For the source text click/tap here: Horayot 12
To download, click/tap here: PDF
As we learned, the shemen ha-mish’ḥa was used to anoint kings and high priests. The Rosh points out that the need to anoint the high priest is a clear passage in the Torah (see Ex 30:30), but there is a prohibition to use the oil on any other person (see Ex 30:32), whose punishment is karet (see above, daf 9). How was the decision made to use this oil on kings, as well?
He answers that the Gemara in Megilla understands that it is only forbidden to use this oil on a normal person. The king is not simply an adam (man) and therefore he does not fall into the category of the prohibition.
We explore the priest anointed for war in other military traditions and the origins of military chaplaincy.