45 Bible Verses on Anointing

In the Old Testament, the act of anointing something served to consecrate the item or person as a holy entity that carried God’s presence. The priests, tabernacle, altar, and eventually kings of Israel were anointed as a part of God’s special instructions to Moses. In the New Testament Jesus’ anointing in the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:37) fully fulfilled what the Old Testament was foreshadowing: the full presence of God with man. Those who follow Jesus and trust in Him are now also anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, sealed and kept by Him to live holy lives that reflect His presence with us (2 Cor 2:21-22). These verses follow the development of anointing through the Bible from the first anointing at Bethel where God met Jacob to the anointing of God’s people by the Spirit.

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What Does the Bible Say About Anointing?

Old Testament

Genesis 31:13
I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’”

Exodus 28:41
And you shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests.

Exodus 37:29
He made the holy anointing oil also, and the pure fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer.

Exodus 40:10
You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, so that the altar may become most holy.

Leviticus 6:22
The priest from among Aaron’s sons, who is anointed to succeed him, shall offer it to the LORD as decreed forever. The whole of it shall be burned.

1 Samuel 2:10
The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces;
against them he will thunder in heaven.
The LORD will judge the ends of the earth;
he will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

1 Samuel 2:35
And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever.

1 Samuel 9:16
“Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.”

1 Samuel 15:1
And Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD.

1 Samuel 16:3
And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.”

1 Samuel 16:11–13
Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

1 Samuel 24:6
He said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD’s anointed.”

1 Samuel 26:9
But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”

2 Samuel 5:3
So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.

2 Kings 9:6
So he arose and went into the house. And the young man poured the oil on his head, saying to him, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, I anoint you king over the people of the LORD, over Israel.

Psalm 2:2–6
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”

Psalm 18:49–50
For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations,
and sing to your name.
Great salvation he brings to his king,
and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
to David and his offspring forever.

Psalm 20:6
Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with the saving might of his right hand.

Psalm 23:5
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Psalm 28:8
The LORD is the strength of his people;
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

Psalm 45:7
you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;

Psalm 89:20–21
I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him,
so that my hand shall be established with him;
my arm also shall strengthen him.

Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

Daniel 9:24
“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.

Habakkuk 3:13
You went out for the salvation of your people,
for the salvation of your anointed.
You crushed the head of the house of the wicked,
laying him bare from thigh to neck. Selah

New Testament

Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

Luke 7:38
and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.

John 9:10–11
So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.”

Acts 10:37–38
you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

2 Corinthians 1:21–22
And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

Hebrews 1:8–9
But of the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”

1 John 2:20
But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.

1 John 2:27
But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.