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Bible Dictionaries
Ointment
Smith's Bible Dictionary
or Ointment. (An oily or unctuous substance, usually compounded of oil with various spices and resins and aromatics, and preserved in small alabaster boxes or cruses, in which the delicious aroma was best preserved. Some of the ointments have been known to retain their: fragrance for several hundred years. They were a much-coveted luxury, and often very expensive. - Editor).
Cosmetic. - The Greek and Roman practice of anointing the head and clothes, on festive occasions, prevailed also among the Egyptians, and appears to have had place, among the Jews. Ruth 3:2.
Funereal. - Ointments, as well as oil, were used to anoint dead bodies, and the clothes in which they were wrapped. Matthew 26:12.
Medicinal. - Ointment formed an important feature in ancient medical treatment. Isaiah 1:6; Jeremiah 8:22; John 9:6; Revelation 3:18; etc.
Ritual. - Besides the oil used in many ceremonial observances, a special ointment was appointed, to be used in consecration. Exodus 30:23; Exodus 30:33; Exodus 29:7; Exodus 37:29; Exodus 40:9; Exodus 40:15. A person whose business it was to compound ointments, in general, was called an "apothecary." Nehemiah 3:8 The work was sometimes carried on by woman, "confectionaries." 1 Samuel 8:13.
These files are public domain.
Smith, William, Dr. Entry for 'Ointment'. Smith's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/sbd/o/ointment.html. 1901.
