Anointed Messiah

All 'messiah' are anointed with oil into the service of God. Where was Jesus anointed with oil into the service of God?

“After a review of the evidence for the anointing of officials in ancient Egypt as a part of their induction into office, I must conclude that there is no evidence that such a cere mony was ever practiced in ancient Egypt. Attempts to trace the origin of the Hebrew practice of anointing kings to an Egyptian source are misdirected.89 The only definite case in which an Egyptian king anointed one of his officials is that of EA 51. In this instance, it is probable that Thutmosis III was engaging in a custom common among Asiatics, rather than that he was introducing an Egyptian custom into Syria-Palestine”Thompson, Stephen E. (1994). “he Anointing of Officials in Ancient Egypt”. Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 53 (1): 25. JSTOR 545354.

The original commandment in Exodus 30 refers to the temple, the priests and the priestly temple services. Everything was to be “anointed” with a holy anointing oil. Messiah is used in this sense in the Old Testament to describe objects or people who have been brought into the service of God:

22 Moreover, the Lord said to Moses,

23 “Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, two hundred and fifty, and of aromatic cane two hundred and fifty,

24 and of cassia five hundred, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and of olive oil a hin;

25 and you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; a holy anointing oil it shall be.

26 And you shall anoint with it the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony,

27 and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense,

28 and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the laver and its base;

29 you shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy; whatever touches them will become holy.

30 And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests.

31 And you shall say to the people of Israel, ‘This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations.

32 It shall not be poured upon the bodies of ordinary men, and you shall make no other like it in composition; it is holy, and it shall be holy to you.

33 Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’”

34 And the Lord said to Moses, “Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part),

35 and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy;

36 and you shall beat some of it very small, and put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting where I shall meet with you; it shall be for you most holy.

37 And the incense which you shall make according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves; it shall be for you holy to the Lord.

38 Whoever makes any like it to use as perfume shall be cut off from his people.”Exodus 30:22-38 (RSV)

• Note: 30:26 'anoint' is 4886.ū·mā·šaḥ·tā

From the above we see that the primary requirements are frankensense and myrrh for the holy incense to the Lord, and for the anointing oil for priestly services, objects and the priests themselves.

King David was anointed as follows;

• 1 Samuel 16:1,13
  • 1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”
  • 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
    • 4886.way·yim·šaḥ

• 2 Samuel 2:4
  • 4 And the men of Judah came, and they anointed David king over the house of Judah.
  • 4886.way·yim·šə·ḥū-

• 2 Samuel 5:3
  • 3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.
  • 4886.way·yim·šə·ḥū

Of course, Saul was also anointed in the same way;

• 1 Samuel 10:1
  • 1 Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said, “Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the Lord and you will save them from the hand of their enemies round about. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince] over his heritage.

A common factor is anointing.

• Saul was first anointed by Samuel (1 Samuel 10:1) and later made king by the people who sacrificed peace offerings and rejoiced (1 Samuel 11:15).
• David was first anointed by Samuel (1 Samuel 16:12-13) and several years later anointed by the “men of Judah” (2 Samuel 2:4) who made him king over Judah. Several years later still the “elders of Israel” made a covenant with him and anointed him king over Israel as well (2 Samuel 5:3; 1 Chronicles 11:3).
• Absalom was anointed by his followers when he rebelled against David (2 Samuel 19:10).
• At David’s instigation (1 Chronicles 23:1), Solomon was anointed by Zadok the priest and made king (1 Kings 1:39). Later, “the assembly” anointed him to make him king a second time (1 Chronicles 29:22).
• Jeroboam the son of Nebat was called to the assembly of Israel and made king (1 Kings 12:20).
• Omri was made king of Israel by all the troops in the camp (1 Kings 16:16).
• Elijah was told to anoint Jehu as king of Israel (1 Kings 19:16), although this was eventually done by one of the sons of the prophets at the command of Elisha some time later (2 Kings 9:1-3, 6).
• Ahaziah was made king “by the inhabitants of Jerusalem” (2 Chronicles 22:1).
• Jehoiada the High Priest anointed 7-year-old Joash as king (2 Kings 11:9-12; or “Jehoiada and his sons” in 2 Chronicles 23:11). A covenant was also made between God, and Joash and the people, as well as between Joash and the people (2 Kings 11:17; 2 Chronicles 23:3).
• Uzziah was made king by “all the people of Judah” (2 Chronicles 26:1).
• Jehoahaz was anointed by “the people of the land” and made king (2 Kings 23:30).
• Lamentations 4:20 suggests that Zedekiah was also anointed.

From the list above, we conclude that anointing Bible kings was the ordinary procedure – normally done by a priest or prophet as a representative of God. This is likely to have been followed whether or not the anointing was at the command of God. (Source: Anointing Bible Kings)

Translated alternately as 'anointed' and 'Messiah' depending on the passage; this discrepancy is not present in the original text:

• Leviticus 4:3 If the priest that is anointed do sin
• Leviticus 4:5 And the priest that is anointed shall take
• Leviticus 4:16 And the priest that is anointed shall bring
• Leviticus 6:22 of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer
• 1 Samuel 2:10 and exalt the horn of his anointed.
• 1 Samuel 2:35 before mine anointed for ever.
• 1 Samuel 12:3 against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox
• 1 Samuel 12:5 [is] witness against you, and his anointed [is] witness
• 1 Samuel 16:6 Surely the LORD'S anointed [is] before him.
• 1 Samuel 24:6 the LORD'S anointed, to stretch forth
• 1 Samuel 24:6 mine hand against him, seeing he [is] the anointed of the LORD.
• 1 Samuel 24:10 for he [is] the LORD'S anointed.
• 1 Samuel 26:9 against the LORD'S anointed, and be guiltless?
• 1 Samuel 26:11 against the LORD'S anointed: but, I pray thee, take
• 1 Samuel 26:16 the LORD'S anointed. And now see
• 1 Samuel 26:23 mine hand against the LORD'S anointed.
• 2 Samuel 1:14 to destroy the LORD'S anointed?
• 2 Samuel 1:16 I have slain the LORD'S anointed.
• 2 Samuel 1:21 of Saul, [as though he had] not [been] anointed with oil.
• 2 Samuel 19:21 the LORD'S anointed?
• 2 Samuel 22:51 mercy to his anointed, unto David,
• 2 Samuel 23:1 on high, the anointed of the God
• 1 Chronicles 16:22 [Saying], Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets
• 2 Chronicles 6:42 the face of thine anointed: remember
• Psalm 2:2 against the LORD, and against his anointed, [saying],
• Psalm 18:50 mercy to his anointed, to David,
• Psalm 20:6 saveth his anointed;
• Psalm 28:8 strength of his anointed.
• Psalm 84:9 upon the face of thine anointed.
• Psalm 89:38 thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.
• Psalm 89:51 the footsteps of thine anointed.
• Psalm 105:15 [Saying], Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets
• Psalm 132:10 the face of thine anointed.
• Psalm 132:17 a lamp for mine anointed.
• Isaiah 45:1 the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus,
• Lamentations 4:20 of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD,
• Daniel 9:25 Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince
• Daniel 9:26 weeks shall Messiah be cut off,
• Habakkuk 3:13 [even] for salvation with thine anointed;

unfinished work…