מָשַׁח
to anoint
‘to anoint’ is one of 2 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Qal verb in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Verb
- An action or state-of-being word.
Stem
- Qal
- The basic, simple active stem — the plain form of the verb (“he wrote”). Here: ‘smear’
- Niphal
- Usually the simple passive or reflexive of the Qal (“he was written”).
Form
- Sequential Perfect
- A perfect with prefixed waw continuing a preceding imperfect or command (waw-consecutive perfect).
- Sequential Imperfect
- An imperfect with prefixed waw — the standard past-narrative form (waw-consecutive imperfect).
- Infinitive Construct
- A bound verbal noun, frequently with prepositions (“to write / in writing”).
- Perfect
- A completed action or state — Hebrew marks aspect (completeness) more than strict tense (“he wrote”).
- Participle Passive
- A verbal adjective expressing action received (“written”).
- Imperfect
- An incomplete, ongoing, or future action (“he will / would write”).
- Infinitive Absolute
- An unbound verbal noun, often intensifying or standing in for a finite verb.
- Participle Active
- A verbal adjective expressing ongoing or characteristic action (“writing / one who writes”).
- Imperative
- A direct command (“write!”).
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Person
- 2nd Person
- The one addressed (“you”).
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
- 1st Person
- The speaker (“I / we”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Common
- Either gender — not distinguished for this form.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Grammatical forms 21 distinct
- Verb, Qal, Sequential Perfect, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular 12 times (17%)
- Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Plural 8 times (12%)
- Verb, Qal, Sequential Imperfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 8 times (12%)
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 1st Person, Common, Singular 5 times (7%)
- Verb, Qal, Participle Passive, Masculine, Plural, Absolute 5 times (7%)
- Verb, Qal, Perfect, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 5 times (7%)
- Verb, Niphal, Infinitive Construct 4 times (6%)
- Verb, Qal, Infinitive Construct 4 times (6%)
+13 more forms (18 occurrences)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 69 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H4886 appears — 66 distinct verses across 16 books. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Genesis 1 verse
Exodus 11 verses
- Exodus 28:41 וּ/מָשַׁחְתָּ֨ conj + Qal wpf 2ms You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest's office.
- Exodus 29:2 מְשֻׁחִ֣ים Qal ptcp.pass mp unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil: you shall make them of fine wheat flour.
- Exodus 29:7 וּ/מָשַׁחְתָּ֖ conj + Qal wpf 2ms Then you shall take the anointing oil, and pour it on his head, and anoint him.
- Exodus 29:36 וּ/מָֽשַׁחְתָּ֥ conj + Qal wpf 2ms Every day shall you offer the bull of sin-offering for atonement: and you shall cleanse the altar, when you make atonement for it; and you shall anoint it, to sanctify it.
- Exodus 30:26 וּ/מָשַׁחְתָּ֥ conj + Qal wpf 2ms You shall use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony,
- Exodus 30:30 תִּמְשָׁ֑ח Qal impf 2ms You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest's office.
- Exodus 40:9 וּ/מָשַׁחְתָּ֥ conj + Qal wpf 2ms You shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tent, and all that is in it, and shall make it holy, and all its furniture: and it will be holy.
- Exodus 40:10 וּ/מָשַׁחְתָּ֛ conj + Qal wpf 2ms You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering, with all its vessels, and sanctify the altar: and the altar will be most holy.
- Exodus 40:11 וּ/מָשַׁחְתָּ֥ conj + Qal wpf 2ms You shall anoint the basin and its base, and sanctify it.
- Exodus 40:13 וּ/מָשַׁחְתָּ֥ conj + Qal wpf 2ms You shall put on Aaron the holy garments; and you shall anoint him, and sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest's office.
- Exodus 40:15 וּ/מָשַׁחְתָּ֣ מָשַׁ֨חְתָּ֙ conj + Qal wpf 2ms Qal pf 2ms You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to me in the priest's office. Their anointing shall be to them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.
Leviticus 8 verses
- Leviticus 2:4 מְשֻׁחִ֥ים Qal ptcp.pass mp "'When you offer an offering of a meal offering baked in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.
- Leviticus 6:20 הִמָּשַׁ֣ח Niphal inf.cs "This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer to Yahweh in the day when he is anointed: the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering perpetually, half of it in the morning, and half of it in the evening.
- Leviticus 7:12 מְשֻׁחִ֣ים Qal ptcp.pass mp If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and cakes mixed with oil.
- Leviticus 7:36 מָשְׁח֣/וֹ Qal inf.cs + sfx pers 3ms which Yahweh commanded to be given them of the children of Israel, in the day that he anointed them. It is their portion forever throughout their generations.
- Leviticus 8:10 וַ/יִּמְשַׁ֥ח conj + Qal wimpf 3ms Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and sanctified them.
- Leviticus 8:11 וַ/יִּמְשַׁ֨ח conj + Qal wimpf 3ms He sprinkled it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its vessels, and the basin and its base, to sanctify them.
- Leviticus 8:12 וַ/יִּמְשַׁ֥ח conj + Qal wimpf 3ms He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.
- Leviticus 16:32 יִמְשַׁ֣ח Qal impf 3ms The priest, who is anointed and who is consecrated to be priest in his father's place, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments.
Numbers 7 verses
- Numbers 3:3 הַ/מְּשֻׁחִ֑ים ptcl def.art + Qal ptcp.pass mp These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests who were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office.
- Numbers 6:15 מְשֻׁחִ֣ים Qal ptcp.pass mp and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal offering, and their drink offerings.
- Numbers 7:1 וַ/יִּמְשַׁ֨ח וַ/יִּמְשָׁחֵ֖/ם conj + Qal wimpf 3ms conj + Qal wimpf 3ms + sfx pers 3mp It happened on the day that Moses had finished setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and sanctified it, with all its furniture, and the altar with all its vessels, and had anointed and sanctified them;
- Numbers 7:10 הִמָּשַׁ֣ח Niphal inf.cs The princes gave offerings for the dedication of the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes gave their offerings before the altar.
- Numbers 7:84 הִמָּשַׁ֣ח Niphal inf.cs This was the dedication of the altar, on the day when it was anointed, by the princes of Israel: twelve silver platters, twelve silver bowls, twelve golden ladles;
- Numbers 7:88 הִמָּשַׁ֥ח Niphal inf.cs and all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace offerings twenty-four bulls, the rams sixty, the male goats sixty, the male lambs a year old sixty. This was the dedication of the altar, after it was anointed.
- Numbers 35:25 מָשַׁ֥ח Qal pf 3ms and the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he was fled: and he shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
Judges 2 verses
- Judges 9:8 לִ/מְשֹׁ֥חַ prep + Qal inf.cs The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said to the olive tree, Reign you over us.
- Judges 9:15 מֹשְׁחִ֨ים Qal ptcp.act mp The bramble said to the trees, If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.
1 Samuel 7 verses
- 1 Samuel 9:16 וּ/מְשַׁחְתּ֤/וֹ conj + Qal wpf 2ms + sfx pers 3ms Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel; and he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked on my people, because their cry is come to me.
- 1 Samuel 10:1 מְשָׁחֲ/ךָ֧ Qal pf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms Then Samuel took the vial of oil, and poured it on his head, and kissed him, and said, Isn't it that Yahweh has anointed you to be prince over his inheritance?
- 1 Samuel 15:1 לִ/מְשָׁחֳ/ךָ֣ prep + Qal inf.cs + sfx pers 2ms Samuel said to Saul, Yahweh sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore listen you to the voice of the words of Yahweh.
- 1 Samuel 15:17 וַ/יִּמְשָׁחֲ/ךָ֧ conj + Qal wimpf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms Samuel said, "Though you were little in your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh anointed you king over Israel;
- 1 Samuel 16:3 וּ/מָשַׁחְתָּ֣ conj + Qal wpf 2ms Call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do: and you shall anoint to me him whom I name to you.
- 1 Samuel 16:12 מְשָׁחֵ֖/הוּ Qal impv 2ms + sfx pers 3ms He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful face, and goodly to look on. Yahweh said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he.
- 1 Samuel 16:13 וַ/יִּמְשַׁ֣ח conj + Qal wimpf 3ms Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers: and the Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
2 Samuel 7 verses
- 2 Samuel 2:4 וַ/יִּמְשְׁחוּ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp The men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. They told David, saying, The men of Jabesh Gilead were those who buried Saul.
- 2 Samuel 2:7 מָשְׁח֧וּ Qal pf 3cp Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be you valiant; for Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.
- 2 Samuel 3:39 וּ/מָשׁ֣וּחַ conj + Qal ptcp.pass ms I am this day weak, though anointed king; and these men the sons of Zeruiah are too hard for me. May Yahweh reward the evil-doer according to his wickedness."
- 2 Samuel 5:3 וַ/יִּמְשְׁח֧וּ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before Yahweh: and they anointed David king over Israel.
- 2 Samuel 5:17 מָשְׁח֨וּ Qal pf 3cp When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the stronghold.
- 2 Samuel 12:7 מְשַׁחְתִּ֤י/ךָֽ Qal pf 1cs + sfx pers 2ms Nathan said to David, "You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: 'I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul.
- 2 Samuel 19:10 מָשַׁ֣חְנוּ Qal pf 1cp Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore why don't you speak a word of bringing the king back?
1 Kings 6 verses
- 1 Kings 1:34 וּ/מָשַׁ֣ח conj + Qal wpf 3ms and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel; and blow you the trumpet, and say, [Long] live king Solomon.
- 1 Kings 1:39 וַ/יִּמְשַׁ֖ח conj + Qal wimpf 3ms Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the Tent, and anointed Solomon. They blew the trumpet; and all the people said, [Long] live king Solomon.
- 1 Kings 1:45 וַ/יִּמְשְׁח֣וּ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon; and they are come up from there rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that you have heard.
- 1 Kings 5:1 מָשְׁח֥וּ Qal pf 3cp Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram was ever a lover of David.
- 1 Kings 19:15 וּ/מָשַׁחְתָּ֧ conj + Qal wpf 2ms Yahweh said to him, Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when you come, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria;
- 1 Kings 19:16 תִּמְשַׁ֥ח תִּמְשַׁ֥ח Qal impf 2ms Qal impf 2ms and Jehu the son of Nimshi shall you anoint to be king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah shall you anoint to be prophet in your room.
2 Kings 5 verses
- 2 Kings 9:3 מְשַׁחְתִּ֥י/ךָֽ Qal pf 1cs + sfx pers 2ms Then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus says Yahweh, I have anointed you king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and don't wait.
- 2 Kings 9:6 מְשַׁחְתִּ֧י/ךָֽ Qal pf 1cs + sfx pers 2ms He arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, I have anointed you king over the people of Yahweh, even over Israel.
- 2 Kings 9:12 מְשַׁחְתִּ֥י/ךָֽ Qal pf 1cs + sfx pers 2ms They said, It is false; tell us now. He said, Thus and thus spoke he to me, saying, Thus says Yahweh, I have anointed you king over Israel.
- 2 Kings 11:12 וַ/יִּמְשָׁחֻ֑/הוּ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp + sfx pers 3ms Then he brought out the king's son, and put the crown on him, and [gave him] the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, [Long] live the king.
- 2 Kings 23:30 וַ/יִּמְשְׁח֥וּ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp His servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo, and brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own tomb. The people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's place.
1 Chronicles 3 verses
- 1 Chronicles 11:3 וַ/יִּמְשְׁח֨וּ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before Yahweh; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of Yahweh by Samuel.
- 1 Chronicles 14:8 נִמְשַׁ֨ח Niphal pf 3ms When the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David: and David heard of it, and went out against them.
- 1 Chronicles 29:22 וַ/יִּמְשְׁח֧וּ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp and ate and drink before Yahweh on that day with great gladness. They made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him to Yahweh to be prince, and Zadok to be priest.
2 Chronicles 2 verses
- 2 Chronicles 22:7 מְשָׁח֣/וֹ Qal pf 3ms + sfx pers 3ms Now the destruction of Ahaziah was of God, in that he went to Joram: for when he was come, he went out with Jehoram against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom Yahweh had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab.
- 2 Chronicles 23:11 וַ/יִּמְשָׁחֻ֨/הוּ֙ conj + Qal wimpf 3mp + sfx pers 3ms Then they brought out the king's son, and put the crown on him, and [gave him] the testimony, and made him king: and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him; and they said, [Long] live the king.
Psalms 2 verses
- Psalms 45:7 מְשָׁחֲ/ךָ֡ Qal pf 3ms + sfx pers 2ms You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
- Psalms 89:20 מְשַׁחְתִּֽי/ו Qal pf 1cs + sfx pers 3ms I have found David, my servant. I have anointed him with my holy oil,
Isaiah 2 verses
- Isaiah 21:5 מִשְׁח֥וּ Qal impv 2mp They prepare the table, they set the watch, they eat, they drink: rise up, you princes, anoint the shield.
- Isaiah 61:1 מָשַׁח֩ Qal pf 3ms The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me; because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble; he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening [of the prison] to those who are bound;
Jeremiah 1 verse
Daniel 1 verse
Amos 1 verse
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
“to anoint” is the headline sense of the Hebrew verb משח (mâshach). The King James Version usually renders it “anointed,” while modern versions prefer “you shall anoint” (unfoldingWord Literal Text) — see the renderings breakdown. With 66 verses in 16 books, it is a moderately common word in the Hebrew Bible. Scripture first uses it in Genesis 31:13. Across 2 stems, its meaning turns on the binyan (Qal, Niphal). The sections below give every sense, occurrence, and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H4886 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 66
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 66 distinct verses.
- 16 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 16 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #575
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 575 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 66 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 66 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 31 verses · 47%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 27 verses · 41%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 8 verses · 12%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Anointed 15×, Anoint 10×, Thou shalt anoint 8×
- American Standard Version: Anointed 15×, Thou shalt anoint 9×, Anoint 5×
- Berean Standard Bible: Anoint 9×, Anointed 9×, Was anointed 4×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: You shall anoint 10×, Anoint 7×, He anointed 6×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H4886 across 69 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 14 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H4886 across 69 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 17 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H4886 across 67 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 23 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 2 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H4886 across 74 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 20 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
7 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
Hebrew verbs can shift meaning by stem (binyan): Qal is the basic action, Niphal is often passive or reflexive, Piel often intensifies or makes it factitive, and Hiphil is typically causative. The senses below are grouped under the stem BDB assigns to each.
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 7 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
Qal
- Pf. 3 ms. מ׳ Nu 3:3 + 2 times; sf. מְשָֽׁחֲךָ ψ 45:8 1 S 10:1; מְשָׁחוֹ 2 Ch 22:7; 2 ms. מָשַׁחְתָּ Gn 31:13 + 12 times, + 9 times Pf.; Impf. 3 ms. יִמְשַׁח Lv 16:32 + 6 times; 3 mpl. יִמְשָׁ֑חוּ Am 6:6, + 13 times Impf.; Imv. sf. מְשָׁחֵהוּ 1 S 16:12; pl. מִשְׁחוּ Is 21:5; Inf. abs. מָשׁוֹחַ Je 22:14; cstr. מְשֹׁחַ Ju 9:8; Dn 9:24 + Ho 8:3 𝔊 We GASm Now; מָשְׁחָה Ex 29:29; sf. מְשָֽׁחֳךָ 1 S 15:1 (Baer); מָשְׁחוֹ Lv 7:36; מָשְׁחָתָם Ex 40:15; Pt. pl. מֹשְׁחִים Ju 9:15; pass. מָשׁוּחַ 2 S 3:39 (We suggests deriv. from שׁח, defect. משׁח (מֻשַׁח), wrongly read as מָשֻׁחַ; or by transposition משׁוח may have been mistaken for an unexampled מוּשָׁח Hoph. Pt. of שׁוח); מָשִׁיחַ 2 S 1:21 (but read מָשֻׁחַ (or נמשׁח) Codd. We Dr Kit Bu HPS); pl. מְשֻׁחִים Ex 29:2 + 4 times;— e.g. Numbers 3:3
- 1. smear, house with colour (paint) Je 22:14; shield with oil (anoint) Is 21:5; 2 S 1:21 (cf. Dr; Gr כְּלִי מָשׁוּחַ weapon anointed; PetersJBL 1893, 56 כְּלֵי מָשׁוּחַ weapons of one (the king) anointed); the person, with ointments Am 6:6; unleavened cakes, with oil Ex 29:2; Lv 2:4; 7:12; Nu 6:15 (P). e.g. Jeremiah 22:14
- 2. anoint, as consecration, solemn setting apart to an office, always by the use of oil poured on the head: לנביא as a prophet 1 K 19:16 (Elisha by Elijah) Is 61:1; elsewhere of king, c. acc., מֶלֶךְ Ju 9:8 (E), so Ho 8:3 reading מִמְּשֹׁחַ מֶלֶךְ (for MT מִמַּשָּׂא מ׳) We GASm Now; also Ho 7:3 reading יִמְשְׁחוּ (for MT יְשַׂמְּחוּ) We Now; elsewhere acc. pers. 1 S 16:3, 12, 13; 1 K 1:39; 2 K 11:12; 23:30; 2 Ch 22:7; 23:11; בְּשֶׁמֶן קָדְשִׁי ψ 89:21 with my holy oil; שׁמן שָׂשׂוֹן ψ 45:8 (fig.); c. על, 2 S 19:11 whom we have anointed over us; לְמֶלֶךְ 1 K 1:45; 5:15; c. עַל, לְמֶלֶךְ Ju 9:15; 2 S 2:4, 7; 1 K 19:15; על ישׂראל over Israel 1 S 15:1, 17; 2 S 5:3 = 1 Ch 11:3, 2 S 5:17; 12:7; 1 K 1:34; 19:16; אֶל־ישׂראל 2 K 9:3, 6, 12 (Ephr.); לנגיד 1 Ch 29:22; על 1 S 9:16; 10:1; מָשׁוּחַ מֶלֶךְ 2 S 3:39 (? v. supr.) e.g. 1 Kings 19:16
- 3. anoint, consecrate to religious service:
- a. Aaronic priests, only P, c. acc. pers. Ex 28:41; 29:7; 30:30; 40:13, 15(×3) Lv 7:36; 8:12; 16:32; Nu 35:25; abs. Ex 29:29; הכהנים הַמְּשֻׁחִים Nu 3:3. e.g. Exodus 28:41
- b. sacred things: מַצֵּבָה Gn 31:13 (E) Nu 7:1(×2); tabernacle and its vessels Ex 29:36; 30:26; 40:9, 10, 11; Lv 8:10, 11 (all P); קדשׁ קדשׁים Dn 9:24. e.g. Genesis 31:13
Niphal
- Pf. 3. ms. נִמְשַׁח 1 Ch 14:8; Inf. הִמָּשַׁח Lv 6:13 + 3 times;—be anointed, למלך על כל ישׂראל 1 Ch 14:8; Aaron and his sons Lv 6:13 (P); altar Nu 7:10, 84, 88. e.g. 1 Chronicles 14:8
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
vb. smear, anoint (NH id.; orig. prob. as Arabic مَسَحَ wipe or stroke with the hand (cf. RSSem. i. 215; 2nd ed., 233), anoint, Aramaic ܡܫܰܚ, מְשַׁח anoint; on משח, id. (?) in Aramaic inscr. v. CISii. 1, No. 145, C, 1; Palm. משחא oil Vog No. 16; Ethiopic መስሐ anoint, feast, dine DiLex 176; (Assyrian mašâḫu is measure; Aramaic מְשַׁח id.; Arabic مساحة measurement, cf. DlProl 178 Frä 282));—
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive root
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
מָשַׁח I
- (b. h.) to stroke, smear; esp. to anoint; to install in office by anointing. Ker. 5ᵇ מושְׁחִין את המלכים כמין נזר וכ׳ in anointing kings you draw the figure of a crown with the oil on your finger &c., v. כי. Ib. אין מושחין מלך וכ׳ a king succeeding his father is not anointed; a. v. fr.—Part. pass. מָשׁוּחַ, pl. מְשׁוּחִים, מְשׁוּחִין. כהן מ׳ a high priest installed with the ceremony of anointing, contrad. to מרובה בגדים, v. מְרוּבֶּה. Hor. III, 4; Meg. I, 9 אין כין כהן מ׳ בשמן וכ׳ there is no difference between the anointed and the unanointed high priest except &c. Sifré Tsav, Par. 3, ch. V; a. fr., v. מָשִׁיחַ.—מְשׁוּחַ מלחמה the priest anointed as the chaplain of the army. Yoma 72ᵇ; a. fr., v. מָשִׁיחַ.—Pesik. R. s. 8 מ׳ מלחמה, v. מָשִׁיחַ end. Hor. 12ᵃ, v. יָמַן. Ib. 11ᵇ מלכי בית דוד מ׳ וכ׳ the kings of the house of David are anointed kings, those of Israel are not installed by anointment; a. fr.
- to be anointed. Ib. יהוא לא נ׳ וכ׳ Jehu would not have been anointed but for the contest of Joram’s followers. Ib. וממנו היה נִמְשָׁח המשכן וכ׳ with that oil (prepared by Moses) were anointed the Tabernacle &c.; Y. Sot. VIII, 22ᶜ. Num. R. s. 12 עד שנִמְשְׁחוּ כולם until all the vessels were anointed; a. fr.
מְשַׁח
- Targ. O. Gen. XXXI, 13. Targ. Ps. LXIV, 4 (Ms. מתח); a. fr.—Part. pass. מְשִׁיחַ. Targ. II Sam. I, 21; a. e.—Ker. 5ᵇ ההוא דמשיח וכ׳ (not דמשח) that son of the high priest that was anointed was high priest &c.; Hor. 11ᵇ אי הוה משיח וכ׳.
- to be rubbed with oil, perfumed. Targ. Am. VI, 6.
מָשַׁח II
- to stretch, measure. Denom. מָשׁוֹחַ, מְשִׁיחָה.
- to draw the outlines. Yalk. Num. 719 עומד ומַמְשִׁיחַ בה stood there drawing (the pattern of the candlestick).
מְשַׁח ²
- Targ. Y. Gen. X, 25. Targ. Ez. XL, 5; a. fr.—Sabb. 19ᵃ נִימְשַׁח וניתיב ליה נימשח ונשקול מיניה Ms. M. (ed., v. מִשְׁחָא II) let him measure when giving it out and again when receiving it back. B. Mets. 107ᵇ לא תִימְשְׁחִינְהוּ כלל Ms. M. (ed. תימשחנו) do not measure (survey) at all.
מְשַׁח III
- (מְשַׁח I)
- 1. oil, fat. Targ. Num. VII, 13. Targ. Ex. XXIX, 7; a. fr.—Y. Maas. Sh. IV, 54ᵈ bot. הוה ליה משח וכ׳ had oil which he took down to Acco (for sale). Ib. ההוא מִישְׁחָךְ וכ׳ (not מישחף, some ed. מישחא) that oil of thine at Beth M.—Ab. Zar. 37ᵃ דשרו מ׳ who permitted oil (of gentiles). Ib. 28ᵃ מ׳ דאווזא goose-fat; a. fr.
- 2. resin. Targ. Is. XLI, 19 אעין דמ׳ pine-wood (h. text עצי שמן, v. דדנין).—Succ. 40ᵃ, v. מִשְׁחָן. Gitt. 69ᵇ, v. כּוּפְרָא II.
מְשַׁח IV
- (מְשַׁח II) measure, length. Targ. II Chr. IV, 2 חוט מ׳ measuring line; a. e.—[Targ. I Kings VI, 25 משחא חדא, v. מִשְׁחֲתָא.]—B. Bath. 145ᵇ עתיר משח rich in things that are measured (corn &c.).—Sabb. 19ᵃ במ׳ ניתיב וכ׳ let him give it out (for washing) by measure &c., v. מְשַׁח II.—V. מִשְׁחֲתָא.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 56 distinct written forms H4886 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that stem’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H4886, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derived from this word
- ממשח mimshach H4473 anointed
- משח mᵉshach H4887 oil
- משחה mishchâh H4888 anointing oil
- משיח mâshîyach H4899 anointed one
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 5 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 64 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 66 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 31:13
- Exodus 28:41
- Leviticus 2:4
- Numbers 3:3
- Judges 9:8
- 1 Samuel 9:16
- 2 Samuel 2:4
- 1 Kings 1:34
- 2 Kings 9:3
- 1 Chronicles 11:3
- 2 Chronicles 22:7
- Psalms 45:7
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
