Exodus 29:7

7 And thou shalt take of the anointing oil, and thou shalt pour it on his head, and shalt anoint him,

Exodus 29:7 Meaning and Commentary

Exodus 29:7

Then thou shall take the anointing oil,
After ordered to be made of principal spices, myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, cassia, and oil olive, ( Exodus 30:23-30 )

and pour it upon his head, and anoint him;
this was done, according to Jarchi, in the form of the letter "chi" as before; the oil was put upon his head and between his eyebrows, and he joined them with his finger: Aben Ezra thinks this was done before the mitre was put upon his head, for upon the head was the oil only poured; but Nachmanides was of opinion that the mitre was so folded about the head that the middle of the head was open, and upon that the oil was poured; and so the Talmudists say ^F24 that his (the high priest's) hair was seen between the plate of gold and the mitre; but however this was, it seems plain from the text that this anointing was after the mitre was put on, and the priest habited with all his garments; and it is also as clear a case, that the ointment was poured on his head, which ran down to his beard, ( Psalms 133:2 ) , and I see no difficulty in supposing that the mitre and crown might be taken off again while the ceremony of anointing was performed. This unction denotes the investiture of Christ with his office in eternity, who is said to be anointed so early, ( Proverbs 8:22 ) , and the donation of the Spirit to him in time, without measure; with which he is said to be anointed, both at his incarnation and at his baptism, and also at his ascension to heaven, and hence comes the name of the Messiah, which signifies anointed; and so his people, his priests, are anointed of God, with an unction from him, with the oil of grace, with the graces of the Spirit, which is necessary for their instruction, for the presentation of themselves to as an holy sacrifice, and to make them meet for the heavenly glory.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F24 T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 19. 1.

Exodus 29:7 In-Context

5 And having taken the garments, thou shalt put on Aaron thy brother both the full-length robe and the ephod and the oracle; and thou shalt join for him the oracle to the ephod.

6 And thou shalt put the mitre on his head; and thou shalt put the plate, the Holiness, on the mitre.

7 And thou shalt take of the anointing oil, and thou shalt pour it on his head, and shalt anoint him,

8 and thou shalt bring his sons, and put garments on them.

9 And thou shalt gird them with the girdles, and put the tires upon them, and they shall have a priestly office to me for ever; and thou shalt fill the hands of Aaron and the hands of his sons.