Exodus 30:25

25. Compound after the art of the apothecary In the times after the exile some of the priest’s sons were intrusted with the preparation of the ointment of spices. 1 Chronicles 9:30. As it was made the special care of the high priest to guard it, (Numbers 4:16,) we may naturally suppose that he was charged with the duty of either compounding it himself or employing some competent person to assist him . The original preparation of it would seem, from Exodus 37:29, to have been intrusted to Bezaleel, the architect . Being of a special character, and known as an oil of holy ointment, or a holy anointing oil, it might not be used for ordinary purposes, such as anointing one’s flesh, (Exodus 30:32,) or using it on a foreigner, (Exodus 30:33,) and any attempt to make any other oil like it was strictly forbidden. The ceremony of anointing with oil denoted the setting apart and consecrating to a holy purpose, and accordingly this holy ointment was to be used solely for such consecration of the priests and the tabernacle and its sacred vessels. Exodus 30:26-30.