OINTMENT (oin t' rnen t).
(1) Name. Ointment is the rendering of th( following words in the original: (t) Heb.
sheh'nzen (2 Kings xx: ; Ps. cxxxiii:2; Prov.
xxvii:t6; Eccles. vii:t; ix:8; x:t ; Is. i:6, etc.), prob ably oi/(and so elsewhere rendered, except "olive" in 1 Kings vi:23, sq.; "pine," in Neh. vit1:15; "fat ness," in Ps. cix:24 ; "fat things," in Is. xxv:6 ; " fruitful," in Is. v:1). (2) Hebrew form IV, ro'kakh, an aromatic (Exod. xxx:25), an odorous compound ("confection," Exod. xxx:35; 2 Citron. xvi:14; "pot of ointment," Job xli:31, etc.). (3) Gr. Atipov, moo'ron, myrrh (invariably rendered "oint ment"). (McC. & Str. Bib. Cyc.) (2) Nature and Preparation. The holy anointing oil made by Bezalel for Moses (Exod. xxx :23, sq.) consisted of one hin of olive oil (about to lbs.), 5oo shekels of flowing myrrh (about 15 lbs.), 25o shekels of sweet cinnamon (about 7% lbs.), 25o shekels of sweet calatuus, and 5oo shekels of cassia (or costus). The Jewish au thors who regard the 'shekel of the sanctuary' as twice the ordinary shekel, double these weights.
This was to be compounded after the art of the perfumer. Probably these scented substances, or some of them, were brought into the market in powder, as in Cant. iii :6, these spices are called 'the powders of the merchant.' There are dif ferent descriptions given by Rabbinical writers of the process whereby the anointing oil was compounded, but most probably it was simple pulverization of the ingredients, and boiling them in the oil ; for, as Pliny has remarked, the strength of the ointment is greater when the ingredients are boiled together (xiii :2) ; but see Otho's Lexicon, under the word 'Oleum.' The making of ointment in this way was recognized by Hebrew writers (see Job xli :30. (A. Mac alister, Hastings' Bib. Diet.) (3) Uses. Ointment was used among the He brew and other nations for cosmetics, for funeral, medicinal and ritual purposes. (See ANOINTING; OIL.) OLD (old). See AGE.