OIL-TREE
324
OINTMENT
Tlreh on Carmel ; but the process is there very different. The olives are first mashed as in the muti-uf, and then stirred rapidly in a large kettle of hot water. The oil is thus separated, and rises to the top, when it is skim- med off without pressing. The refuse is then thrown into vats of cold water, and an inferior oil is gathered from the surface, which is only fit for making soap." See Oil.
Oil-tree ("I'^IIJ "i'", ets shemen ; Sept. Kinrdpioaoc, ^v\a KVTrapiaaiva ; Vulg. lignum olicie, fiondes ligni pulchei-rimi ; A. V. " oil- tree" in Isa. xli, 19, but in 1 Kings xi, 23, " oliv^e-tree," and in Neh. xiii, 15, " pine- branches"). From the pas- sage in Nehemiah, where it is mentioned as distinct from the zdith or "olive-tree," writers have sought to iden- tify it with the Ekeagnus angustifolius, Linn., some- times called "the wild olive- tree," or " narrow - leaved oleaster," on the supposition that this is the ziickum-tx&c, of the Arabs. But Dr. Hooker has shown that the properties and characteris- tics of tlie ekeagnus do not accord with what travellers have related of the famed zuckum-tv&e. of Palestine, and that the latter is the Balanites yEgijpdaca, a well-known and abundant shrub or small tree in the plain of Jordan. It is found all the way from the penin- sula of India and the Ganges to Syria, Abyssinia, and the Niger. The zuckum-oil is held in high repute by the Arabs for its medicinal prop- erties. It is said to be very valuable against wounds and contusions. Comp. Maundrcll {.Tourn. p. 86) and Robinson {Bib. Res. i, 5G0). See also Balm. Celsius
{Hierob. i, 309) understood by the Hebrew words any " fat or resinous tree ;" but the passage in Nehemiah clearly points to some specific tree (Smith),
Several other trees have been adduced, as the differ- ent kinds of piwe, including the cedar of Lebanon, the cypress, the citrus, the balsam -tree; but there is no special proof in favor of any of these. In the passage in Isaiah the tree in question is mentioned in distinction from the pine ; but it is possible that the latter word does not correctly represent the "itTiri. Dr. Post, in
Stone-Piue Trees near Beirut.
.^_/4's'g;^J
Balanites JEguptiacrts.
the Amer. ed. of Smith's Did. of the Bible, objects to the zuchini-tTCQ that it is too small to furnish wood for carved figures, as required by the passage in Kings, or to be classed with the other magnificent trees men- tioned in the passage in Isaiah; and that it is only found in the plain of the Jordan, whereas the tree in question is spoken of in the passage in Nehemiah as growing on the mountains. He therefore proposes the ^^ stone-pine" of Palestine, or Pinus pinea, called snobar by the Arabs, as fulfilling the required conditions. Dr. Thomson, however, who describes this latter tree, ex- pressly says, " It is not found on the mountains of Pal- estine, because that peculiar sandy formation [required for its growth] is not found there" {Land and Book, ii, 265). See Pine.
Oinomania. See (Enomania.
Ointment is the representative in the Bible of the following wonls in the original: \. '^TIJ, she'men (so rendered in 2 Kings xx, 13; Psa. cxxxiii, 2; Prov. xxvii, IG ; Eccles. vii, 1 ; ix, 8 ; x, 1 ; Cant, i, 3 ; iv, 10 ; Isa. i,6; xxxix, 2; lvii,9; Amosvi, 6; " anointing," Isa. X, 27). probably oil (as elsewhere rendered, except •• olive" in 1 Kings vi, 23,31,32,33; "pine" in Neh. viii, 15; "fat- ness" in Psa. cix, 24 ; " fat things" in Isa. xxv, 6 ; " fat" in Isa. xxviii, 1,4; " fruitful" in Isa. v, 1). 2. nriTTp, mishchah (in Exod. xxx. 25), properly anointing (as else- where rendered). 3. Usually and distinctively some form of the root HJ^I, denoting jjerfume ; either the simpler noun nj^l, rukach (Exod. xxx, 25), an odorous compound (" confection," Exod. xxx, 35) ; or the con- crete rn;?"!^, mirkadi'ath (1 Chron. ix, 30; "com-
OINTMENT
325
OINTMENT
pound," Exod. xxx, 25 ; " prepared by the apothecaries' art," 2 Chron. xvi, 14); nnp"l"2, merkachdh ("pot of ointment," Job xli, 31; "well" spiced, Ezek. xxiv, 10; pliir. " sweet" flowers. Cant, v, 13), which probably sig- nify the vessel in which perfumery was prepared. Cog- nate is p*!*^, maruk, something rubbed in ("things for purifying," Esth. ii, 12). 3. In the Ajmcrypha and N. T. fivpov, iwp-i-h (invariably rendered "ointment"). In the following sketch we follow the arts, in Kitto (s. v. Perfume) and Smith. See Oil.
The ointments and oils used by the Israelites were rarely simple, but were composed of various ingredients (Job xli, 22; comp. Pliny, Hist. Nat. xxix, 8). Olive- oil, the valued product of Palestine (Deut. xxviii, 40 ; Mic. vi, 15), was combined with sundry aromatics, chiefly foreign (1 Kings x, 10; Ezek. xxvii, 22), par- ticularly spices, myrrh, and nard [see these words]. Such ointments were for the most part costly (Amos vi, 6), and formed a much-coveted luxury. The ingredi- ents, and often the prepared oils and resins in a state fit for use, were obtained chiefly in traffic from the Phoe- nicians, who imported them in small alabaster boxes, in which the delicious aroma was best preserved. A de- scription of the more costly unguents is given by Pliny {Hist. Nat. xiii, 2). The preparation of these required peculiar skill, and therefore formed a particular profes- sion. The D'^npi, rokechim, of Exod. xxx, 25, 35; Neh. iii, 8; Eccles. x, 1, called "apothecary" in the A. v., denotes no other than a maker of perfumes. The work was sometimes carried on by women " confection- aries" (1 Sam. viii, 13). So strong were the better kinds of ointments, and so perfectly were the different component substances amalgamated, that they have been known to retain their scent several hundred years. One of the alabaster vases in the museum at Alnwick Castle contains some of the ancient Egyptian ointment, between two and three thousand years old, and yet its odor remains (Wilkinson, Anc. Egyptians, ii, 314). See Alabastkr.