"to anoint with oil or ointment"
Definition and meaning
to anoint with oil or ointment
In the original Greek the word is written: ἀλείφω
Historical context
Rome had controlled Judea since 63 BC. Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple into one of the most magnificent structures in the ancient world — and simultaneously murdered members of his own family. The common people paid multiple layers of taxation and were politically powerless. Into that world a carpenter from Galilee began teaching that the kingdom of God had arrived.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of aleipho (G218) across the King James Bible.
But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;
And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.
And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
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Common questions
Strong's G218 (aleipho) is a Greek word that means: to anoint with oil or ointment It appears 8 times in the King James Bible.
The word aleipho (G218) appears 8 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G218 is aleipho, a Greek word defined as: to anoint with oil or ointment. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
aleipho is a Greek word found in the New Testament.