Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 14:3

And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she broke the box, and poured [it] on his head.

3 9. The Feast in Simon’s House. The Anointing by Mary

3. And being in Bethany ] Meanwhile circumstances had occurred which in their result presented to the Jewish authorities a mode of apprehending Him which they had never anticipated. To relate these the Evangelist goes back to the evening before the Triumphal Entry, and places us in the house of

Simon the leper ] He had, we may believe, been a leper, and possibly had been restored by our Lord Himself. He was probably a near friend or relation of Lazarus. Some suppose he was his brother, others that he was the husband of Mary.

as he sat at meat ] We learn from St John that the sisters had made Him a feast, at which Martha served, while Lazarus reclined at the table as one of the guests (Joh 12:2).

there came a woman ] This was Mary the sister of Lazarus, full of grateful love to Him, who had poured back joy into her once desolated home.

having an alabaster box ] “hauynge a box of precious oynement spikanard,” Wyclif. At Alabastron in Egypt there was a manufactory of small vases for holding perfumes, which were made from a stone found in the neighbouring mountains. The Greeks gave to these vases the name of the city from which they came, calling them alabastrons. This name was eventually extended to the stone of which they were formed; and at length the term alabaster was applied without distinction to all perfume vessels, of whatever materials they consisted.

of ointment of spikenard ] Or, as in margin, of pure (= genuine) nard or liquid nard. Pure or genuine seems to yield the best meaning, as opposed to the pseudo-nardus, for the spikenard was often adulterated. Pliny, Nat. Hist. xii. 26. It was drawn from an Indian plant, brought down in considerable quantities into the plains of India from such mountains as Shalma, Kedar Kanta, and others, at the foot of which flow the Ganges and Jumna rivers.

very precious ] It was the costliest anointing oil of antiquity, and was sold throughout the Roman Empire, where it fetched a price that put it beyond any but the wealthy. Mary had bought a vase or flask of it containing 12 ounces (Joh 12:3). Of the costliness of the ointment we may form some idea by remembering that it was among the gifts sent by Cambyses to the Ethiopians (Herod. iii. 20), and that Horace promises Virgil a whole cadus (= 36 quarts nearly) of wine, for a small onyx box of spikenard ( Carm. iv. xii. 16, 17),

“Nardo vina merebere;

“Nardi parvus onyx eliciet cadum.”

brake the box ] i. e. she broke the narrow neck of the small flask, and poured the perfume first on the head, and then on the feet of Jesus, drying them with the hair of her head. She did not wish to keep or hold back anything. She offered up all, gave away all, and her “all” was a tribute worthy of a king. “To anoint the feet of the greatest monarch was long unknown; and in all the pomps and greatnesses of the Roman prodigality, it was not used till Otho taught it to Nero.” Jeremy Taylor’s Life of Christ, iii. 13.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 3. Alabaster box] Among critics and learned men there are various conjectures concerning the alabaster mentioned by the evangelists: some think it means a glass phial; others, that it signifies a small vessel without a handle, from negative and , a handle; and others imagine that it merely signifies a perfume or essence bottle. There are several species of the soft calcareous stone called alabaster, which are enumerated and described in different chemical works.

Spikenard] Or nard. An Indian plant, whose root is very small and slender. It puts forth a long and small stalk, and has several ears or spikes even with the ground, which has given it the name of spikenard: the taste is bitter, acrid, and aromatic, and the smell agreeable. CALMET.

Very precious] Or rather, unadulterated: this I think is the proper meaning of . Theophylact gives this interpretation of the passage: “Unadulterated hard, and prepared with fidelity.” Some think that is a contraction of the Latin spicatae, and that it signifies the spicated nard, or what we commonly call the spikenard. But Dr. Lightfoot gives a different interpretation. he supposes to come from the Syriac pistike, which signifies the acorn: he would therefore have it to signify an aromatic confection of nard, maste, or myrobalane. See his Hebrew and Talmudical Exercitations; and see Scheuchzer’s Physica Sacra.

She brake the box] Rather, she broke the seal. This is the best translation I can give of the place; and I give it for these reasons:

1. That it is not likely that a box exceedingly precious in itself should be broken to get out its contents.

2. That the broken pieces would be very inconvenient if not injurious to the head of our Lord, and to the hands of the woman.

3. That it would not be easy effectually to separate the oil from the broken pieces. And,

4. That it was a custom in the eastern countries to seal the bottles with wax that held the perfumes; so that to come at their contents no more was necessary than to break the seal, which this woman appears to have done; and when the seal was thus broken, she had no more to do than to pour out the liquid ointment, which she could not have done had she broken the bottle.

The bottles which contain the [Hindu] gul i attyr, or attyr of roses, which come from the east, are sealed in this manner. See a number of proofs relative to this point in HARMER’S Observations, vol. iv. 469. Pouring sweet-scented oil on the head is common in Bengal. At the close of the festival of the goddess Doorga, the Hindoos worship the unmarried daughters of Brahmins: and, among other ceremonies, pour sweet-scented oil on their heads. WARD’S Customs.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

See Poole on “Mat 26:6“, and following verses to Mat 26:13, where this piece of history is fully considered, with the differing circumstances related by our evangelist and by St. John.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

3. And being in Bethany, in thehouse of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a womanItwas “Mary,” as we learn from Joh12:3.

having an alabaster box ofointment of spikenardpure nard, a celebratedaromatic(See So 1:12).

very precious“verycostly” (Joh 12:3).

and she brake the box, andpoured it on his head“and anointed,” adds John (Joh12:3), “the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair:and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.” Theonly use of this was to refresh and exhilaratea gratefulcompliment in the East, amid the closeness of a heated atmosphere,with many guests at a feast. Such was the form in which Mary’s loveto Christ, at so much cost to herself, poured itself out.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

And being in Bethany,…. A place about two miles from Jerusalem, whither he retired after he had took his leave of the temple, and had predicted its destruction; a place he often went to, and from, the last week of his life; having some dear friends, and familiar acquaintance there, as Lazarus, and his two sisters, Martha and Mary, and the person next mentioned:

in the house of Simon the leper; so called because he had been one, and to distinguish him from Simon the Pharisee, and Simon Peter the apostle, and others; [See comments on Mt 26:6];

as he sat at meat there came a woman; generally thought to be Mary Magdalene, or Mary the sister of Lazarus:

having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard; or “pure nard”, unmixed and genuine; or liquid nard, which was drinkable, and so easy to be poured out; or Pistic nard, called so, either from “Pista”, the name of a place from whence it was brought, or from “Pistaca”, which, with the Rabbins, signifies “maste”; of which, among other things, this ointment was made. Moreover, ointment of nard was made both of the leaves of nard, and called foliate nard, and of the spikes of it, and called, as here, spikenard. Now ointment made of nard was, as Pliny says w, the principal among ointments. The Syriac is, by him, said to be the best; this here is said to be

very precious, costly, and valuable:

and she brake the box. The Syriac and Ethiopic versions render it, “she opened it”; and the Persic version, “she opened the head”, or “top of the bottle”, or “vial”:

and poured it on his head; on the head of Christ, as the same version presses it; [See comments on Mt 26:7].

w Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 12.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

As he sat at meat ( ). Mt 26:7 uses , both words meaning reclining (leaning down or up or back) and in the genitive absolute. See on Mt 26:6 in proof that this is a different incident from that recorded in Lu 7:36-50. See on Mt 26:6-13 for discussion of details.

Spikenard ( ). This use of with occurs only here and in Joh 12:3. The adjective is common enough in the older Greek and appears in the papyri also in the sense of genuine, unadulterated, and that is probably the idea here. The word spikenard is from the Vulgate nardi spicati, probably from the Old Latin nardi pistici.

Brake (). Only in Mark. She probably broke the narrow neck of the vase holding the ointment.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Alabaster box. See on Mt 26:7.

Spikenard [ ] . The meaning of pistikhv is greatly disputed. The best authorities define it genuine or unadulterated : pure nard.

Brake. Possibly by striking the brittle neck of the flask. This detail is peculiar to Mark.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

IN BETHANY MARY ANOINTS JESUS, V. 3-9

1) “And being in Bethany,” (kai ontos autou en Bethania) “And He being in Bethany,” when He was in Bethany, six days before the passover, Joh 12:1-11, some two miles East of Jerusalem, home also of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, Joh 11:1 to Joh 12:8.

2) “In the house of Simon the leper,” (en te oikia Simnos tou leprou) “In the house (residence or home) of Simon the leper,” Mat 21:17, whom Jesus had healed of his leprosy; Lazarus provided the meal, Martha served, Mary anointed Jesus, Simon provided the place, Joh 12:1-11.

3) “As He sat at meat,” (katakeimonou autou) ”As He was reclining,” at or following a leisurely meal, Luk 7:36,50; Joh 12:2; Joh 12:4)

4) “There came a woman having an alabaster box,” (elthen gune echousa alabastron) “A woman came who had an alabaster vial or bottle,” Mary, sister of Martha of Bethany, Joh 12:3. The perfume jar was made of the famous alabaster of Egypt.

5) ”Of ointment of spikenard very precious;- (murou nardou pistikes polutelous) “Of a very costly nard, or (spikenard) ointment,” Mat 26:7. The term spikenard identified the spike’shaped nard flower from which the perfume was made.

6) “And she brake the box,” (suntripsasa ten alabastr) “And she brake the alabaster vial,” or broke the seal on the bottle or vial that the perfume might quickly anoint Him and perfume the room with fragrance.

7) “And poured it on His head.” (kalecheen autou tes kephales) “Then poured it upon His head,” anointing Him as a king or an high priest, both of which He was, as being prepared for burial, as recounted Mat 26:7; Joh 12:3; While Luk 7:38; Luk 7:46 indicates His feet were also anointed.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(3-9) And being in Bethany.See Notes on Mat. 26:6-13.

Ointment of spikenard.The Greek word so translated is, as the various renderings in the margin show, of doubtful import. It is used by St. John (Joh. 12:3) in his account of the same facts.

She brake the box.As in the breaking through the roof in Mar. 2:4, the vivid touch that brings the manner of the act distinctly before our eyes is found in St. Mark only. The Greek word implies not so much the breaking of the neck of the costly jar or flask, but the crushing it in its entirety with both her hands.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

3. Spikenard Nard, according to Dr. Royle, is the botanic Nardostachys Jatamansi, an odorous plant derived from the mountains of India near the sources of the Ganges. The nard perfume was a compound of all the most valued perfumes of antiquity, among which were the malabatharum, costus amomum, myrrha, and balsam. Very precious The three hundred pence was about forty-five dollars; thrice the price for which Judas sold his Lord.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And while he was in Bethany at the house of Simon the Leper, as he sat at the meal, there came a woman having an alabaster vessel of perfumed oil of spikenard, which was very costly, and she broke the vessel and poured it over his head.’

While Jesus was enjoying a meal at the house of Simon the Leper in Bethany, a woman came in and anointed His head. This was how priests, kings and prophets were anointed (Exo 29:7; 1Sa 10:1; 2Ki 9:3; 2Ki 9:6; Psa 133:2), although it was also a courtesy often extended to distinguished guests (Luk 7:46 compare Psa 45:7; Psa 141:5). Mark stresses her anointing of His head. He wants us to see in it the anointing of Jesus as the Messiah. Such an anointing set Him apart to God as ‘His anointed’ (Psa 2:2; Dan 9:25). That this idea was also in Jesus’ mind is suggested by His connecting it with the spreading of the Good News of the Kingly Rule of God (Mar 14:9). The woman however was revealing her love for Jesus without thought of any such significance for she anointed Him all over.

John stresses that she also anointed Jesus’ feet. Her act of love covered both. Jesus would be lying at table on His left elbow with His feet extended backwards. Thus she would first reach His feet. So she first poured some on His feet and then broke the vessel above His head so that the remainder anointed His head. Jesus saw it as anointing for His burial (Mar 14:8, compare Mar 16:1). This would confirm the dual application. Anointing for burial would not be just on the head (Joh 19:40).

Note the breaking of the bottle. Because the perfumed oil was very expensive the bottle was designed only to release it slowly. But the woman wanted to pour it all out at once. So she broke the bottle.

This incident occurred chronologically earlier than might at first be thought from Mar 14:1. But Mark is not saying that it happened after Mar 14:1. He brought it in here in order to bring out its direct significance in relation to the plans that were being made against Him. He is piecing events together for a theological purpose. He merely says it happened ‘while He was in Bethany’ which could place it anywhere within the period after their arrival in the area. John placed it before ‘the entry into Jerusalem’ (Joh 12:1-8) which would have followed His arrival in Bethany. (It may well be that in one of Mark’s sources Mar 14:10-11 originally followed immediately after Mar 14:1-2).

‘A woman.’ It is possible that Mark does not name her because he sees her as typifying all the women who followed Jesus (Luk 8:2-3). Women were given an importance by Jesus not accorded to them elsewhere. In contrast the Pharisee could say, ‘sooner let the words of the Law be burned than delivered to a woman.’ But Jesus was happy to receive their ministrations on the spiritual level as well as the material.

‘Perfumed oil’ – (nardou pistikes). Pistikes is probably the oil of the Pistachio nut which was used as a base for perfumes. Others have, however, seen it as signifying ‘pure’ (based on pistis – ‘true, sure, reliable’) or as being derived from pino, thus indicating its liquid form. The breaking of the vessel (at the neck) indicated that all had been given to Jesus. It was total sacrifice. She may also have had the idea that the vessel should never again be used after its sacred task because Jesus was so special.

‘Nard.’ A very expensive and valuable perfume made from a rare plant from India. She had probably kept it for years for some special occasion. And now here was the occasion.

‘Simon the Leper.’ Otherwise unknown, presumably a former leper whom Jesus had healed and who became a Christian. (They would not have feasted in the house of a current leper, as that would have barred them from celebrating the feast of Passover). It does not necessarily mean that Jesus was staying there, only dining. Martha was helping out by serving at table and Lazarus was in the company (Joh 12:2). We do not know where Jesus stayed while He was in Bethany, or whether in fact Jesus and the disciples camped out on the Mount of Olives by Bethany.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

A Woman Anoints Jesus With Perfumed Oil (14:3-9).

Mark deliberately places this incident between the plotting of the Sanhedrin and the offer of betrayal by Jesus, in order to lay emphasis on the fact that in it Jesus is being anointed as the Messiah in readiness for His burial, thus revealing that the Sanhedrin and Judas are only unknowingly carrying out God’s plan. It is an indication that in spite of all outward appearance all was taking place within God’s purposes. He knew precisely what was happening. John places it at Jesus’ first arrival in Jerusalem prior to His entry on the ass. (The story in Luk 7:36-50, which some try to suggest is a variant of the same story, is so different in every detail that such an idea must be dismissed. Given the commonplace fact of a woman coming to Jesus in order to demonstrate her love with perfumed oil the details could not in fact have been more different).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The anointing at Bethany:

v. 3. And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper as He sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on His head.

v. 4. And there were some that had indignation within themselves and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?

v. 5. For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

Mark here inserts a story of the Saturday before, when Jesus first came to Bethany from Jericho, unless we want to assume that two anointings took place. This Simon the leper seems to have been a relative of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. He had been cured of his terrible disease by the Lord and was duly thankful for the gift thus received, in his own way. Jesus had accepted an invitation to dinner with him and was reclining among the guests, when the incidents here narrated took place. A woman came into the room bearing an alabaster vase with genuine and very precious ointment, an Indian perfume made from the stems of a plant growing in the southern Himalayas, known as nard, or spikenard. The woman’s actions drew the attention of the entire table company to her. Going over to Jesus, she broke off the narrow neck of the vase, in order that the perfumed ointment might. flow out all the more easily and then poured it out upon His head. It was an act of simple, unconscious devotion, of tender love. But it was not viewed with favor by all the table-round. There were certain ones present, and among them not a few of the disciples, with Judas Iscariot leading, that began to feel indignation rising in themselves: Why has this waste of the ointment been made? And not satisfied with mere grumbling, Judas finds the courage to give some reason for his objection: This myrrh might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii (fifty dollars) and the money given to the poor. In this way he snarled directly at the woman, and the others seconded him. It was a passionate outburst altogether out of proportion to the guilt of the woman, even if she had been tactless or extravagant. But the thought of Judas grew out of a heart that had long since ceased to be single in Christ’s service. His heart belonged to the devil of avarice; and the poor interested him not at all.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Mar 14:3. Ointment, &c. Balsam of spikenard, which was very costly; and she broke open the box, or vessel, &c. See Blackwall’s Sac. Classics, vol. 2: p. 166. The spikenard, , pure and unadulterated spikenard, was esteemed a very valuable aromatic. Sir Norton Knatchbull, Dr. Hammond, and others maintain, that does not signify that she brake the vessel, but only that she shook it, so as to break the coagulative parts of the rich balsam, and bring it to such a liquidity, that it might be fit to be poured out. Dr. Doddridge, however, and others think the original does not so naturally express this, and therefore they imagine that the woman broke off the top of the vessel in which the balsam was contained. See the note on Mat 26:7 and Stockius on the word .

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Mar 14:3-9 . [160] See on Mat 26:6-13 . Comp. Joh 12:1-8 , who also has the peculiar expression , either directly from Mark, or from the form of tradition from which Mark also adopted it. Luke has at Mar 7:36 ff. a history of an anointing, but a different one.

] On the costliness of this, see Pliny, H. N. xiii. 2.

] See on this word, Fritzsche in loc. and in the Hall. Lit. Z. 1840, p. 179 ff.; Lcke on Joh 12:3 ; Winer, p. 89 [E. T. 121]; Wichelhaus, Leidensgesch. p. 74 f.; Stephani Thes. , ed. Hase, VI. p. 1117. , in demonstrable usage, means nothing else than (1) convincing, persuading (Xen. Cyrop. i. 6. 10 : , Plato, Gorg. p. 455 A: ), thus being equivalent to ; (2) faithful, trustworthy (Artemidorus, Oneir. ii. 32, p. 121: , comp. , Plut. Pel. 8; Scymn. orb. descr. 42), thus equivalent to . The latter signification is here to be maintained: nard, on which one can rely , i.e. unadulterated genuine nard, as Eusebius, Demonstr. ev. 9, calls the gospel the (where the contextual reference to the drinking lies not in , but in ). The opposite is “ pseudonardus ” (Plin. H. N. xii. 12. 26), with which the genuine nard was often adulterated (comp. also Dioscor. mat. med. i. 6 f.). This is the explanation already given by Theophylact, Euthymius Zigabenus (both of whom, however, add that a special kind of nard may also be intended), and most of the older and more recent commentators (Lcke is not decided). But Eritzsche (following Casaubon, Beza, Erasmus Schmid, Maldonatus, and others of the older expositors quoted by Wolf, who deduce it from ) derives it from , and explains it as nardus potabilis . Certainly anointing oils, and especially oil of spikenard, were drunk mingled with wine (Athen. xv. p. 689; Lucian, Nigrin. 31; Juvenal, Sat. vi. 303; Hirtius, de bell. Hisp. 33. 5; Plin. H. N. xiv. 19. 5; and see in general, Hermann, Privatalterth . 26. 8, 9); but the actual usus loquendi stands decidedly opposed to this view, for according to it doubtless (Aesch. Prom. 478; Lobeck, Technol. p. 131) has the signification of drinkable , but not , even apart from the facts that the context does not point to this quality, and that it is asserted not of the ointment , but of the nard (the plant). The usus loquendi , moreover, is decisive against all other explanations, such as that of the Vulgate (comp. Castalio, Hammond, Grotius, Wetstein, Rosenmller): spicati; [161] and that of Scaliger: pounded nard (equivalent to ), from , although this etymology in itself would be possible (Lobeck, Paralip. p. 31). Others have derived from the proper name of some unknown place ( Pistic nard ), as did Augustine; but this was a cutting of the knot. [162]

] belongs to , not to , which has its epithet already, and see Mar 14:5 . Comp. Mat 26:7 .

] neither: she rubbed it and poured, etc . (Kypke), nor: she shook the vessel (Knatchbull, Hammond, Wakefield, Silv. crit. V. p. 57), but: she broke it ( Sir 21:14 ; Bar 6:17 ; Dem. 845, 18; Xen., et al. ), namely, the narrow (Plin. H. N. ix. 35) neck of the vessel, for she had destined the entire contents for Jesus, nothing to be reserved.

.] occurs in all the three genders, and the codices vary accordingly. See the critical remarks.

] (see the critical remarks) on him upon the head , without the preposition usual in other cases (Plato, Rep. iii. p. 397 E), before (Plato, Leg. vii. p. 814 D; Herod, iv. 62).

Mar 14:4 . But there were some, who grumbled to one another (uttered grumblings to one another). ., as at Mar 11:31 , Mar 10:26 , al. What they murmured, is contained in what follows, without . Comp. the use of , mirabundum quaerere , in Sturz, Lex. Xen. II. p. 511 f.

Mar 14:5 . . ] they were angry at her . Comp. Mar 1:43 .

Mar 14:7 . . . .] certainly an amplifying addition of tradition, found neither in Matthew nor in John.

Mar 14:8 . What she was able (to do) she has done; the greatest work of love which was possible to her, she has done . Comp. Xen. Mem. ii. 1. 30: , .

. . . ] Beforehand she hath anointed my body on behalf of embalming (in order thereby to embalm it). A classical writer would have said (Xen. Cyr. i. 2.3; Thuc. iii. 3; Dem. 44, 3, al. ). Passages with the infinitive from Josephus may be seen in Kypke, I. 192. We may add that the expression in Mark already betrays the explanatory tradition.

Mar 14:9 . . ] as in Mar 1:39 . The relation to is as at Mat 26:13 .

[160] Holtzmann, p. 95, attributes to this episode the significant purpose of introducing the attitude of the betrayer, whose psychological crisis had now set in, in making advances to meet the Sanhedrim. But this could only be the case, if Mark and Matthew had named Judas as the murmurer. Now Mark has in general, and Matthew designates as the murmurers. John is the first to name Judas.

[161] Mark having retained the Latin word, but having given to it another form. See also Estius, Annot. p. 892. Several codd. of the It., too, have the translation spicati ; others: pistici , Verc.: optimi .

[162] Still the possibility of its being the adjective of a local name may not be called in question. In fact, the Scholiast, Aesch. Pro 1Pro 1 , expressly says: , . Lobeck, Pathol. p. 282, remarks on this: “Somnium hoc est, sed nititur observatione licentiae popularis, qua nomina peregrina varie et multipliciter interpolantur.” On the taking of it as a local designation depends the translation pistici , which the Vulgate also, along with codd. of It., has in Joh 12:3 , although in the present passage it gives spicati .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

(3) And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. (4) And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste, of the ointment made? (5) For it might have been, sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. (6) And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. (7) For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good but me ye have not always. (8) She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. (9) Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

There is somewhat uncommonly interesting in this transaction, and as our LORD himself declared, that it was significant of his burial, our chiefest improvement of it should be with an eye to JESUS.

Spikenard was in itself, we are told by naturalists, a small shrub not lovely to the view, but very grateful to the smell, (see my Poor Man’s Concordance, Spikenard,) but when it was prepared into an ointment, it was very costly. This poor woman is supposed, and perhaps rightly so, to have been either Mary, the sister of Lazarus, (for this transaction was at Bethany,) or Mary Magdalene. But the LORD saith the act was symbolical. And what could be more striking, in allusion to his person and sacrifice, than this act of affection, ex cited, and altogether accomplished by the work of grace in her heart. Spikenard was very expressive of the person, and offices of CHRIST. Lowly and humble in himself, there was no beauty to desire him, yet the sweet savour of his name is as ointment poured forth. Son 1:3-12 . Precious LORD JESUS! though thy people of the pre sent day have not the privilege which this woman had, to anoint thine bead at thy table, yet while they sit before thee, and by faith behold thee, we would say with the Church, cause my Spikenard to send forth the smell thereof. Everything in thee, and from thee, is more precious than the mountains of frankincense. Thy person, thy blood, thy righteousness, are all lovely and refreshing.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

3 And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.

Ver. 3. Of spikenard very precious ] Or pure, right, sincere, , not sophisticate, or adulterate; so Theophylact interprets it. But Scultetus saith it was spikenard of Opis, a town not far from Babylon, whence the most precious odours and ointments were transported into other parts ( , melius better ).

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

3 9. ] THE ANOINTING AT BETHANY. 3Jn 1:1-83Jn 1:1-83Jn 1:1-8 . (On Luk 7:36-50 , see note there.) The whole narrative has remarkable points of similarity with that of John, and is used by Professor Bleek (Beitrge zur Evangelienkritik, p. 83) as one of the indications that Mark had knowledge of and used the Gospel of John. My own view, as explained in the general Prolegomena, leads me to a different conclusion.

I have already remarked (note on Mat 26:3 ), that while Matt. seems to have preserved trace of the parenthetic nature of this narrative, by his . ( Mar 14:6 ), and ( Mar 14:14 ), such trace altogether fails in our account. It proceeds as if continuous .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

3. ] It seems impossible to assign any certain, or even probable meaning, to (a word found here and in John’s narrative only). The Vulg. and the lat. mss. c ff 2 q render it “ spicati .” The ancient Commentators give us nothing but conjecture. Euthymius and Theophylact interpret it “ genuine: ” , Euth.; , Theophyl.; ‘ veram et absque dolo ,’ Jerome. Augustine supposes it to refer to some place from which the nard came. Origen’s comment on the passage is lost. The expression no where occurs in the classics, nor in Clement of Alex., who gives a long account (Pdagog. ii. 8, pp. 76 79 [43] ) of ointments . The word can therefore hardly signify any particular kind of ointment technically so called.

[43] By these symbols are designated the portions of two ancient MSS., discernible (as also are fragments of Ulphilas’ gothic version) under the later writing of a volume known as the Codex Carolinus in the Ducal Library at Wolfenbttel. P (GUELPHERBYTANUS A) contains fragments of each of the Gospels. Q (GUELPH. B) fragments of Luke and John. Both are probably of the sixth century . They were edited by F. A. Knittel in 1762; and, more thoroughly, by Tischendorf in 1860 [1869], Monumenta Sacra, vol. iii. [vi.]

The modern interpretations of the word are principally of two kinds: the first, agreeing with Euth. and Theophyl., ‘ genuine ,’ ‘ unadulterated; ’ which sense however of the word does not any where else occur. It is used transitively for , ‘ persuasive ,’ by Aristotle (Rhet. i. 2), and in some later writers for , as , Cedrenus, Annal., cited by Lcke on Joh 12:3 . Euseb. also uses the word (Demonstr. Evang. ix. vol. iv. p. 684, ed. Migne), but in the sense of ‘ pertaining to the faith ,’ as his Latin translator renders it, or, as Lcke thinks, perhaps ‘ potable ,’ as a derivative of (from ).

This brings us to the second modern interpretation, which makes ‘ liquid ,’ ‘ potable ,’ and derives it as above. There certainly was a kind of ointment which they drank; for Athenus (xv. 39, p. 689) quotes from Hicesius, , . , , , . The only objection to this interpretation is, that the word is no where found which however is not so decisive as in the last case, for, as from , ‘faithful,’ so there might be from , ‘potable’ and from being a term confined to dealers in ointments, it might have escaped notice elsewhere.

Lcke (from whom the substance of this note is derived) seems to incline to Augustine’s conjecture (see above): but then surely the name would be more common , as ‘balm of Gilead,’ &c.

The uncertainty being so great, the best rendering would be to leave the word untranslated , as Jer. Taylor does in his “Life of Christ” (sect. 15): ‘Nard Pistick.’ Bp. Wordsw. sees in the word the mystical sense, that “offerings to Christ should be the fruits of a lively and loving , or faith, in Him.”

. . can hardly mean only having broken the resin with which the cork was sealed. In ch. Mar 5:4 : Joh 19:36 ; Rev 2:27 , the word is used of breaking , properly so called: and I see no objection to supposing that the was crushed in the hand, and the ointment thus poured over His head. The feet would then ( Joh 12:3 ) be anointed with what remained on the hands of Mary, or in the broken vase (see note on Luk 7:38 ).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mar 14:3-9 . The anointing in Bethany (Mat 26:6-13 ).

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Mar 14:3 . , : two genitive absolute clauses whereof Weiss makes critical use (Marcus-Evang.); in which Schanz sees simply an instance of Mk.’s helplessness in style. The first indicates generally the time and place, the second the position of Jesus (at table) when the woman approached Him ( ). . Vide in Mt. : a puzzling word recurring in the fourth Gospel (Mar 12:3 ). It has been variously explained. (1) As one of Mk.’s Latinisms = spicatus , turned into like Sextarius into (Mar 7:4 ). In favour of this view is the Vulgate nardi spicati reproduced in “spikenard” (spiked-nard), A. V [126] , and it has been adopted by Wetstein, Grotius, Rosenmller, etc. (2) As meaning liquid, potable, from , , Fritzsche and others. (3) As derived from the name of a place whence the ointment was obtained, Augustine; also Bengel: “Pista urbs Indorum in regione Cabul; qu ex regione pleraque aromata jam tum petebantur”. But he adds: “Ex nomine proprio potius formaretur ”. (4) As = , trusty, genuine, to distinguish it from spurious imitations which abounded (Pliny, H. N., xii., 26). Instances of the use of the word in this sense are cited from Greek authors, e.g. , from Artemidorus, ii., 32: ( vide Beza and Kypke). The choice lies between (1) and (4); most modern commentators (following Theophy. and Euthy.) adopt the latter. The following account of nard from Tristram’s Natural History of the Bible is interesting: “An Indian product procured from the Nardostachys Jatamansi, growing on the Himalaya Mountains in Nepaul and Bhotan. It was well known to the Greeks and Romans, and is mentioned by classic authors as derived from the hills on the banks of the Ganges. One peculiarity of the plant which is mentioned by old writers aids in its identification, viz. , that it has many hairy spikes shooting from one root. These shaggy stems are caused by the root leaves shooting up from the ground and surrounding the stalk. It is from this part of the plant that the perfume is procured and prepared simply by drying it.” (1Ti 2:9 , 1Pe 3:4 ), dear, hence the temptation to produce cheap counterfeits. : she broke the narrow-necked vase that the contents might be poured out quickly, not drop by drop, and perhaps that the vessel used for so sacred a purpose might never be employed again (Kloster., Weiss, Schanz, etc.).

[126] Authorised Version.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mar 14:3-9

3While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. 4But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? 5For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. 6But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. 7For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. 8She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. 9Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

Mar 14:3 “Bethany” A city on the ridge known as the Mt. of Olives, not far from Jerusalem, was a popular place for pilgrims to sleep during the three annual mandatory feasts. Every Jewish family who lived close to Jerusalem was culturally obligated to open their homes to pilgrims.

“Simon the leper” In the OT leprosy was a sign of God’s displeasure. It had terrible social ramifications. This man had apparently been cured, possibly by Jesus. Leprosy in the ancient world incorporated many different kinds of skin diseases (cf. Leviticus 13-14), not just our modern leprosy.

The parallel in Joh 12:2-8 implies that this was the home of Lazarus and that Mary, his sister, was the woman. Could it be that Simon was their father whom Jesus had previously healed?

“reclining at the table” They did not use chairs, but reclined at three low tables forming a horseshoe-shape, on their left elbow with their feet behind them.

“came a woman” Luk 7:36-50 records a very similar anointing experience in the same place, but by a sinful woman. Joh 12:3 names this woman as Mary, Lazarus’ sister, but Mark gives no name. Mark, writing so early, possibly was afraid to identify her as a follower of Jesus, while John, writing much later, felt free to name her (cf. Lenski’s St. Mark’s Gospel).

This is surely a wonderful loving act which symbolized Jesus’ soon to be burial.

NASB”an alabaster vial”

NKJV”alabaster flask”

NRSV, TEV,

NJB”alabaster jar”

This was a sealed container of white opaque stone from Alabastron, a city in Egypt. Once opened it could not be resealed. Joh 12:3 tells us it contained a whole pound. This could have been her marriage dowry. It was obviously an act of extravagant love and devotion.

Mar 14:3

NASB”costly perfume of pure nard”

NKJV”very costly oil of spikenard”

NRSV”very costly ointment of nard”

TEV”very expensive perfume made of pure nard”

NJB”very costly ointment, pure nard”

Nard was made from the root of a Himalayan plant. It had a very strong fragrance. The word “pure” is from pistikos, which implies a trustworthy quality (i.e., “genuine” or “unmixed,” cf. Joh 12:3).

The term “nard” is probably from Latin (cf. A. T. Robertson Word Pictures in the New Testament vol. 1 p. 380). Mark’s Gospel has more Latin words and phrases than any other Gospel. Apparently it is targeted to Romans.

“over His head” John’s Gospel tells us the nard was poured on His feet (cf. Joh 12:3). Probably both are true because a whole pound would have been too much for just His head, but would easily anoint His whole body.

It is possible that being anointed on the head would have reminded these Jews of the anointing of a King (cf. 1Sa 10:1; 2Ki 9:3; 2Ki 9:6 and implied in 1Sa 16:13). This may be a royal Messianic symbol as well as a burial procedure/prophecy (cf. Mar 15:46; Mar 16:1; Luk 23:56; Joh 19:39-40).

Mar 14:4 “some” Joh 12:4-5 identifies the questioner as Judas Iscariot. Apparently Jesus’s disciples were discussing this among themselves (cf. Mar 9:10; Mar 10:26; Mar 11:31; Mar 12:7; Mar 16:3).

“were indignantly remarking to one another” This is an imperfect periphrastic. The disciples were talking among themselves and deploring the woman’s extravagance. They were angry, even indignant. This term is used of Jesus’ attitude in Mar 10:14 about the disciples keeping the children away.

“‘might have been sold for over three hundred denarii'” Modern monetary equivalents are not helpful because of the changing purchasing power of money. A denarius was the daily wage of a soldier or laborer; therefore, this was almost a year’s wage.

Mar 14:5 “‘the money given to the poor'” Giving money to the poor during Passover was an important religious requirement of the rabbis (cf. Joh 13:29). It was called almsgiving.

SPECIAL TOPIC: ALMSGIVING

Mar 14:6 “‘Let her alone'” This is an aorist active imperative. Jesus defends this loving, gracious act. He saw it as a prophetic act of preparation for His rapidly approaching death and burial (cf. Mar 14:8).

Mar 14:7 “‘For you always have the poor with you'” This is not a disparaging comment about the poor (cf. Deu 15:4; Deu 15:11), but an emphasis on the uniqueness of Jesus and His special time on earth.

Mar 14:8 “‘she has anointed My body beforehand'” Could she have understood what the disciples did not? The same type of perfume was used in burial preparations (cf. Joh 19:40).

Mar 14:9 “‘Truly'” This is literally “amen.” See Special Topic at Mar 3:28.

“‘whenever the gospel is preached'” The gospel refers to the message that Jesus taught about God, about humanity, about sin, about Himself, about salvation, and about the afterlife. Jesus revealed these truths to the inspired writers of the NT through the mediation of the Spirit. They are revelatory, not human discovery. It is primarily the revelation of a person and a relationship with that person, not only a creed or a system of doctrines about that person. It involves a personal relationship with Christ by faith and understanding of who He is and why He came, which leads to Christlike living in light of this new relationship with God and a totally new world view.

“‘in the whole world'” Jesus expected the gospel to permeate the entire globe (cf. Mar 13:27 and Mat 28:19-20; Luk 24:46-47; Act 1:8).

“‘what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her'” Jesus does not forget acts of kindness and devotion. This one is recorded in Scripture, but many others are kept in the heart of God and will be revealed on that great day (cf. Gal 6:7-9; 1Ti 5:25; Rev 14:13; also Mar 2:1; Mar 2:19; Mar 3:8).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

And being. Parallel with Mat 26:6-13.

in. Greek. en. App-104. Not the same word as inw Mar 20:60, Mar 20:62.

the house, &c. Not therefore the first supper (Joh 12:1, &c.), as that was in the house of Lazarus, six days before the Passover. See App-156 and App-159.

the leper. Note the Figure of speech Ampliatio (App-6), by which Simon still retained the name describing what he had once been.

a woman. Not Mary; the second occasion being quite different. See App-158.

box = flask.

spikenard = pure nard. Liquid, because it was poured.

very precious = of great price.

brake. Alabaster being brittle it was easily done. A Divine supplement, here.

poured. Greek. katacheo. Occurs only here and in Mat 26:7; not in Joh 12:3.

on. Greek. kata App-104. Not the same word asin Mar 14:2, Mar 14:35, Mar 13:46.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

3-9.] THE ANOINTING AT BETHANY. Mat 26:6-13. Joh 12:1-8. (On Luk 7:36-50, see note there.) The whole narrative has remarkable points of similarity with that of John,-and is used by Professor Bleek (Beitrge zur Evangelienkritik, p. 83) as one of the indications that Mark had knowledge of and used the Gospel of John. My own view, as explained in the general Prolegomena, leads me to a different conclusion.

I have already remarked (note on Mat 26:3), that while Matt. seems to have preserved trace of the parenthetic nature of this narrative, by his . (Mar 14:6), and (Mar 14:14),-such trace altogether fails in our account. It proceeds as if continuous.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mar 14:3. , genuine) French veritable [So marg. of Eng. Vers., pure, or else liquid; but its text, ointment of spikenard]. Pliny, on the contrary, mentions Pseudo-nardum. Nonnus lengthens the middle syllable in ; viz. as if formed from Pista, a city of the Indians in the region of Cabul; a region from which most of the aromatic perfumes even already at that time used to be derived; see Lud. de Dieu, in Act, p. 133. But ; would rather be the form, if derived from the proper name, [, having broken) That none of the ointment might remain in the vessel, which, had it been of glass, would have burst asunder into a number of fragments.-V. g.]

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Mar 14:3-9

2. THE ANOINTING AT BETHANY

Mar 14:3-9

(Mat 26:6-13; Joh 12:1-9)

3 And while he was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster cruse of ointment of pure nard very costly;–Mark does not give her name, but John tells that it was Mary who was sister to Lazarus and Martha. (Mar 12:3.) The ointment of nard was highly esteemed in antiquity as a precious aromatic and a costly luxury. The cruse and its contents were very valuable, such as any woman of refinement would appreciate. Pliny says that a pound of this ointment cost more than four hundred denarii or sixty dollars. This was a perfume, and used only to give a pleasant odor.

and she brake the cruse, and poured it over his head.–John says she “anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair.” She did both. That she used her hair instead of a towel to wipe his feet also indicates she did not have bobbed hair. What a supper party! a healed leper, a risen Lazarus, an incarnation of grateful love, a plotting traitor, a marvelous healer and teacher destined to crucifixion, at least two others who would die a martyr’s death.

4 But there were some that had indignation among themselves,–They were utterly incapable of entering into the spirit of boundless gratitude and devotion that made any gift seem small to Mary, and thought only of the economical aspects of the case. Mark says “some.” Matthew indicates “the disciples” collectively. But it is John who names the ringleader in this angry meanness, and also his motive. It was Judas Iscariot, who valued money so highly that he considered fifteen dollars a fair equivalent for the betrayal of Jesus and the loss of his own soul. John says Judas expressed indignation.

saying, To what purpose hath this waste of the ointment been made?–The loss or destruction of this valuable property. They could see no use in it, and they therefore supposed it was lost. From Judas’ standpoint an enormous waste, three times as much value poured upon Jesus as would shortly buy him. Sordid men still think what is bestowed upon our Lord is wasted.

5 For this ointment might have been sold for above three hundred shillings, and given to the poor.–The ointment was worth about forty-five dollars.

And they murmured against her.–They not only murmured about her, but spoke sharply about what she had done.

6 But Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her?–He saw in her countenance that such words, coming from his chosen apostles, disquieted her.

she hath wrought a good work on me.–It was a good work which she had done, because of the believing, grateful love which dictated it. From the standpoint of economy and expediency it might seem unwise, but Jesus judges it by the motive. Then, beside, he knew of its eminent appropriateness to the events so soon to occur. It was a good work which Jesus presently explained to mean that her affectionate sacrifice should constitute an honored part of the anointing for his burial. It was a work distinguished for its moral beauty, fitness, and grace; literally a beautiful work.

7 For ye have the poor always with you, and whensoever ye will ye can do them good: but me ye have not always.–These words were especially significant in view of the declaration he had so repeatedly made to them that he would be put to death at Jerusalem.

8 She hath done what she could;–She wished to show her loving gratitude. All that was possible to her she had done.

she hath anointed my body beforehand for the burying.–Matthew says: “For in that she poured this ointment upon my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.” In John, “Suffer her to keep it against the day of my burying.” Jesus accepts her offering as a preliminary anointing for his burial. She, of course, knew it not, but the oncoming rush of events gives to it this mystic quality. As there would be no time for this after his death, this anointing, as it were for the sepulchre, took place, in the divine arrangement, while he was yet alive. Mary’s act of love and faith stands out in striking contrast to the avarice of Judas and the murmurings of the others.

9 And verily I say unto you, Wheresoever the gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world,–With what prophetic confidence Jesus looked forward to the universal preaching of the gospel through the world! What wonderful confidence in one who felt sure of being hurried into the grave in a few days!

that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.–A prophecy fulfilled, for where the New Testament has been carried, there has this woman’s story been told, and has been a stimulus and encouragement to all the honest, buoyant spirits who have made noble offerings to the Lord, and been censured for them.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

CHAPTER 63

A Good Work Done for Christ

And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

(Mar 14:3-9)

In these verses Mark records, by divine inspiration, the story of a woman coming into the house of Simon the leper and anointing the Lord Jesus for his burial. It is an event recorded in all four of the gospel narratives (Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 7, and John 12). Passing over the negative attitudes and wicked conduct of Judas and the Lords disciples, I want us only to observe what this woman did, why she did it, and what the Lord Jesus said about her and her work. This was the Masters commentary on this dear woman and what she did. She hath wrought a good work on meShe hath done what she could. She is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her (Mar 14:6; Mar 14:8-9). May God the Holy Spirit be our Teacher as we seek to learn from him the lessons set before us in this portion of his Word.

A Scripture Fulfilled

“And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head” (Mar 14:3).

This act performed upon the Lord Jesus was an act of singular respect and honor. It showed great humility on the part of this woman. More importantly, it was a literal fulfillment of the Song of Solomon (Mar 1:12) “While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.”

What this woman did for the honor of Christ, every gospel preacher must do every time he stands to preach the gospel. The Word of God is like a sacred chest containing precious spikenard, the rich, fragrant spikenard of Christ crucified. As this dear women broke open her box of spikenard, it is the privilege and responsibility of the gospel preacher to break open the Word of God, that the sweet, sweet aroma of Christ may fill his house. The gospel of Christ is as ointment poured forth. The sweet savor of the knowledge of Christ is diffused in the house of God when Christ is preached.

Let every ransomed sinner anoint the Son of God spiritually, by faith in him, giving him the honor he so richly deserves. Anoint him as your sovereign King, with the kiss of allegiance. Anoint him as your glorious Savior with the kiss of repentance. Anoint him as your Beloved with the kiss of affection.

A Sinner Forgiven

When we read Lukes account of this event, we find that Luke was inspired to give a few details that Mark was inspired to omit; and those details help us to understand the reason for this womans actions.

And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisees house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisees house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. (Luk 7:36-39)

This woman was Mary Magdalene, mentioned in the next chapter, out of whom the Lord had cast seven devils. Though most conservative and liberal theologians and commentators alike disagree, I am convinced that all four accounts of our Lord being anointed by a woman are of the same event, performed by the same woman. Try to picture the scene here.

Here is a woman who had been a notorious sinner, once possessed of seven devils. But she had been the object of Gods saving grace. The Lord Jesus had forgiven her of all her sins, robed her in his righteousness, and told her plainly that he would soon die as her Substitute and rise again. Now, here she stands, looking at him, listening to him, loving him.

As she stood at his feet behind him, she remembered what she was and who she was. She remembered who he is and what he had done for her. She knew that the time of his death was at hand. Her heart broke with gratitude and love for Christ. She wanted to honor him. So she washed his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head. A womans hair is her glory (1Co 11:15). She untied her glory as she knelt at the Saviors feet, and wiped his feet with that which was her glory. Then, she kissed his feet, and kissed the incessantly. The Savior said, This woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet (Luk 7:45). And she anointed him. She poured the ointment on his head. When she did, it ran down his beard, over his body, down to his feet.

A Simple Faith

She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying (Mar 14:8).

Faith is simply trusting Christ, taking God at his Word, believing him. That faith which stands in the word of man is not faith at all. True faith stands in the Word of God alone. Our Lord Jesus told his disciples that he must die and rise again. Mary simply believed him, and came as a penitent sinner to anoint him for his burial. Where does your faith stand? What is the basis of your faith? Is it your feeling? Your experience? Or, is it the Word of God? Faith believes the Word of God (1Jn 5:7-12).

The basis of our faith is the Word of God, and the Word of God alone. I fully agree with Martin Luther who wrote

Feelings come and feelings go,

And feelings are deceiving.

My warrant is the Word of God;

Naught else is worth believing!

With David, I say, My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word. Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word. Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope (Psa 119:81; Psa 119:114; Psa 119:49). Our feelings are no basis for hope. Our hope is in that which God has caused to be written in Holy Scripture. If I have a good hope through grace, I ought to be able to turn to some text, or fact, or doctrine of Gods Word as the source and basis of it. Our confidence must arise from something that God has said in his Word, that we have received and believed with our hearts. The heart is deceitful above all things (Jer 17:9). He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool (Pro 28:26). Good feelings are deceiving, unless we can point to Thus saith the Lord as the basis of our hope. Our hope is found in, arises from, and is based upon the Book of God. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope (Rom 15:4). The Book of God was written specifically to give believing sinners an assured hope of grace, salvation and eternal life in Christ (1Jn 5:1-3).

The basis of hope is the Word of God. And that which is revealed in the Word of God which gives us hope is the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Substitute (Rom 8:34-35; 2Co 5:17-21). Christ is the Foundation upon which we are built. Christ is our Hope (1Ti 1:1). We hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1Th 1:3). The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him (Lam 3:24). Our hope is in Christ, our Covenant Surety, our blessed, sin-atoning Redeemer, our Righteousness, and our Advocate and High Priest in heaven. I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day (2Ti 1:12).

The basis of our hope is the Word of God. That which is revealed in this Book that gives us hope is the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I want you to see that the good hope of grace and salvation that God gives to his elect is something that is felt in us, felt inwardly in our hearts. The Apostle Paul speaks of Gods saints as people rejoicing in hope (Rom 12:12). We read in Rom 5:5, Hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

A Service Found

Mary wanted to honor the Lord Jesus. She wanted to serve him. She wanted everyone around her to understand how gracious he had been to her, how much she owed him, how great, how glorious he is. But how could she do it. She was a woman. Modesty and obedience to God would not allow her to preach. She could not become a pastor, a deacon, a missionary, or an evangelist. But Mary was not one of our modern, mouthy, obnoxious domineering women. This woman, rather than being repulsed by her proper place in the kingdom of God, used it most honorably. She found a place where she could serve her Lord. She found a way to do something for Christ. She could not do what others could do. But she could do what she could do, and she did. Look at what our Lord says of her in Mar 14:8. She hath done what she could.

What an honorable thing! Blessed is that person who does what he or she can for Christ! Mary did what she had opportunity to do. She did what she had the God given ability to do. And she did what she could when it had to be done. Had she not done this thing now, she could never have done it at all. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest” (Ecc 9:10). “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1Co 10:31). “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men (Col 3:23).

Because she did what she could, the Lord Jesus said of this woman, She hath wrought a good work on me. Oh, for grace to do what I can for Christ! If we would just do what we could, we would do a good work for our Master.

Let me show you several things which are obvious about this great thing Mary did for the Lord Jesus, several things that make her work a good work.

1.Mary did what she did for the glory of Christ alone. All that perfume, all that sweet aroma, all that precious spikenard was meant for Christ alone!

2.This was an act of pure love. Love never counts the cost. Love never weighs the consequence. Love never considers a loss a loss when the loss is made for the one who is loved.

3.This was a work requiring considerable sacrifice and self-denial. Three hundred pence was a years wages (Mat 20:9-13).

4.Though it was a spontaneous act of love, this sacrifice and anointing required thoughtful, deliberate preparation. Our Master tells us (Joh 12:7) that Mary had specifically kept this precious ointment for this occasion.

5.Mary did this thing without calling any attention to herself. Spurgeon said, Silent acts of love have musical voices in the ears of Jesus. Sound no trumpet before thee, or Jesus will take warning and be gone.

6.This was the response of Marys heart to the sacrifice of her Savior, her Lord, her Redeemer. She believed what she heard the Lord speak (Joh 3:14-16) and understood that the price of her souls ransom was his lifes precious blood!

7.This great sacrifice was a work of faith. She knew that the Lord Jesus was about to die as her Substitute; but she believed that he would rise from the dead. Therefore, she anointed him for his burial in anticipation of his resurrection (Isa 53:10-12).

It appears that everything Mary owned in this world was in that little box of precious spikenard she had saved. With happy, willing, grateful heart, she poured it all out on the Savior. Even so, if we would honor the Lord Jesus Christ, he must be honored with all we have (Rom 12:1-2). Those who have been forgiven much love much.

A Singular Fame

“Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her” (Mar 14:9).

Mary lost nothing. Her oil was not wasted. Her labor was not spent in vain. She got by it that good name which Solomon says is better than precious ointment. You can count on this: those who honor Christ, Christ will honor (1Sa 2:30). “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1Co 10:31).

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

woman Mary of Bethany.

head (See Scofield “Mat 26:7”)

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

being: Mat 26:6, Mat 26:7, Joh 11:2, Joh 12:1-3

of ointment: Son 4:13, Son 4:14, Son 5:5, Luk 7:37, Luk 7:38

spikenard: or, pure nard, or liquid nard

Reciprocal: Psa 106:31 – General Mat 25:17 – he also Mar 16:1 – sweet Luk 7:36 – one Joh 12:2 – Martha Joh 12:3 – took

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

MARY OF BETHANYS OFFERING

And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster bor of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the bor, and poured it on His head.

Mar 14:3

Matthew and Mark say, a little mysteriously, that this feast was given in the house of Simon the leper. John makes no mention of Simon the leper, a name which does not occur elsewhere; and it is clear from his narrative that the family of Bethany were in all respects the central figures at this entertainment. Martha seemed to have had the entire supervision of the feast, and the risen Lazarus was almost as much an object of curiosity as Jesus Himself.

The feast was also remarkable for the wonderful incident recorded in the text. Mary, as she sat there in the presence of her beloved and rescued brother, and her yet more deeply worshipped Lord, could no longer restrain her feelings. She arose and fetched an alabaster cruse of Indian spikenard, and came softly behind Jesus where He sat, and broke the alabaster in her hands, and poured the genuine, precious perfume first over His head, then over His feet, and then she wiped those feet with the long tresses of her hair, while the atmosphere of the whole house was filled with the delicious fragrance.

I. In grateful remembrance.Was not a grateful remembrance of that deed of love in raising her brother, the sympathy manifested, the soothing effect of His words, the tears that He shed over the grave of His friend, the mighty words of recall, the great moving impulse to this act? And this motive marks a difference between the narrative and the story of the anointing recounted by Luke. While Mary of Bethany brought a grateful, the woman who anointed our Lord in the house of Simon the Pharisee came with a broken, penitent, and contrite heart. How varied are those motives which lead to acts like these, expressive as this was alike of her veneration and her affection for her Lord! Well is it for us if a view of our temporal blessings produces in us some open, public, avowed or secret, silent, but real, expression of our attachment and reverence for the Saviour. For this was more than an avowal of gratitude. Gratitude will honour the giver of a blessing, and gratitude will love the generous bestower of needful gifts.

II. A token of the estimation in which she held our Lord.She had not sat at the feet of our Lord and drunk in His sayings for nothing, without understanding more and more of the beauty of our Lords character. In this respect how forcibly does the contrast strike us between the depth of character in Mary and the superficiality of the disciples! And she is courageous in her expression of her honour of the Lord. Let it only be considered that even the Jews were plotting His ruin; that not long before He had been driven from Jerusalem by the hatred of the Jews. But the stony stare of the indifferent and the more open hatred of the inimical did not stop Marys open and avowed confession of Christ.

III. The generosity of her love.Does true love exist without generous self-sacrifice? No! It is then only a hollow pretence, a meretricious sham, mere veneer covering the commonest material. Love will find expression in acts of self-sacrifice, in gifts, in open expressions of its approval. Is there real love to Christ and Christianity where there is no effort at its benevolent expression; where a goodly income is spent on mere show and parade; where increase of wealth is accompanied by no increase of generosity and gifts to all works of charity, especially those concerned in the support of the Church of God? True love is a living sacrifice.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

3

See the comments on Mat 26:7 for the explanation of this verse.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.

[Of spikenard.] What if I should render it, nardin of Balanus? “Nardin consists of mphacium, balaninum, bulrush, nard, amomum, myrrh, balsam,” etc. And again, “Myrobalanum is common to the Troglodytes, and to Thebais, and to that part of Arabia which divides Judea from Egypt; a growing ointment, as appears by the very name, whereby also is shown that it is the mast [glans] of a tree.”

Balanus; as all know among the Greeks, is glans, mast; or an acorn; so also is pistaca; among the Talmudists. There are prescribed by the Talmudists various remedies for various diseases: among others, this; For a pleurisy (or, as others will have it, a certain disease of the head), take to the quantity of the mast of ammoniac. The Gloss is, the mast of ammoniac is the mast of cedar. The Aruch saith, “the mast of ammoniac is the grain of a fruit, which is called glans.”

The word nard; is Hebrew from the word nerad; and the word spikenard is Syriac, from the word pistaca. So that the ointment might be called Balanine ointment; in the composition of which, nard and mast; or myrobalane; were the chief ingredients.

[Poured it on his head.] In Talmudic language, “What are the testimonies, that the woman married is a virgin? If she goes forth to be married with a veil let down over her eyes, yet with her head not veiled. The scattering of nuts is also a testimony. These are in Judea; but what are in Babylon? Rabh saith, If ointment be upon the head of the Rabbins.” (The Gloss is, “The women poured ointment upon the heads of the scholars; and anointed them.”) “Rabh Papa said to Abai, Does that doctor speak of the aromatic ointment used in bridechambers?” (The Gloss is, “Are the Rabbins such, to be anointed with such ointments?”) “He answered, O thou unacquainted with the customs, did not thy mother pour out ointment for you (at thy wedding) upon the heads of the Rabbins? Thus, a certain Rabbin got a wife for his son in the house of Rabbah Bar Ulla; and they said to him, Rabbah Bar Ulla also got a wife in the house of a certain Rabbin for his son, and he poured out ointment upon the head of the Rabbins.”

From the tradition produced it may be asked, whether it were customary in Judea to wet the heads of the Rabbins with ointments, in the marriages of virgins, as it was in Babylon? Or, whether it were so customary otherwise to anoint their heads; as that such an anointing at weddings were not so memorable a matter as it was in Babylon? Certainly, in both places, however they anointed men’s heads for health’s sake, it was accounted unfitting for Rabbins to smell of aromatical ointments: “It is indecent (say the Jerusalem Talmudists) for a scholar of the wise men to smell of spices.” And you have the judgment of the Babylonians in this very place, when it is inquired among them, and that, as it were, with a certain kind of dissatisfaction, Whether Rabbins be such as that they should be anointed with aromatical ointments, as the more nice sort are wont to be anointed? From this opinion, everywhere received among them, you may more aptly understand, why the other disciples as well as Judas, did bear the lavish of the ointment with some indignation: he; out of wicked covetousness; but they, partly, as not wiling that so precious a thing should be lost, and partly as not liking so nice a custom should be used towards their master, from which the masters of the Jews themselves were so averse. And our Saviour, taking off the envy of what was done, applies this anointing to his burial, both in his intention and in the intention of the woman; that it might not seem to be done out of some delicate niceness.

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

Mar 14:3. While he was in Bethany. Indefinite as in Matthews account.

Ointment. John: a pound, etc.

Spikenard, or nard pistic. Nard means an oriental gum, but the Greek word pistic is akin to the word meaning faithful, and probably refers to the purity of the precious gum. But others understand it as meaning drinkable, i.e., liquid; some think that the adjective refers to the place from which it came.

Very costly. See Mar 14:5; comp. Joh 12:5.

She brake the box. Crushing the neck of the cruse with the hand. See notes on Matthew. Mark alone gives this detail.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Several particulars are observable in this piece of history: as, first, the action which this holy woman performed; she pours a box of precious ointment upon our Saviour’s head as he sat at meat, according to the custom of the eastern countries at their feasts. Murmuring Judas valued this ointment at three hundred pence, which makes, of our money, nine pounds seven shillings and a sixpence halfpenny. I do not find that any of the apostles were at thus much cost and charge to put honour upon our Saviour, as this poor woman was.

Learn hence, That where strong love prevails in the heart towards Christ, nothing is adjudged too dear for him, neither will it suffer itself to be outshined by any examples; the weakest woman that strongly loves her Saviour, will piously strive with the greatest apostle to expresss the fervour of her affection towards him.

Observe, 2. How this action was resented and reflected upon by Judas, and some other disciples whom he influenced; They had indignation within themselves, and said, To what purpose is this waste?

O! how doth a covetous heart think everything too good for Christ! Happy was it for this poor woman, that she had a more righteous Judge to pass sentence upon her actions than murmuring Judas.

Observe, 3. How readily our holy Lord vindicates this good woman; she says nothing for herself, nor need she, having so good an advocate.

First he rebukes Judas, Let her alone, why trouble ye the woman?

Next he justifies the action, She hath wrought a good work, because it flowed from a principle of love to Christ.

And lastly, he gives the reason of her action, She did it for my burial. As kings and great persons were wont in those eastern countries, at their funerals, to be enbalmed with odours and sweet perfumes, so, says our Saviour, this woman, to declare her faith in me as her king and Lord, both with this box of ointment, as it were beforehand, embalm my body for its burial.

True faith puts honour upon a crucified, as well as a glorified , Saviour. This holy woman accounts Christ worthy of all honour in his death believing it would be a sweet-smelling sacrifice unto God, and the saviour of life unto his people.

Observe, 4. Our Saviour doth not only justify and defend the action of this poor woman, but magnifies and extols it; declaring that she should be rewarded for it with an honourable memorial in all ages of the church: Whensoever this gospel is preached, this shall be spoken of as a memorial of her.

Note hence, The care which Christ takes to have the good deeds of his children not buried in the dust with them, but had in everlasting remembrance. Though sin causes men to rot above the ground, and stink alive, and when they are dead, leaves an ignominy upon their graves; yet will the actions of the just smell sweet and blossom in the dust.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

P A R T S E V E N T H.

LAST WEEK OF OUR LORD’S MINISTRY, THE

FOURTH PASSOVER, THE CRUCIFIXION.

CIV.

JESUS ARRIVES AND IS FEASTED AT BETHANY.

(From Friday afternoon till Saturday Night, March 31 and April 1, A. D. 30.)

dJOHN XI. 55-57; XII. 1-11; aMATT. XXVI. 6-13; bMARK XIV. 3-9.

d55 Now the passover of the Jews was at hand: and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the passover, to purify themselves. [These Jews went up before the Passover that they might have time to purify themselves from ceremonial uncleanness before the feast. They were expected to purify before any important event ( Exo 19:10, Exo 19:11), and did so before the passover ( 2Ch 30:13-20), for those who were ceremonially unclean were excluded from it– Joh 18:28.] 56 They sought therefore for Jesus, and spake one with another, as they stood in the temple, What think ye? That he will not come to the feast? 57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given commandment, that, if any man knew where he was, he should show it, that they might take him. [The decree of the Sanhedrin ordering the arrest of Jesus led the people to question as to whether he would dare to approach the city. But this mention of it and the stir and question which it created have a dark significance. It shows that the Jews generally were forewarned of the evil purpose of the Sanhedrin, and the dangers which surrounded Jesus. They were not taken unawares when their rulers told them to raise the cry “Crucify him!” And they raised it after they had due notice and time [568] for deliberation.] d1 Jesus therefore six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus raised from the dead. [The word “therefore” refers to the decree and consequent dangers just mentioned. Because his “hour” had come, Jesus went to face these dangers. We are told that he came to the house of Lazarus and that he kept near Lazarus because these facts emphasized the great miracle which roused the hatred of the Jews, and caused them more earnestly to seek the death of Christ. Jesus appears to have arrived in Bethany Friday afternoon, March 31, A.D. 30. It is likely that he spent the Sabbath day at that place, and that the supper mentioned below was given him after sunset on Saturday, which, according to Jewish reckoning, would be the beginning of Sunday. This supper is mentioned later by Matthew and Mark, but without any note of time to show that it belongs specifically where they put it. But John does give us a note of time. The Joh 12:12 shows that it was the night before the triumphal entry, and therefore we follow the chronology of John.] 2 So a6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, dthey made him a supper there: ain the house of Simon the leper, dand Martha served; but Lazarus was one of them that sat at meat with him. [Who Simon the leper was is not known. It is not unlikely that he was one whom Jesus had healed, and that he united with the household of Lazarus in a joint effort to show gratitude unto the Lord for his goodness to this group of his friends.] b3 And while he was [there] as he sat at meat, there came aunto him a woman {d3 Mary} ahaving an alabaster cruse of exceeding precious ointment, bof pure nard very costly; d3 Mary therefore took a pound [a litra, a Greek weight containing nearly twelve ounces avoirdupois] of ointment of pure nard, very precious [Nard was a liquid perfume distilled from some odorous plant or plants and mingled with oil. It was sealed in flasks or alabaster boxes and imported from the far East], band she brake the cruse, and poured it over {aupon} bhis head. aas he sat at meat. dand anointed [569] the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair [The cruse seems to have been a long-necked flask sealed with wax so tightly as to necessitate it being broken to extract the nard. These flasks were tasteful and costly objects such as women delight to possess. Many of them were so delicate that Pliny compares them to closed rosebuds, and the same writer, speaking of nard, reckons it as an instance of excessive luxury to anoint the feet or ankles with it]: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. [Thus the liberality of Mary contributed to the pleasure of all the guests. The odor of a good deed is generally diffusive.] 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, that should betray him, saith, 5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred shillings, and given to the poor? 6 Now this he said, not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and having the bag took away what was put therein. a8 But when the disciples saw it, they {bthere were some that} had indignation among themselves, asaying, To what purpose is this waste? bTo what purpose hath this waste of the ointment been made? 5 For this ointment might have been sold afor much, bfor above three hundred shillings, and given to the poor. And they murmured against her. [It seems very likely that this murmuring was started by Judas Iscariot, for the murmurers fall in with his notions that the price of the ointment should be deposited in the poor fund. It is a singular thing that Jesus permitted a thief to occupy the office of treasurer. It is probable that Judas was honest when he was called to serve, but that same management and spirit of economy which made him fit for the place ruined him when he got it. Thus our strong points are often our weakest. The price of the pound of nard would be about fifty-one dollars of our money, but the purchasing power of money was then nearly ten times as great as it is now. The price here named agrees almost exactly with the figures at which Pliny rates the most costly nard.] a10 But Jesus perceiving it, dtherefore said, aunto them, bLet her [570] alone; aWhy trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. dSuffer her to keep it against the day of my burying. a12 For in that she poured this ointment upon my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. b8 She hath done what she could; hath anointed my body beforehand for the burying. [The expression “Suffer,” etc., used by John, is taken by some as implying that all the ointment was not poured out, and that some of the apostles were endeavoring to persuade Mary to keep and sell what was left, and that Jesus ordered it kept to finish the embalming of his body which Mary had already begun. But there is nothing in the language to require such an interpretation. Jesus meant, “Let her use it rightly,” using the word “keep” as in the expression, “keep the feast;” i. e., observe the ceremony. The words of Jesus about the ointment taken as a whole may be construed thus: “The sorrows of my coming passion oppress me ( Mat 26:38), and Mary, conscious of that sorrow, wishes to cheer me with the evidence of love and gratitude. She sympathizes with me as I approach the shadow of death, and anoints me beforehand for the burial. You do not begrudge what is given to the dead. You do not censure as extravagant what is spent for the embalming of a dear one. You yourselves would be ready enough to anoint me in this same manner after I am dead. So do not censure her because in the fullness of her sympathy she has anticipated the coming catastrophe and has anointed me beforehand.”] d8 For the poor ye have always with you [ Deu 15:11]; band whensoever ye will ye can do them good: but me ye have not always. [There would be plenty of opportunities in which to do good to the poor, but the time for conferring a personal benefit upon Christ in the flesh was now limited to seven days. Thereafter gifts could only be given to Christ by bestowing them upon the poor.] 9 And verily I say unto you, Wheresoever the {athis} gospel shall be preached in {bthroughout} the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. [Jesus here makes [571] prominent the different estimates which God and man place upon the same acts. That which the disciples had censured as a waste and that which they had regarded as worthy of rebuke was in his sight an action fit to be kept in everlasting remembrance as a model for the conduct of future generations throughout the whole earth, and he accordingly decreed that it be so kept in mind.] d9 The common people therefore of the Jews learned that he was there [in Simon’s house]: and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead, 10 But the chief priests took counsel that they might put Lazarus also to death; 11 because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away [withdrew from the party headed by the Jewish rulers], and believed on Jesus. [The presence of the resurrected man and the Christ who had resurrected him both at one table greatly excited the curiosity of the multitudes who had come up to Jerusalem to attend the passover. When word of this supper spread among the people it was natural that they should slip out to Bethany to see the sight, and it was equally natural that seeing it they should believe in Jesus. This deflection of the common people gave a keener venom to the hatred of the rulers.]

[FFG 568-572]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

THE SUPPER AT BETHANY

Mat 26:6-13; Mar 14:3-9; Joh 12:2-8. Then they made for Him a supper there, and Martha served; and Lazarus was one of those sitting along with Him. Matthew and Mark say that this supper was in the house of Simon the leper, at Bethany. I was in that house four months ago. It is still in quite a state of preservation, like so many houses in Palestine, being located in a cave at the base of Mount Olivet, which is utilized in the construction of the edifice, whose walls are adjusted to the dimensions and capacity of the cavern. We know nothing about Simon the leper, but he is believed to be one of the numerous lepers healed and saved by the blessed Benefactor.

Joh 12:3. Then, Mary, taking a pound of ointment of pure spikenard, very valuable, anointed, the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, the one about to betray Him, says, Wherefore was not this ointment sold for three hundred denaria, and given to the poor? The English word penny, E. V., is misleading in this passage, as our penny is only one cent. The denarion was a Roman coin, worth fifteen cents in our money. Hence the estimate of this ointment, which is here said to be very valuable, was forty-five dollars. The spikenard, from which this valuable myrrh was manufactured, was not indigenous in Palestine, but in Arabia Felix, where the ointment was made and exported.

He said this, not because there was a care to him concerning the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the purse, and was accustomed to carry the contributions. Why was Judas a thief at that time? Because he had already made up his mind to sell Jesus for money. How was that stealing? Because he had no idea that they could take Him, as he had seen them try it over and over, and never could put their hands on Him. Frequently He suddenly disappeared, passing unseen through the great wall of the temple, and recognized on the other side. Unfortunately for Judas, he held the most dangerous office ever conferred on mortal man i. e., that of treasurer which proved his ruin, because he gradually yielded to the love of money till he finally concluded to sell Jesus for filthy lucre, in that respect being guilty of stealing the fifteen dollars for which he sold Him, as he had no idea that they could take Him; but believing them to be a set of scoundrels, he concluded that he would just as well get their money when he had a chance.

Then Jesus said, Let her alone; she hath kept it unto the day of My burial; for the poor you have always with you, and Me you have not always. In less than two days from that supper, He was in the sepulcher and numbered with the dead. Hence the idea is that this anointing is really for His burial, which is now at hand.

Mar 14:8. She hath done what she could. O what a deep significance in this terse statement! Are you doing what you can for Jesus? If you can not go to Greenland, Ethiopia, or China, you can do some small part in the support and encouragement of those who can go. If you cannot preach like Paul, nor exhort like Apollos, you can go into the slums, pray for the dying, and tell the broken-hearted of Jesus. If you can not be a flaming evangelist, you can be an humble altar-worker. She came beforehand to anoint My body for the burial. Truly I say unto you, that wherever this gospel may be preached in all the world, that which she did shall be told for a memorial of her. Notoriety is a powerful incentive. Actuated by it, men have led armies, besieged cities, and desolated great countries. Erostratus burned down the great Temple of Diana at Ephesus, one of the seven wonders of the world, which was two hundred years in building, as he confessed under the gallows, for sheer notoriety. By this little, simple act of loving appreciation, thus manifested to the Prince of life, Mary immortalized her name, securing a commendatory mention in the pulpit throughout the whole earth, as the gospel moves on, peregrinating every land and brightening every sky.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Mar 14:3-9. The Anointing of Jesus.Lk. records a parallel incident (not an alternative version of the same story) earlier in the life of Jesus. Jn. (Joh 12:1) places the event six days before the Passover. This change may be motived by symbolism, as the Paschal lamb was chosen on 10th of Nisan. But Mk.s date is not indisputable. He inserts the story here as a preparation for the death of Christ (see especially Mar 14:8). The alabaster vessel and its contents are alike precious. The woman makes her last use of both. She breaks the cruse, perhaps in honour of the guest. Renan seems to have found such a custom in the East (see Swete). Or it may be, that another practice of the Hellenistic age has suggested this detail. In anointing the dead, it was usual to break the flask and lay it in the coffin (HNT). More simply we may suppose that the woman, in her eagerness, could not wait to open the vessel. [The breaking of the vase may have its ultimate root in the well-known custom of breaking what has been used by a sacred person, in order that the sanctity thus communicated to it may not prove dangerous to any one who might use it hereafter. Plates used for the meals of a sacred person are, in harmony with this taboo, frequently destroyed (p. 200, Lev 6:24-30*). Or in view of the custom mentioned in HNT, the breaking of the vessel may symbolise the death of the body (cf. Mar 14:8).A. S. P.] Jesus defends this seeming waste. Immediate social utility is not the final guide to devotion. The woman seized a unique opportunity. The chance of serving Christ in the poor would continue and is likely to continue.

Mar 14:3. Simon, not otherwise known.spikenard: note mg. There is little support for rendering liquid nard. [Fritzsche has argued strongly for the rendering drinkable, since ointments were drunk mixed with wine. But genuine is much more probable. Or pistikes may be equivalent to pistakes and refer to the Pistacia Terebinthus, the resin of which, with other sweet scents, was mixed with oil of nard. See EBi., 4750f.A. S. P.]

Mar 14:8 f. is assumed to be unhistorical by many scholars. But the foreboding of death might have taken the form of 8, and there seems to be no special reason for adding Mar 14:9 unless it were a genuine saying.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

Verse 3

A woman. This was Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who was serving at the table, her brother Lazarus being present as a guest. (John 12:2.) Her name is not mentioned by Mark, apparently because he had not given any previous account of Lazarus or of the family.–Brake the box; opened it, by breaking the seal or coverings.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

THE OFFERING

3 And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. 4 And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said Why was this waste of the ointment made? 5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. 6. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. 7 For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. 8 She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. 9 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

John names the woman as Mary, and Martha along with Lazarus are mentioned as well. Thus we know the people present. The accounts in Matthew, Mark and John mention about the same information though only John identifies everyone. The apostles evidently were talking among themselves about the “wasting” of the spice while John identifies Judas as the one that approached the Lord about it. Also note in the text that he is named as a thief for taking money from what he held communally for the rest. Joh 12:1-50 mentions “4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, that should betray him, saith, 5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred shillings, and given to the poor? 6 Now this he said, not because he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and having the bag took away what was put therein.”

Jumping ahead a little to the betrayal I recently saw an article on a web site asking if Judas was showing his fidelity to God when he betrayed Jesus. In other words was the act the act of an obedient believer that was following the Lord’s plan for His life. At first I thought to myself that only a Calvinist could come up with such a question, but further reading showed that the man is just a believer that likes to question everything in a different way.

The crux of Judas and his spiritual life probably is answered just here – he was a thief and he was a traitor for money. He knew he was going to do the betraying thus he covered the truth by not admitting it was he at the last supper when the Lord told the apostles the betrayer was with them.

Was he fulfilling God’s best for his life? I rather doubt it from what we have already seen. As to whether the man was a true believer, many discuss this to great length but it comes down to You will know them by their fruits. Only God knows the truth so we should leave it to Him.

This account brings up something that is seldom if ever mentioned in a study of the Lord. The bag that Judas carried was the money that the Lord and apostles had in common. Out of that bag we can assume they lived – food, drink and other needs of a wandering group.

The clear implication also is that they gave to the poor out of this bag. It might also be assumedthat gifts other than cash might well have been sold for the cash to feed them and give to the poor. There was clearly a social side to the Lord’s ministry to the people around him on a cash level as well as feeding them via miracles etc.

Today giving cash is not the wiser way to assist the poor. A woman on talk radio the other day mentioned that she saw a woman in front of a supermarket asking for food. The woman caller took her inside the store and told her she would buy her a certain dollar amount for groceries. The woman took off with a cart and came back to the counter with cigarettes, steak and every other high priced product that she could find.

The caller vowed, never again. This is probably the wiser choice in our day since there are so many scammers around. Giving to a church food ministry or some similar charity might be a better way to help though you do not have the personal contact this way.

On the same topic my daughter and husband started carrying two sacks of groceries in their van so that they could give to folks that were in need. They pulled into a grocery store parking lot and were met by a man wanting food. They offered him a sack of groceries and the man said No I need cash. Well, so much for setting a Christ like example for their children by giving to the poor. 🙂

Helping the poor is the work of believers; we just need to be very careful how we go about it in our day.

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson

The anointing at Bethany 14:3-9 (cf. Matthew 26:6-13; John 12:1-8)

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

For thematic reasons Matthew and Mark both placed this event within the story of the hostility of Jesus’ enemies. It is apparently out of chronological order (cf. Joh 12:1). This rearrangement of the material highlighted the contrast between the hatred of unbelievers and the love of believers for Jesus. The incident probably occurred the previous Saturday evening. [Note: Hoehner, Chronological Aspects . . ., p. 91.]

John added that the woman was Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, and that she anointed Jesus’ feet as well as His head. Anointing a guest’s head was a common way to honor such a person at a festive occasion (cf. Psa 23:5; Luk 7:46). Mary appears in three scenes in the Gospels, and each time she is at Jesus’ feet (cf. Luk 10:38-42; Joh 11:31-32). She is a good model for all disciples to emulate. The high value of her perfume and its expensive container may suggest that this was an heirloom passed from one generation to another. [Note: Lane, p. 492.]

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)