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Subject: Bible Foods OIL The following original words are rendered "oil": (1) Most generally oil is the rendering of the Heb. shemen, "grease." Sometimes rendered "ointment" in the KJV. (2) Heb. yishar, "shining, clear olive oil" (Num 18:12; Deut 7:13; 11:14; 12:17; etc.). (3) Aram. meshah, an "unguent" (only in Ezra 6:9; 7:22). (4) Grk. elaion, neuter of word meaning "olive." Of the numerous substances, animal and vegetable, that were known to the ancients as yielding oil, the olive berry is the one the Scriptures mention most frequently. The best oil is made from fruit gathered about November or December, when it has begun to change color but before it has become black. The berry in the more advanced state yields more oil, but it is of an inferior quality. Harvesting. In order not to injure either the crop or the tree, great care is necessary in gathering, either by hand or shaking the fruit off carefully with a light stick. It is then carefully cleaned and carried to press, which is considered best; or, if necessary, laid on tables with hollow trays made sloping, so as to allow the first juice to flow into other receptacles beneath, care being taken not to heap the fruit too much and so prevent the free escape of the juice, which is injurious to the oil though itself useful in other ways. Manufacture. In order to make oil, the fruit was either bruised in a mortar, crushed in a press loaded with wood or stones, ground in a mill, or trodden with the feet. The "beaten" oil of Ex 27:20; 29:40; Lev 24:2; Num 28:5 was probably made by bruising in a mortar. The berries are bruised in a crude mill consisting of a round stone resembling a millstone but much larger, usually six to eight feet in diameter. This stone is laid flat on the ground. Its upper surface is depressed about three inches, except at its edge. The center of this stone is bored through, and an upright pole is fastened in it, projecting about three feet above it. Another stone disk, five or six feet in diameter and a foot or eighteen inches thick, is set on edge in the depression on the top of the other. Through the center of this stone passes a long pole, one end of which has a ring attached to it, which fits over the end of the upright in the other disk, while the other end is attached to a whiffletree, by which a horse or mule draws it round and round the mill. The berries are placed in the cavity on the face of the horizontal stone, and the upright stone moves around the edge of the cavity, crushing the berries as it goes. A part of the oil thus expressed is drawn off by a hole in the elevated rim of the stone. The refuse is then transferred to baskets, which are piled on top of one another in the space between two grooved upright posts. A lever, weighted at its distal end with heavy stones, compresses these baskets and expresses the crude oil. This is run into large stone reservoirs, in which it becomes clarified and is kept for use or sale. From these the oil was drawn out for use in horns or other small vessels, which were stored in cellars or storehouses, of which special mention is made in the inventories of royal property and revenue (1 Sam 10:1; 16:1,13; 1 Kings 1:39; 17:16; 2 Kings 4:2,6; 9:1,3; 1 Chron 27:28; 2 Chron 11:11; 32:28; Prov 21:20). A supply of oil was always kept in the Temple (Josephus Wars 5.13.6), and an oil treasure was among the stores of the Jewish kings (2 Kings 20:13; 2 Chron 32:27-28). Oil of Tekoa was reckoned the best. Trade in oil was carried on with the Tyrians, by whom it was probably often re-exported to Egypt, whose olives do not for the most part produce good oil (2 Chron 2:10). Direct trade in oil was also carried on between Egypt and Palestine (Ezra 3:7; Isa 57:9; Ezek 27:17; Hos 12:1). Uses. As Food. Oil is now, as formerly, in general use as food throughout western Asia, taking the place of butter and animal fat in various preparations (cf. Ezek 16:13). Indeed, it would appear that the Hebrews considered oil one of the prime necessities of life (Sirach 39:31; cf. Jer 31:12; 41:8; Luke 16:6). It is frequently mentioned with honey (Ezek 16:13,19; 27:17), and its abundance was a mark of prosperity (cf. Joel 2:19). Cosmetic. As is the case generally in hot climates, oil was used by the Jews for anointing the body, e.g., after the bath, and giving to the skin and hair a smooth and comely appearance, e.g., before an entertainment. At Egyptian entertainments it was usual for a servant to anoint the head of each guest as he took his seat (Deut 28:40; 2 Sam 12:20; 14:2; Ruth 3:3). Funereal. The bodies of the dead were anointed with oil by the Greeks and Romans, probably as a partial antiseptic, and a similar custom appears to have prevailed among the Jews. Medicinal. As oil is in use in many cases in modern medicine, it is not surprising that it should have been much used among the Jews and other nations of antiquity for medicinal purposes. Celsus repeatedly speaks of the use of oil, especially old oil, applied externally with friction in fevers, and in many other cases. Josephus mentions that among the remedies employed in the case of Herod, he was put into a sort of oil bath. The prophet Isaiah (Isa 1:6) alludes to the use of oil as ointment in medical treatment; and it thus furnished a fitting symbol, perhaps also an efficient remedy, when used by our Lord's disciples in the miraculous cures that they were enabled to perform (Mark 6:13). With similar intention, no doubt, its use was enjoined by James (James 5:14). Light. Oil was in general use for lamps, being still used in Egypt with cotton wicks twisted around straw, the receptacle being a glass vessel into which water is first poured (Matt 25:1-9; cf. Luke 12:35). Ritual. Oil as poured on or mixed with the flour used in offering (see Sacrificial Offerings), excepting the sin offering (Lev 5:11) and the offering of jealousy (Num 5:15). The use of oil in sacrifices was indicative of joy or gladness; the absence of oil denoted sorrow or humiliation (Isa 61:3; Joel 2:19; Rev 6:6). Kings, priests, and prophets were anointed with oil or ointment. Tithes of oil were also prescribed (Deut 12:17; 2 Chron 31:5; Neh 10:37,39; 13:12; Ezek 45:14). Figurative. Oil was a fitting symbol of the Spirit or spiritual principle of life, by virtue of its power to sustain and fortify the vital energy; and the anointing oil, which was prepared according to divine instructions, was therefore a symbol of the Spirit of God, as the principle of spiritual life that proceeds from God and fills the natural being of the creature with the powers of divine life. Anointing with oil, therefore, was a symbol of endowment with the Spirit of God for the duties of the office to which a person was consecrated (Lev 8:12; 1 Sam 10:1,6; 16:13-14; Isa 61:1). Oil was symbolic of abundance (Deut 8:8; Ezek 16:13); lack of oil was a figure for want, poverty (Deut 28:40; Joel 1:10); to "suck honey from the rock, and oil from the flinty rock" (Deut 32:13) is a figure derived from the fact that Canaan abounds in wild bees, which make their hives in clefts of the rock and in olive trees that grow in a rocky soil. The expression suggests the most valuable productions out of the most unproductive places, since God so blessed the land that even the rocks and stones were productive. "The oil of gladness" is a figure for the consolations of the gospel (Isa 61:3; Heb 1:9); "oil upon the head" (Ps 141:5) is a figure for kind reproof. "His words were softer than oil" (55:21) is used to express the hypocritical pretense of a false friend (cf. Prov 5:3). S (From The New Unger's Bible Dictionary) |