In the ancient Israelite religion, the holy anointing oil () formed an integral part of the ordination of the priesthood and the High Priest as well as in the consecration of the articles of the Tabernacle (Exodus 30:26) and subsequent temples in Jerusalem. The primary purpose of anointing with the holy anointing oil was to sanctify, to set the anointed person or object apart as , or "holy" (Exodus 30:29).
Originally, the oil was used exclusively for the priests and the Tabernacle articles, but its use was later extended to include kings (1 Samuel 10:1). It was forbidden to be used on an outsider (Exodus 30:33) or to be used on the body of any common person (Exodus 30:32a) and the Israelites were forbidden to duplicate any like it for themselves (Exodus 30:32b).
Some segments of Christianity have continued the practice of using holy anointing oil as a devotional practice, as well as in various liturgies. A variant form, known as oil of Abramelin, is used in Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica, the ecclesiastical arm of Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), an international fraternal initiatory organization devoted to promulgating the Law of Thelema.
A number of religious groups have traditions of continuity of the holy anointing oil, with part of the original oil prepared by Moses remaining to this day. These groups include rabbinical Judaism, the Armenian Church, the Assyrian Church of the East,. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Coptic Church,Publications de l'lnñitut d'Études Orientales de la Bibliothèque Patriarcale d'Alexandrie, Alexandrie, 1954, No. 3, pp. 52–58 the Saint Thomas Nazrani churches, and others.
Biblical recipe The holy anointing oil described in Exodus 30:22–25 was created from:
Pure myrrh resin () 500 shekels (about ) Sweet cinnamon () 250 shekels (about ) "Fragrant cane" (, sometimes translated as calamus) 250 shekels (about ) Cassia oil () 500 shekels (about ) Olive oil () one (about , or )
Identification of While sources agree about the identity of four of the five ingredients of anointing oil, the identity of the fifth, , has been a matter of debate. The Bible indicates that it was an aromatic cane or grass, which was imported from a distant land by way of the spice routes, and that a related plant grows in Israel (kaneh bosem is referenced as a cultivated plant in the Song of Songs 4:14. Several different plants have been named as possibly being the .
Acorus calamus Most lexicographers, botanists, and biblical commentators translate as "cane balsam". The Aramaic Targum Onkelos renders the Hebrew in Aramaic as . Ancient translations and sources identify this with the plant variously referred to as sweet cane, or sweet flag (the Septuagint, the Rambam on Kerithoth 1:1, Saadia Gaon and Jonah ibn Janah). This plant is known to botanists as Acorus calamus. According to Aryeh Kaplan in The Living Torah, "It appears that a similar species grew in the Holy Land, in the Hula region in ancient times (Theophrastus, History of Plants 9:7)."
Cymbopogon Maimonides, in contrast, indicates that it was the Indian plant, rosha grass (Cymbopogon martinii), which resembles red straw.Mishneh Torah, Kley HaMikdash 1:3 Many standard reference works on Bible plants by Michael Zohary (University of Jerusalem, Cambridge, 1985), James A. Duke (2010), and Hans Arne Jensen (Danish 2004, English translation 2012) support this conclusion, arguing that the plant was a variety of Cymbopogon. James A. Duke, quoting Zohary, notes that it is "hopeless to speculate" about the exact species, but that Cymbopogon citratus (Indian lemon-grass) and Cymbopogon schoenanthus are also possibilities. Kaplan follows Maimonides in identifying it as the Cymbopogon martinii or palmarosa plant.ספר העבודה – Volume 8, Numéro 1 – Page 136 Moses Maimonides – 2007 "One who willfully prepares anointing oil in this manner and with these measurements without adding or reducing [the quantity of the herbs] ... In his Living Torah, Rav Aryeh Kaplan identifies this as the Cymbopogon martinii or palmarosa plant."
Cannabis Sula Benet, in Early Diffusion and Folk Uses of Hemp (1967), identified it as cannabis. Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan notes that "On the basis of cognate pronunciation and Septuagint readings, some identify Keneh bosem with the English and Greek cannabis, the hemp plant." Benet argued that equating Keneh Bosem with sweet cane could be traced to a mistranslation in the Septuagint, which mistook Keneh Bosem, later referred to as "cannabos" in the Talmud, as "kalabos", a common Egyptian marsh cane plant.
In Judaism In the ancient Near East
Customs varied in the cultures of the Middle East. However, anointing with special oil in Israel was either a strictly priestly or kingly right. When a prophet was anointed, it was because he was first a priest. When a non-king was anointed, such as Elijah's anointing of Hazael and Jehu, it was a sign that Hazael was to become king of Aram (Syria) and Jehu was to become king of Israel.Roland De Vaux Les institutions de I 'ancien testament (Paris: Cerf, 1958); English 1965 – rep. Ancient Israel: its life and institutions – Page 104 1997 "Was anointing, in Israel, a strictly royal rite? In IK 19: 15–16 God commands Elias to go and anoint Hazael, Jehu[...] and Eliseus. Hazael was to be king of Syria, Jehu would be anointed king of Israel by a disciple of Eliseus" Extra-biblical sources show that it was common to anoint kings in many ancient Near Eastern monarchies. Therefore, in Israel, anointing was not only a sacred act but also a socio-political one.
In the Hebrew Bible, bad smells appear as indications of the presence of disease, decay, rotting processes and death (Exodus 7:18), while pleasant aromas suggest places that were biologically clean and conducive to habitation and/or food production and harvesting. Spices and oils were chosen which assisted mankind in orienting themselves and in creating a sense of safety as well as a sense of elevation above the physical world of decay. The sense of smell was also considered highly esteemed by deity. In Deuteronomy 4:28 and Psalms 115:5–6, the sense of smell is included in connection with the polemics against idols. In the Hebrew Bible God takes pleasure in inhaling the "soothing odor" () of offerings (Genesis 8:21; the phrase is also seen in other verses).
To the ancient Israelite there was no oil or fat with more symbolic meaning than olive oil. It was used as an emollient, a fuel for lighting lamps, for nutrition, and for many other purposes. It was scented olive oil that was chosen to be a holy anointing oil for the Israelites.
In Rabbinic Judaism The Talmud asserts that the original anointing oil prepared by Moses remained miraculously intact and was used by future generations without replacement, including in the future Third Temple when it is rebuilt.Rashi to Exodus 30:31; Horiyos 11b This suggests that, following ancient customs, new oil was added to the old thus continuing the original oil for all time.
In Christianity
Anointing oil is used in Christian communities for various reasons. Anointing of the sick is prescribed in this passage in the New Testament:
The epithet "Christ" as a title for Jesus refers to "the anointed one".
In the Armenian Church The holy anointing oil of the Armenian Church is called the holy muron ('muron' means myrrh).Tchilingirian, Hratch. "The Armenian Church". The church holds a special reverence for the continuity factor of the oil. According to tradition, a portion of the holy anointing oil of Exodus 30, which Moses and Aaron had blessed, still remained in Jesus' time. Jesus Christ blessed this oil and then gave some of it to Thaddeus, who took the holy oil to Armenia and healed King Abkar of a terrible skin disease by anointing him with the holy oil. Thaddeus is said to have buried a bottle of the holy anointing oil in Daron under an evergreen tree. Gregory the Illuminator discovered the hidden treasure and mixed it with muron that he had blessed. It is said that "To this day, whenever a new batch of muron is prepared and blessed, a few drops of the old one go into it, so that the Armenian muron always contains a small amount of the original oil blessed by Moses, Jesus Christ, and Gregory the Illuminator."
The holy muron is composed of olive oil and 48 aromas and flowers. The remaining portion of the previous blessed holy oil is poured into the newly prepared oil during the blessing ceremony and passes the blessing from generation to generation. It is said that this procedure has been followed for nearly 1700 years. The Catholicos of all Armenians in Etchmiadzin combines a new mixture of holy muron in the cauldron every seven years using a portion of the holy muron from the previous blend. This is distributed to all of the Armenian churches throughout the world. Before Christianity, muron was reserved solely for the enthroning of royalty and for very special events. In later years, it was used with extreme unction and to heal the sick, and to anoint ordained clergy.Armenian Heritage, The Blessing of the Holy Muron.
In the Assyrian Church of the East It is said by the Assyrian Church that the holy anointing oil "was given and handed down to us by our holy fathers Mar Addai and Mar Mari and Mar Tuma." The holy anointing oil of the Assyrian Church is variously referred to as the Oil of the Holy Horn, the Oil of the Qarna, or the Oil of Unction. This holy oil is an apostolic tradition, believed to have originated from the oil consecrated by the apostles themselves, and which by succession has been handed down in the Church into the modern day.Catholic Encyclopedia The original oil which the disciples blessed began to run low and more oil was added to it. The Assyrian Church believes that this has continued to this very day with new oil being added as the oil level lowers. This succession of holy oil is believed to be a continuity of the blessings placed upon the oil from the beginning.
Both the Oil of Unction and the Holy Leaven are referred to as "leaven", although there is no actual leavening agent present in the oil. Yohanan bar Abgareh referred to the oil in 905, as did Shlemon d-Basra in the 13th century. Yohanan bar Zo'bee in the 14th century integrated the Holy Oil of unction with baptism and other rites.
Isaaq Eshbadhnaya in the 15th century wrote the Scholion which is a commentary on specific theological topics, stating that John the Baptist gave John the Evangelist a baptismal vessel of water from Christ's baptism, which was collected by John the Baptist from water dripping from Christ after his baptism in Jordan River. Jesus gave each disciple a "loaf," at the Last Supper, but the Scholion states that to John he gave two loaves, with the instructions to eat only one and to save the other. At the crucifixion, John collected the water from Jesus's side in the vessel and the blood he collected on the loaf from the Last Supper. After the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost the disciples took the vessel and mixed it with oil and each took a horn of it. The loaf they ground up and added flour and salt to it. Each took a portion of the holy oil and the holy bread which were distributed in every land by the hand of those who missionized there.Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, Commission on Inter-Church Relations and Education Development, Fifth Pro Oriente Non-official Consultation on Dialogue within the Churches of the Syriac Tradition: "Sacraments in the Syriac Tradition – Part II", 26 February to 1 March 2002; Vienna (Austria), The Sacrament of the Holy Leaven "Malka" and the Holy Oil