“The
word aleipsantes  (‘anoint’) is not the usual word for
sacramental or ritualistic anointing. James could have used the verb chrio if that had been what he had in mind. The distinction
is still observed in modern Greek, with aleipho  meaning
‘to daub,’ ‘to smear,’ and chrio
meaning ‘to anoint.’ Furthermore, it is a well-documented fact that oil was one
of the most common medicines of biblical times. See Isaiah 1:6 and Luke 10:34.
Josephus (Antiq. XVII, 172 [vi. 5]) reports that during his last illness Herod
the Great was given a bath in oil in hopes of effecting a cure. The papyri,
Philo, Pliny, and the physician Galen all refer to the medicinal use of oil.
Galen described it as ‘the best of all remedies for paralysis’ (De
Simplicium Medicamentorum Temperamentis  2.10ff). It is evident, then, that
James is prescribing prayer and medicine. . . . In answer to ‘the prayer
offered in faith,’ God uses the medicine to cure the malady” (Expositor’s
Bible Commentary, gen. ed. Frank E.
Gaebelein, on James 5:14-15).

For
examples of the medical use of oil, note in Josephus:

But
now Herod’s distemper greatly increased upon him after a severe manner, and
this by God’s judgment upon him for his sins: for a fire glowed in him slowly,
which did not so much appear to the touch outwardly as it augmented his pains
inwardly; for it brought upon him a vehement appetite to eating, which he could
not avoid to supply with one sort of food or other. His entrails were also
exulcerated, and the chief violence of his pain lay on his colon; an aqueous
and transparent liquor also settled itself about his feet, and a like matter
afflicted him at the bottom of his belly. Nay, farther, his privy member was
putrified, and produced worms; and when he sat upright he had a difficulty of
breathing, which was very loathsome, on account of the stench of his breath,
and the quickness of its returns; he had also convulsions in all parts of his
body, which increased his strength to an insufferable degree. It was said by
those who pretended to divine, and who were endowed with wisdom to foretell
such things, that God inflicted this punishment on the king on account of his
great impiety; yet was he still in hopes of recovering, though his afflictions
seemed greater than anyone could bear. He also sent for physicians, and did not
refuse to follow what they prescribed for his assistance; and went beyond the
river Jordan, and bathed himself in warm baths that were at Calirrhoe, which,
besides their other general virtues, were also fit to drink; which water runs
into the lake called Asphaltitis. And when the physicians once thought fit to
have him bathed in a vessel full of oil, it was supposed that he was just
dying; but, upon the lamentable cries of his domestics, he revived; and having
no longer the least hopes of recovering, he gave order that every soldier
should be paid fifty drachmae; and he also gave a great deal to their
commanders, and to his friends, and came again to Jericho, where he grew so
choleric, that it brought him to do all things like a madman; and though he
were near his death, he contrived the following wicked designs.

Again,
Josephus recorded concerning the death of Herod:

After
this, the distemper seized upon his whole body, and greatly disordered all its
parts with various symptoms; for there was a gentle fever upon him, and an
intolerable itching over all the surface of his body, and continual pains in
his colon, and dropsical tumors about his feet and an inflammation of the
abdomen,—and a putrefication of his privy member, that produced worms. Besides
which he had a difficulty of breathing upon him, and could not breathe but when
he sat upright, and had a convulsion of all his members; insomuch that the
diviners said those diseases were a punishment upon him for what he had done to
the rabbis. Yet did he struggle with his numerous disorders, and still had a
desire to live, and hoped for recovery, and considered of several methods of
cure. Accordingly, he went over Jordan, and made use of those hot baths at
Callirrhoe, which run into the lake Asphaltitis, but are themselves sweet
enough to be drank. And here the physicians thought proper to bathe his whole
body in warm oil, by letting it down into a large vessel full of oil; whereupon
his eyes failed him, and he came and went as if he were dying, and as a tumult
was then made by his servants, at their voice he revived again. Yet did he
after this despair of recovery, and gave orders that each soldier should have
fifty drachmae apiece, and that his commanders and friends should have great
sums of money given them.

656 ⁄Enqen aujtouv to sw◊ma pa◊n hJ no/soß dialabouvsa poiki÷loiß
pa¿qesin e˙meri÷zeto puretoß me«n ga»r h™n ouj la¿broß knhsmoß de« aÓfo/rhtoß
thvß e˙pifanei÷aß o¢lhß kai« ko/lou sunecei√ß aÓlghdo/neß peri÷ te touß po/daß
wJ/sper uJdrwpiw◊ntoß oi˙dh/mata touv te h¡trou flegmonh kai« dh ai˙doi÷ou
shpedw»n skw¿lhkaß gennw◊sa proß tou/toiß ojrqo/pnoia kai« du/spnoia kai«
spasmoi« pa¿ntwn tw◊n melw◊n wJ/ste touß e˙piqeia¿zontaß poinhn ei•nai tw◊n
sofistw◊n ta» nosh/mata le÷gein  657 oJ de« palai÷wn tosou/toiß pa¿qesin o¢mwß touv
zhvn aÓntei÷ceto swthri÷an te h¡lpizen kai« qerapei÷aß e˙peno/ei diaba»ß gouvn
ton ∆Iorda¿nhn toi√ß kata» Kallirro/hn e˙crhvto qermoi√ß tauvta d∆ e¶xeisi
me«n ei˙ß thn ∆Asfalti√tin li÷mnhn uJpo gluku/thtoß d∆ e˙sti« kai« po/tima
do/xan de« e˙ntauvqa toi√ß i˙atroi√ß e˙lai÷wˆ qermwˆ◊ pa◊n aÓnaqa¿lyai to
sw◊ma calasqe«n ei˙ß plh/rh pu/elon e˙klu/ei kai« touß ojfqalmouß wJß
teqnew»ß aÓne÷streyen  658 qoru/bou de« tw◊n qerapeuo/ntwn genome÷nou
proß me«n thn fwnhn aÓnh/negken ei˙ß de« to loipon aÓpognouß thn
swthri÷an toi√ß te stratiw¿taiß aÓna» penth/konta dracma»ß e˙ke÷leusen
dianei√mai kai« polla» crh/mata toi√ß hJgemo/si kai« toi√ß fi÷loiß. (War
1:656-658)

Philo
wrote:

Again: why need we seek for more in the way of ointment than the
juice pressed out of the fruit of the olive? For that softens the limbs, and
relieves the labour of the body, and produces a good condition of the flesh;
and if anything has got relaxed or flabby, it binds it again, and makes it firm
and solid, and it fills us with vigour and strength of muscle, no less than any
other unguent.

ti÷ de« touv aÓpo thvß e˙lai÷aß e˙kqlibome÷nou
karpouv ple÷on e¶dei zhtei√n proß aÓlei÷mmata; kai« ga»r leai÷nei kai«
ka¿maton sw¿matoß lu/ei kai« eujsarki÷an e˙mpoiei√, ka·n ei¶ ti kecalasme÷non
ei¶h, sfi÷ggei pukno/thti kai« oujdenoß h∞tton e˚te÷rou ÔRw¿mhn kai«
eujtoni÷an e˙nti÷qhsin. (Dreams 2:58)

Pliny,
in his Natural History
23:39-53 discusses in detail the “medicinal properties of the various kinds of
oil,” commenting on olive oil, green oil, castor oil, almond oil, laurel oil,
myrtle oil, cypress oil, citrus oil, walnut oil, oil of balsamum, radish oil,
sesame oil, palm oil, and many other types of oil, whether fresh or aged.  His discussion underscores the very
significant medicinal use of oil in ancient medicine—sometimes in accordance
with what God has enabled science to verify experimentally today, and sometimes
not. 


Patristic references to the medicinal use
of oil include: “Antony, the great monk . . . rejected the practice of
anointing with oil, and the use of baths and of similar luxuries likely to
relax the tension of the body by moisture.” (Ecclesiastical History, Sozomen, Book 1:13);  “Or what castle or house is beautiful
and serviceable when it has not been anointed? And what man, when he enters
into this life or into the gymnasium, is not anointed with oil? And what work
has either ornament or beauty unless it be anointed and burnished?” (Theophilus
of Antioch, Theophilus to Autolychus Book 1:12).  Compare
also the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Kittell, on aÓlei÷fw.

Lightfoot records the following material
concerning medical anointing with oil from Jewish sources:

Lightfoot then comments:

A search of the Talmuds of Jerusalem and Babylon will provide
further evidence of the sort set forth by Lightfoot.