Psalms 133:2

[It is] like the precious ointment upon the head,.... The composition which Moses was ordered to make of the principal spices, and therefore called precious; and which was poured on the heads of

It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that

It is no less grateful and refreshing than that oil which was plentifully poured forth upon Aaron’ s head at the time of his consecration to the priestly office, which was exceeding pleasant, not only for the extraordinary fragrancy of it, but because by this, together with the other rites prescribed, he was initiated into that sacred office, which was so acceptable to God, and so comfortable and beneficial to the people, as being the happy instrument of making atonement to God for them, and of procuring and maintaining their peace with God, upon which all their happiness of this life and of the next depends. Skirts; or, skirt; for the Hebrew word is of the singular number. Not to the lower skirt or bottom of his sacerdotal garment, for that the sacred oil was poured forth in so great plenty is not probable, nor was it necessary or convenient; but to the upper skirt of it, or the mouth of it, as this Hebrew word properly signifies; or to the collar of his upper priestly garment, which the ointment falling upon his beard might easily reach.

Psalms 133:2 [It is] like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, [even] Aaron’ s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;Ver. 2. It is like the precious ointment] This similitude setteth forth the pleasure and amenity of it; as the other (from the dew) the profit and commodity. Sic miscnit utile dulci. This ointment was most rich (as made up of the chiefest spices, Exodus 30:1-38), and very fragrant, refreshing the senses, not of Aaron oaly, but of all about him; so doth Christian unity and amity (that "fruit of the Spirit," Galatians 5:22) far beyond that common friendship so highly extolled by Cicero, and other heathens; and is therefore here fitly compared to that nonsuch odoriferous ointment. Upon the head, that ran down upon the beard] So the Spirit of grace, that oil of gladness, Psalms 45:7, poured out abundantly, even to a redundancy, upon Christ the Head, runneth down upon all the members of his body mystical, even to the meanest, so that they have grace for grace.

(2) It is like.—The italics of the Authorised Version are wrongly inserted. Unity could not be said to flow down. The other term of the simile is implied in Psalms 133:3. (See Note.) Literally, Like the oil, the good oil, on the head descending upon the beard, Aaron’s beard, which (was) descending to the mouth of his robes. Oil meets us as the standing symbol of joy and festivity. (See Psalms 45:7, Note; Isaiah 61:3.) It is also brought closely into connection with love (Son 1:3). But while this association, as also the pleasure derived from the fragrance of the oil, would be present here as always in the truly Oriental image, its elaboration in this passage points to a further purpose. It is the holy oil, that whose composition is described in Exodus 30:22-23, that the poet alludes to. This, while the garments of all the priests were sprinkled with it (Exodus 29:21; Leviticus 8:30), was poured on the head of Aaron (Exodus 29:7; Leviticus 8:12; Leviticus 21:10), so that the description of the psalm, unpleasing as it is to Western ideas, of the saturation, not only of his head, but of face and beard, was actually true. It would run down his neck to the collar of the priestly robe. That this is the meaning of “mouth” here is plain from the actual description of the sacerdotal garments (Exodus 28:31-32): “And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod all of blue. And there shall be a mouth in the top of it, in the midst thereof: and it shall have a binding of woven work round about the mouth of it, as it were the mouth of a habergeon, that it be not rent.” (Comp. Exodus 39:23; and Job 30:18, where Authorised Version has “collar.”) To the ideas of “joy” and “fragrance,” therefore, must also be added that of “consecration.” But the point of the comparison does not lie even here; nor is it in the freshness of the dew, in the next verse, or its abundance, though dew suggests both of these (see Note, Psalms 110:3), but in the word three times repeated—descending. Our version unfortunately obscures this point, by rendering this recurrent participle each time by a different word, missing, at the same time, the marked peculiarity of the rhythm of these psalms. The oil descends from Aaron’s head over his face and beard; the dew of Hermon descends on Zion—low in actual measurement, but exalted by the Divine favour above the loftiest hills. It is not unity, then, in itself which is the subject of the poem, but the unity of the covenant under which all blessings flowed down from above, rested on Mount Zion, and took outward shape and form there in the political and religious constitution.

Verse 2. Like the precious ointment] The composition of this holy anointing oil may be seen, Exodus 30:23; sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus, cassia lignea, and olive oil. The odour of this must have been very agreeable, and serves here as a metaphor to point out the exquisite excellence of brotherly love. Ran down upon the beard] The oil was poured upon the head of Aaron so profusely as to run down upon his garments. It is customary in the east to pour out the oil on the head so profusely as to reach every limb.

2. It is like the goodly oil upon the head descending upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, Which descendeth upon the collar of his garments. Oil was a symbol of joy and festivity (Psalms 45:7), but it is not common oil that is mentioned here. The brotherly concord of the dwellers in Jerusalem is compared to the sacred oil with which the High-priest was anointed (Exodus 30:23 ff.). This sacred oil was poured upon Aaron’s head (Exodus 29:7; Leviticus 8:12; Leviticus 21:10) when he was consecrated to the office of high-priest, whereas the ordinary priests were only sprinkled with it (Exodus 29:21). It would flow down upon his beard and on to his shoulders and his breast, upon which he bore the names of the Twelve Tribes (Exodus 28:9-12; Exodus 28:17-21), symbolising thereby the consecration of the whole nation of which he was the representative. The stream of perfumed oil, carefully compounded with aromatic spices, would diffuse its fragrance all around, symbolising the holy influence which should emanate from the chief religious representative of Israel, and from the nation which he represented. The point of the simile then seems to be, that as the sacred oil flowed down over Aaron’s shoulders, so the harmonious unity of those who dwell in Jerusalem will influence the whole nation for good. The same spirit will be diffused throughout the whole community. Cp. Psalms 122. Aaron might denote any high-priest; but the Psalmist by the use of the present participles seems rather to intend to recall the scene of the consecration of Aaron himself (Leviticus 8). It might have been thought that he was alluding to some recent ceremony; but according to Jewish tradition, the sacred oil was wanting in the time of the Second Temple, and the high-priest was consecrated by investiture with the pontifical robes only. It is a question whether the clause which descendeth upon the collar of his garments refers to the oil or to Aaron’s beard. The Massoretic accentuation (unless it is to be regarded as rhythmical and not syntactical) makes it refer to Aaron’s beard: the Ancient Versions take it to refer to the oil. In the former case the beard is thought of as connecting the head and the garments; but the latter interpretation is the more natural, and is supported by the fondness of the Psalms of Ascent for the repetition of words. The collar not the skirts of the high-priest’s garment is denoted by the Heb. word, which means literally ‘mouth’ or ‘opening,’ i.e. the hole through which the head passed, or its bordering. Cp. Exodus 28:32; Exodus 39:23; Job 30:18.

It is like the precious ointment upon the head - That is, which was poured upon the head of the high priest, when consecrated to the holy office.

2. Precious ointment—Hebrew, Good oil. The allusion is to the consecration of Aaron, Leviticus 8. The purest olive oil was used, perfumed with costly spices, Exodus 30:22-33.