Oil

Normally olive oil, which was in plentiful supply in Israel and in general household use. Its ritual uses included the anointing of priests and kings and ceremonial cleansing; in the NT oil was used to anoint the sick. As a sign of God's provision for his people, oil was associated with prosperity and gladness, and was a mark of spiritual blessing.

The production of oil

Job 24:11 Olives were pressed either with a pestle and mortar or in a stone press; Matthew 26:36 “Gethsemane” means “oil press”, named after the stone presses associated with the Mount of Olives.

General uses of oil

As a necessary provision

1 Chronicles 12:40; 2 Chronicles 11:11

As a fuel for lamps

Exodus 27:20 parallel Leviticus 24:2 See also Exodus 35:14 parallel Exodus 39:37; Numbers 4:9; Matthew 25:1–10

And you are to command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually.

Mixed with flour in baking

1 Kings 17:12–16 See also Exodus 29:23; Numbers 11:8

But she replied, “As surely as the LORD your God lives, I have no bread— only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Look, I am gathering a couple of sticks to take home and prepare a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and die.” “Do not be afraid,” Elijah said to her. “Go and do as you have said. But first make me a small cake of bread from what you have, and bring it out to me. Afterward, make some for yourself and your son, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be exhausted and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain upon the face of the earth.’” So she went and did according to the word of Elijah, and there was food every day for Elijah and the woman and her household. The jar of flour was not exhausted and the jug of oil did not run dry, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Elijah.

As an ointment

Isaiah 1:6 See also Psalm 55:21; Luke 10:34

From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness— only wounds and welts and festering sores neither cleansed nor bandaged nor soothed with oil.

Oil for use in the sanctuary

Nehemiah 10:39 See also Exodus 25:6 parallel Exodus 35:8; Numbers 4:16; 1 Chronicles 9:29; Ezra 6:9

For the Israelites and the Levites are to bring the contributions of grain, new wine, and oil to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary are kept and where the ministering priests, the gatekeepers, and the singers stay. Thus we will not neglect the house of our God.”

Oil used for ceremonial anointing

He also poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him.

Kings were anointed with oil

1 Samuel 10:1 Saul; 1 Samuel 16:13; Psalm 89:20; 1 Kings 1:39 Solomon; 2 Kings 9:1–6 Jehu

Further ceremonial uses of oil

In ceremonial cleansing

Leviticus 14:15–18, Leviticus 14:24–29

In offerings

At the consecration of priests: Exodus 29:2; Numbers 8:8; Exodus 29:40; Numbers 28:5; Leviticus 2:1–7, Leviticus 6:20–21; Numbers 7:13; Leviticus 7:12 with the thank offering; Numbers 6:15 at the completion of the Nazirite's vow; Numbers 28:9, Numbers 28:28; Ezekiel 46:4–5

Oil was excluded from certain offerings

Leviticus 5:11; Numbers 5:15

Oil used to anoint the sick

James 5:14 See also Mark 6:13

Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

God's provision of oil

Oil as a sign of God's blessing

Deuteronomy 32:13 See also Deuteronomy 7:13, Deuteronomy 8:7–8, Deuteronomy 11:14; Hosea 2:8

He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty crag,

Oil withdrawn as a sign of judgment

Deuteronomy 28:40 See also Deuteronomy 28:51; Joel 1:10; Micah 6:15; Haggai 1:11

You will have olive trees throughout your territory but will never anoint yourself with oil, because the olives will drop off.

Renewed provision of oil following restoration

Jeremiah 31:12 See also Hosea 2:22; Joel 2:18–19, Joel 2:24

They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD — the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden, and never again will they languish.

The firstfruits of the oil harvest

Numbers 18:12; Deuteronomy 18:4; 2 Chronicles 31:5; Nehemiah 10:37

Tithes of oil

Deuteronomy 12:17, Deuteronomy 14:23; Nehemiah 13:12

Oil as a commodity for trade

1 Kings 5:11 parallel 2 Chronicles 2:10; Ezra 3:7; Ezekiel 27:17; Hosea 12:1

Oil as a sign of prosperity

when my steps were bathed in cream and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!

Oil associated with celebration

Psalm 45:7 The joy with which God anoints his servants is likened to the oil which anoints the bridegroom in preparation for his wedding. See also Psalm 104:15; Ecclesiastes 9:8; Isaiah 61:3; Matthew 6:17 Oil draws attention away from the fact that a person is fasting; Hebrews 1:9

You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you above your companions with the oil of joy.

Oil as a sign of honour

Psalm 23:5 Oil was used to anoint the heads of honoured guests at a meal. See also Psalm 141:5; Luke 7:46

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.