Greek word · G3462
μυρίζω
myrizō
to anoint
To rub or anoint with μύρον, the perfumed oil or ointment. It appears only here in the NT. Μύρον was used at banquets, in grooming, and especially in preparing bodies for burial.
Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
- Range of meaning
To rub or anoint with μύρον, the perfumed oil or ointment. It appears only here in the NT. Μύρον was used at banquets, in grooming, and especially in preparing bodies for burial.
- Against the English
Most versions say 'anoint.' NIV's 'poured perfume on' is closer to the actual word. To English ears, 'anoint' suggests a religious rite or a coronation. Mark's verb here is about perfuming.
- How it drifted
English 'anoint' carries church and royal associations (anointing kings, the sick, the ordained). Those associations belong to χρίω and ἀλείφω, not to μυρίζω.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Rare in Greek literature. Formed from μύρον, which is common in the LXX and the papyri for scented oil. Mark 14:3 calls her ointment μύρον νάρδου πιστικῆς, 'pure nard.'
Where it appears
Mark · 1
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Mark 14:8 μυρίσαι to anoint
She has done what she could to anoint My body in advance of My burial.
Here: 'To perfume / anoint with myrrh-oil.' The verb comes from μύρον, perfumed ointment, which matches the nard of v. 3. It is the word for scenting a body. It is not χρίω, the verb behind 'Christ' (Anointed One).
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.