Word study
Anoint
5 Hebrew and 3 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: anointed, anoint, anointing. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “anoint” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- מָשַׁח mâshachsmear, anointtranslated this way 61 times of its 67 uses · Strong’s H4886Verb · Translated: anointed 36, anoint 22, coated 3, anointing 3Full study and all 66 verses →
Genesis 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the pillar and made a solemn vow to Me. Now get up, leave this land at once, and return to your native land.’”
Exodus 28:41 After you put these garments on your brother Aaron and his sons, anoint them, ordain them, and consecrate them so that they may serve Me as priests.
- מָשִׁיחַ mâshîachanointedtranslated this way 37 times of its 39 uses · Strong’s H4899Adjective · Translated: anointed 37, Messiah 2Full study and all 38 verses →
Leviticus 4:3 If the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, he must bring to the LORD a young bull without blemish as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.
1 Samuel 2:10 Those who oppose the LORD will be shattered. He will thunder from heaven against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth and will give power to His king. He will exalt the horn of His anointed.”
- מִשְׁחָה mishchâhointmenttranslated this way 23 times of its 25 uses · Strong’s H4888Noun · Translated: anointing 22, portion 2, anointed 1Full study and all 24 verses →
Exodus 25:6 olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;
Leviticus 8:2 “Take Aaron and his sons, their garments, the anointing oil, the bull of the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread,
- סוּךְ sûkpour in anointing, anointtranslated this way 8 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s H5480Verb · Translated: anoint 3, anointed 3, used to anoint 1, put on perfume 1Full study and all 9 verses →
Exodus 30:32 It must not be used to anoint an ordinary man, and you must not make anything like it with the same formula. It is holy, and it must be holy to you.
Deuteronomy 28:40 You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off.
- יָצַק yâtsaqpour, cast, flowtranslated this way 2 times of its 50 uses · Strong’s H3332Verb · Translated: pour 12, cast 10, poured 8, anointed 2Full study and all 48 verses →
Genesis 35:14 So Jacob set up a pillar in the place where God had spoken with him— a stone marker— and he poured out a drink offering on it and anointed it with oil.
Psalm 45:2 You are the most handsome of men; grace has anointed your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.
Greek words (New Testament)
- ἀλείφω aleíphōI anointtranslated this way 9 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G218Verb · Translated: anoint 5, anointed 3, anointing 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Matthew 6:17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
Mark 6:13 They also drove out many demons and healed many of the sick, anointing them with oil.
- χρίω chríōI anointtranslated this way 5 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G5548Verb · Translated: anointed 5Full study and all 5 verses →
Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed,
Acts 4:27 In fact, this is the very city where Herod and Pontius Pilate conspired with the Gentiles and the people of Israel against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed.
- χρῖσμα chrîsmaan anointingtranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G5545Noun · Translated: anointing 3Full study and all 2 verses →
1 John 2:20 You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
1 John 2:27 And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.