Anointing
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G5545 is the noun anointing and occurs exactly three times, all within 1 John 2:20 and 2:27. The recipients have an anointing from the Holy One; the anointing they received remains in them, teaches, is true, and is not a lie.
Reader summary
Full entry for χρῖσμα (G5545) · Open the biblical lexicon
G5545 is the noun anointing and occurs exactly three times, all within 1 John 2:20 and 2:27. The recipients have an anointing from the Holy One; the anointing they received remains in them, teaches, is true, and is not a lie.
The BSB source-word alignment has 3 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include anointing (2), [an] anointing (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 1 John 2:20. Its strongest book concentrations include 1 John (3).
G5545 is the noun anointing and occurs exactly three times, all within 1 John 2:20 and 2:27. The recipients have an anointing from the Holy One; the anointing they received remains in them, teaches, is true, and is not a lie. The passage contrasts this assurance with people who left the community and deny the Father and the Son, then calls the recipients to remain in what they heard from the beginning and to remain in him.
Interpreters commonly relate the anointing to the Holy Spirit, received apostolic teaching, or the divine act and endowment by which the community is kept in truth. The noun and these two verses do not by themselves settle every detail of that identification. The phrase about not needing anyone to teach cannot abolish teachers, study, communal discernment, correction, or testing because the letter itself teaches and reminds its readers.
Nor does the anointing grant private infallibility, secret knowledge, immunity from error, office, control over others, or authority to bypass Scripture and accountability. Wider prophet, priest, king, sacramental, or second-blessing connections are contextual theological proposals, not direct G5545 occurrence claims.
All three G5545 forms occur in 1 John 2:20 and 2:27. They describe an anointing from the Holy One that was received, remains, teaches, and is characterized as true within the letter's call to remain in the Father and the Son.
You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
The writer addresses the recipients as a group and contrasts their anointing and knowledge with the preceding departure and the following denial of Jesus as the Christ. The wording supports communal assurance without claiming equal expertise or personal infallibility.
And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.
One G5545 form identifies the anointing the recipients received and says it remains in them. The letter's own teaching and reminders prevent turning the sentence into a rejection of all human teaching, study, or correction.
And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.
The second G5545 form in verse 27 is the subject of teaching and is called true and not a lie. Its instruction leads to remaining in him, not to novelty, self-exaltation, or independence from the letter's Christological tests.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. The actual anointing oil applied, not merely the act of anointing; conveys God's consecrating presence.
The actual anointing oil applied, not merely the act of anointing; conveys God's consecrating presence.
(χρίω), later form of χρῖμα (Æsch., al.), [in LXX for מִשְׁחָה and cogn. forms (Exo.29:7, al.) ;] an anointing, unction (the result of the action χρίειν; ICC, in l; but cf. Westc., in l, for the view that the oil, not the act, is meant): 1Jn.2:20 Jn 2:27.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
an anointing
Read versean anointing
Read versean anointing
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 2 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Representative Scripture witnesses for this entry: passage, original form, and sense in context.
χρῖσμα is built from this root:
Refers to the Spirit-given capacity to discern truth and remain anchored in apostolic teaching.1 John 2:18-23
Refers to the Spirit’s ministry that confirms truth and enables discernment.1 John 2:24-27
Believers are not left defenseless against deception; the Spirit equips them to remain grounded in the gospel.
Believers are sustained in truth not by intellectual ability alone but by the Spirit’s internal work.
G5545 is concentrated in one paragraph and should remain there. First John reassures its recipients that they have an anointing from the Holy One and that the anointing they received remains, teaches, is true, and leads them to remain in him. The surrounding tests concern departure from the community, denial that Jesus is the Christ, the relation of Father and Son, and continuity with what was heard from the beginning.
This makes the anointing an assurance against destabilizing alternative claims, not a platform for novelty or personal rank. The common identification with the Holy Spirit is a theological interpretation that should be argued from the letter and canon rather than treated as the noun's definition. The passage supports communal confidence while preserving teachers, study, correction, testing, humility, and accountability.
It offers no warrant for secret knowledge, leader immunity, spiritual coercion, anti-intellectualism, or declaring one's private impression beyond review.
1John.2.27
The three neuter singular forms comprise one nominative at 1 John 2:20 and two forms at 2:27, where the noun serves both the received-and-remaining description and the teaching subject. The word family supports the anointing gloss, but morphology and etymology do not settle whether the referent is the Spirit, received teaching, an anointing act, its result, or a combination.
Priestly and royal anointing, prophetic commission, and the Messiah's anointing provide several canonical backgrounds. First John does not explicitly assign all three offices to its recipients or describe a ritual, so those connections must remain theological comparison rather than direct occurrence claims.