What does χρίω (chríō) mean in the Bible?
χρίω (chríō): Divine consecration to sacred office or empowerment by God's Spirit, not merely cosmetic anointing
Greek · G5548
χρίω
To anoint
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χρίωG5548
Pronunciationchríō
What does χρίω (chríō) mean in the Bible?
χρίω (chríō): Divine consecration to sacred office or empowerment by God's Spirit, not merely cosmetic anointing
Full entry for χρίω (G5548) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5548?
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include anointed (1), has anointed (1), He anointed (1), He has anointed (1), You anointed (1).
Where does χρίω (chríō) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Luke 4:18. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (2), 2 Corinthians (1), Hebrews (1), Luke (1).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itanointed1×Acts 10:38
has anointed1×Hebrews 1:9
He anointed1×2 Corinthians 1:21
He has anointed1×Luke 4:18
You anointed1×Acts 4:27
Show sample aligned rows
Luke 4:18ἔχρισένtoHe has anointedVerb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person SingularActs 4:27ἔχρισαςtoYou anointedVerb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person SingularActs 10:38ἔχρισενtoanointedVerb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular2 Corinthians 1:21χρίσαςtoHe anointedVerb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine SingularHebrews 1:9ἔχρισένtohas anointedVerb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowLuke 4:18
Aligned rows5
Books represented4
Luke1Acts22 Corinthians1Hebrews1
Source forms
ἔχρισέν2xechrisenLuke 4:18, Hebrews 1:9
ἔχρισας1xechrisasActs 4:27
ἔχρισεν1xechrisenActs 10:38
χρίσας1xchrisas2 Corinthians 1:21
Parsing patterns
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular3xLuke 4:18, Acts 10:38, Hebrews 1:9
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 2nd Person Singular1xActs 4:27
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular1x2 Corinthians 1:21
Evidence Summary
Messiah
Greek word. Divine consecration to sacred office or empowerment by God's Spirit, not merely cosmetic anointing
Strong'sG5548
Lexical occurrences5 versesGreek text appearances5 timesWord forms2 forms5 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkLuke 4:14–30Source Gloss
to anoint
Extended definitionSource: STEPBible TBESG + Abbott-Smith
Divine consecration to sacred office or empowerment by God's Spirit, not merely cosmetic anointing
to anoint (Hom., al.); [in LXX chiefly for מָשַׁח of consecration to a sacred office: priest, Exo.28:41; prophet, 3Ki.19:16; king, 1Ki.10:1; of things, Exo.40:9, Lev.8:10, al.]. In NT, metaphorically, of God's anointing,
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
5 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Luke 4:18Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔχρισέecrisen
I anoint
Read verseActs 4:27Verb Second Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔχρισας,ecrisav
I anoint
Read verseActs 10:38Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔχρισενecrisen
I anoint
Read verse2 Corinthians 1:21Verb Aorist Active Participle Nominative Singular Masculine
χρίσαςcrisav
I anoint
Read verseHebrews 1:9Verb Third Person Singular Aorist Active Indicative
ἔχρισέecrisen
I anoint
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.
Grammatical Forms
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups2Aligned forms5TensesAoristVoicesActive
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Tenses
Voices
Indicativestates a fact or reality4×
Aorist ActiveLuke 4:18 · Acts 10:38 · Heb 1:9 · Acts 4:274×
Participleverbal adjective — the action as a modifying quality1×
Aorist Active2 Cor 1:211×
Discourse Aspect
How this verb appears across 5 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect
Tense
aorist5
Voice
active5
Mood
indicative4participle1
NT Occurrences
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
New Testament Witnesses
anointed
Additional Occurrences
Luke 4:16–21ἔχρισένchríō
Anointed
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 5 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
χρίω is built from this root:
Why This Word Matters
Affirms Jesus’ messianic identity.Luke 4:14–30
Canonical Themes
Messiah