G5548 — χρίω (chrio)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G5548
Original: χρίω
Transliteration: chrio
Pronunciation: khree'-o
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: Probably akin to G5530 (chraomai) through the idea of contact
Occurrences: 5 in NT (5 unique verses across 4 books)
First Occurrence: Luke 4:18 — "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Probably akin to G5530 (chraomai) through the idea of contact; to smear or rub with oil, i.e. (by implication) to consecrate to an office or religious service.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 37 — Control, Rule
Subdomain: 37.005 — Assign to a Role or Function
Other words in subdomain: ἀναδείκνυμι (G322), ἀφορίζω (G873), διατίθημι (G1303), δίδωμι (G1325), καθίζω (G2523), καθίστημι (G2525), κλῆρος (G2819), μερίζω (G3307), ὁρίζω (G3724)

Domain Neighbors (37.005 — Assign to a Role or Function)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Verses	Primary KJV Translation(s)
G322	ἀναδείκνυμι	2	appointed, shew
G873	ἀφορίζω	5	separated, separate
G1303	διατίθημι	5	I will make, testator
G2523	καθίζω	15	sat, sat down
G2525	καθίστημι	9	ruler, made
G3724	ὁρίζω	3	declared, determined

Greek Morphological Distribution¶

All 5 occurrences are Aorist Active — no present, perfect, or passive forms attested.

Form	Parsing	Count	References
ἔχρισεν (echrisev)	Aor Act Ind 3S	3	Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38; Heb 1:9
ἔχρισας (echrisas)	Aor Act Ind 2S	1	Acts 4:27
χρίσας (chrisas)	Aor Act Ptcp Nom Sg M	1	2 Cor 1:21

The exclusive use of the aorist presents each anointing as a completed, punctiliar act — a definitive commissioning, not a process.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
hath anointed	2	40%
anointed	1	20%
he hath anointed	1	20%
thou hast anointed	1	20%

Every occurrence is rendered "anoint" in KJV with no alternative translations.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
2 Corinthians	1	0.4
Hebrews	1	0.3
Acts	2	0.2
Luke	1	0.1

Exclusively Lukan-Pauline-Hebrews distribution. Absent from the Johannine corpus and other epistles despite the related noun Χριστός (G5547) being ubiquitous. The verb itself is rare — the concept is carried primarily by the derived title.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Messianic Commissioning by the Spirit¶

Luke 4:18 — "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised"
Acts 10:38 — "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him"

Both passages identify the instrument of anointing as the Holy Spirit rather than physical oil. The anointing is linked directly to empowerment for a specific ministry task.

2. Divine Appointment of Jesus to His Office¶

Acts 4:27 — "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together"
Hebrews 1:9 — "Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows"

Acts 4:27 addresses God directly: "whom thou hast anointed" — the anointing establishes Jesus's identity as the appointed holy servant against whom the nations conspire. Heb 1:9 (quoting Ps 45:7) grounds the anointing in moral qualification: righteousness precedes appointment.

3. Anointing Extended to Believers¶

2 Corinthians 1:21 — "Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God"

The only occurrence where chrio applies to persons other than Jesus. God is the agent; believers are anointed alongside their establishment "in Christ." The participial form (chrisas) links this anointing to the confirming and sealing of vv. 21-22.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
θεός (theos)	G2316	3x (60%)	God as the agent who anoints
πνεῦμα (pneuma)	G4151	2x (40%)	Spirit as the instrument of anointing
ἅγιος (hagios)	G40	2x (40%)	"holy child" or "Holy Ghost" in anointing context
Ἰησοῦς (Iesous)	G2424	2x (40%)	Jesus as the one anointed
ἰάομαι (iaomai)	G2390	2x (40%)	Healing as a result of the anointing

God (theos) is the most frequent collocate, appearing in 3 of 5 verses as the explicit agent of anointing.

Word Family / Cognates¶

G5547 Χριστός (Christos) — "anointed one, Christ"; the title derived from chrio; 555 verses
G5545 χρίσμα (chrisma) — "anointing, unction"; the noun for the act/substance; 3 verses (1 John 2:20, 27 [2x])
G5546 Χριστιανός (Christianos) — "Christian, follower of the anointed one"; 3 verses

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
ἀλείφω (aleipho)	G218	"anoint"	aleipho = physical application of oil (medicinal, cosmetic, burial preparation — Mark 6:13, Luke 7:38, James 5:14); chrio = sacred consecration to divine office/mission
מָשַׁח (mashach)	H4886	"anoint"	mashach is the Hebrew equivalent (OT physical and sacral anointing of priests, kings, objects); chrio is the Greek NT counterpart used exclusively for sacred/spiritual anointing

Hebrew Source (via LXX)¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
מָשַׁח (mashach)	H4886	51	32.44	Primary equivalent — to rub with oil, anoint
שֶׁמֶן (shemen)	H8081	17	14.99	Oil — the substance used in anointing
קָדַשׁ (qadash)	H6942	9	10.18	To consecrate, make holy
חֲנֻכָּה (chanukkah)	H2598	3	10.08	Dedication, consecration
מִשְׁחָה (mishchah)	H4888	4	9.82	Unction, the act of anointing

The dominant Hebrew source is mashach (H4886) with 51 co-occurrences and the highest PMI score (32.44), confirming chrio as the standard LXX rendering of the Hebrew anointing verb.