- tolical Constitutions," a work in which all church forms are minutely described, nor in the biographies of the first six centuries. After the twelfth century it was universally adopted in the Western Church.
3. The only occasion on which anointing is used in the Church of England is at the coronation of the sovereigns, when the archbishop solemnly anoints the king or queen, after the ancient practice of the He- brews.
ANOINTING OIL. The "oil of holy ointment" prescribed by divine authority (Exod. xxx, 23-25) for the consecration of the Jewish priests and kings was compounded of the following ingredients :
Hebrew weight. English weight.
Pure myrrh 500 shekels=18 11 13 13 2-3
Sweet cinnamon 250 " =9 5 10 18 1-24
Sweet calamus 250 " =9 5 16 IS 1-24
Cassia 500 " =18 1113 13 2-3
Olive oil, 1 hin=5 quarts . . . £5U " =13 4 0 0
1851* shekels=70 3 0 15J- The shekel is here estimated at 9 dwts. and 2 4-7 grains {Troy).
Under the law persons and things set apart for sa- cred purposes were anointed with this " holy oint- ment" (Exod. xxix, 7), which appears to have been a typical representation of the communication of the Holy Ghost to the Church of Christ (Acts i, 5 ; x, 38). Hence the Holy Spirit is called an unction (q. v.), whereby believers were divinely inspired and guided into all" truth (2 Cor. i, 21; 1 John ii, 20, 27). The profane or common use of the holy ointment was ex- pressly forbidden, on pain of being excommunicated (Exod. xxx, 33; Ezek. xxiii, 31). It was command- ed to be kept by the Hebrews throughout their gener- ations ; it was therefore laid up in the most holy place. Prideaux observes that it was one of those things which was wanting in the second temple. There is an allusion to the ingredients of this sacred perfume in Eccles. xxiv, 15. The use of aromatics in the East may be dated from the remotest antiquity. " Oint- ment and perfume," says Solomon, "rejoice the heart" (Prov. xxvii, 9). They are still introduced, not only upon everj' religious and festive occasion, but as one essential expression of private hospitality and friend- ship. See Ointment.