Oil is used in the East not only for anointing, but also for medicinal purposes. There are some complaints in the head which are supposed to be specially relieved by the use of certain oils. Other kinds of oil, however, are said to produce delirium. The “excellent oil” in the text was the kind that cured. Roberts adds to this statement of the medicinal use of oils on the head the fact that in Judea “the crown of the head is the place selected for chastisement. Thus, owners of slaves, or husbands, or schoolmasters, beat the heads of the offenders with their knuckles.” The Hindus have figurative forms of speech very similar to the text: “Let a holy man smite my head! and what of that? it is an excellent oil.” “My master has been beating my head, but it has been good oil for me.”