Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 7:37
And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that [Jesus] sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
37. a woman in the city ] The harsher reading of A, B, L, is “who was a sinner in the city.” No city is named, but if the Christian church is right in identifying this woman with Mary Magdalene, we may assume that the city implied is Magdala, which appears at that time to have been a flourishing place, though now it is only a mud village El Mejdel. It cannot of course be regarded as indisputable that this woman was the Magdaleire, but it is, to say the least, possible; and there is no sufficient reason to disturb the current Christian belief which has been consecrated in so many glorious works of art. See further on Luk 8:2.
which was a sinner ] It was the Jewish term for a harlot, and such had come even to John’s baptism, Mat 21:32.
when she knew that Jesus sat at meat ] Literally, getting to know. She had not of course received permission to enter, but the prominence of hospitality as the chief of Eastern virtues led to all houses being left open, so that during a meal any one who wished could enter and look on. “To sit down to eat with common people” was one of the six things which no Rabbi or Pupil of the Wise might do; another was “to speak with a woman.” Our Lord freely did both.
an alabaster box ] The word alabastron meant originally a vase or phial of alabaster, such as were used for perfumes and unguents (unguenta optime servantur in alabastris, Plin. XIII. 3), but afterwards came to mean any phial used for a similar purpose (just as our box originally meant a receptacle made of box-wood).
of ointment ] This was doubtless one of the implements of her guilty condition (Pro 7:17, Isa 3:24), and her willingness to sacrifice it was a sign of her sincere repentance (comp. Son 4:10).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
In the city – What city is meant is unknown. Some have supposed it was Nain; some Capernaum; some Magdala; and some Jerusalem.
Which was a sinner – Who was depraved or wicked. This woman, it seems, was known to be a sinner – perhaps an abandoned woman or a prostitute. It is certain that she had much to be forgiven, and she had probably passed her life in crime. There is no evidence that this was the woman commonly called Mary Magdalene.
An alabaster-box … – See the notes at Mar 14:3.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 37. A woman – which was a sinner] Many suppose that this woman had been a notorious public prostitute; but this is taking the subject by the very worst handle. My own opinion is, that she had been a mere heathen who dwelt in this city, (probably Capernaum,) who, through the ministry of Christ, had been before this converted to God, and came now to give this public testimony of her gratitude to her gracious deliverer from the darkness and guilt of sin. I am inclined to think that the original word, , is used for heathen or Gentile in several places of the sacred writings. I am fully persuaded that this is its meaning in Mt 9:10-11; Mt 9:13; Mt 11:19; and Mt 26:45. The Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners, i.e. is delivered into the hands of the heathens, viz. the Romans, who alone could put him to death. See Mr 2:15-17; Mr 14:41. I think also it has this meaning in Lu 6:32-34; Lu 15:1-2; Lu 15:7; Lu 15:10; Lu 19:7; Joh 9:31. I think no other sense can be justly assigned to it in Ga 2:15: We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles. We Jews, who have had the benefit of a Divine revelation, know that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Christ, (Ga 2:16), which other nations, who were heathens, not having a Divine revelation, could not know. It is, I think, likely that the grand subject of the self-righteous Pharisee’s complaint was her being a heathen. As those who were touched by such contracted a legal defilement, he could not believe that Christ was a conscientious observer of the law, seeing he permitted her to touch him, knowing who she was; or, if he did not know that she was a heathen, it was a proof that he was no prophet, Lu 7:39, and consequently had not the discernment of spirits which prophets were supposed to possess. As the Jews had a law which forbade all iniquity, and they who embraced it being according to its requisitions and their profession saints; and as the Gentiles had no law to restrain evil, nor made any profession of holiness, the term , or sinners, was first with peculiar propriety applied to them, and afterwards to all others, who, though they professed to be under the law, yet lived as Gentiles without the law. Many suppose this person to be the same as Mary Magdalene, but of this there is no solid proof.
Brought an alabaster box] See Clarke on Mr 14:3.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
What hath made any interpreters imagine this was the some story which is mentioned Mat 26:6-13; Mar 14:3-9; Joh 12:1-3, I cannot tell. The histories agree scarcely in any thing, unless in the bringing the alabaster box of ointment, and the anointing our Saviours feet, whereas there was nothing in those countries more ordinary. That anointing was done in Bethany, within two miles of Jerusalem, this in Galilee. That in the house of one Simon the leper this in the house of one Simon a Pharisee. That a little, this a great while, before our Saviours passion. At that Judas was offended, at this Simon the Pharisee was offended. There Christ vindicates the woman from one head of argument, here from another. Questionless this is another quite different piece of history.
And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner; that is, a remarkable sinner; it is a word generally so used, and, applied to women, signifies a prostitute, or at least one of an ill report as to chastity.
Was, refers here to the time past, though lately past; she had lately been infamous and notorious, but it appeareth by what followeth that she was not so now, otherwise than in the opinion and vogue of the people; according to whose opinion, though uncharitable enough, Quae semel fuit mala, semper praesumitur esse mala in eodem genere mali, A person who hath once been bad is always presumed so to be, through their ignorance of the power of Divine grace in changing the heart, or their malice against and envy towards those whose hearts they see so changed. But whatever this woman had been, it seems God had affected her heart with the word which Christ had preached, and filled it with the pure love of God and Christ, instead of its former fullness of impure love, and made her sins as bitter as they had been formerly pleasant to her.
She hearing Christ was eating meat at the house of Simon the Pharisee, makes no noise, but cometh behind him, bringing an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with her tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Weeping in the sense of her sins, and so plentifully as she washed the feet of Christ with her tears, spoke a broken and a contrite heart. Wiping them with her hair; her hair, with which she had offended through wantonness, plaiting it, and adorning herself by the dress of it to allure her lovers, she now useth to testify her abhorrence of her former courses.
And kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. The kiss is a symbol of love, and not of love only, but of subjection and worship; by this she both showed her love to Christ, and also her subjection to him, she kissed Christ in the psalmists sense, Psa 2:12. It was not a kiss of love only, but of reverence and subjection, like Josephs kiss to Jacob, Gen 50:1, Mosess kiss to Jethro, Exo 18:7; nay, of the highest reverence, for such was the kiss of the feet. And to testify her adoration of him: thus the idolaters kissed the calves, Hos 13:2, and Baal. 1Ki 19:18. Washing and anointing with oil, was a common compliment they used in those countries for cleansing and cooling the feet. She had been a great sinner, she now shows the profoundest sorrow, greatest love, humility, subjection, &c. But some may say, How could she come behind him, sitting at meat, and do this? While we sit at meat our feet are before us. This confirmeth the notion I mentioned before, in my notes on Mat 26:20, concerning the Jewish manner of sitting at meat, which was kneeling and resting their bodies upon their legs leaning backwards: admitting that, all that we here read of this woman was very easy; for his legs being thrust out backward, the soles of his feet were turned up, and she might with convenience enough come at them behind him to wash, and to wipe, and to anoint them, which it is hard to conceive how she could do, admitting him to have sat as we do, putting our feet forward under the table.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
37, 38. a sinnerone who hadled a profligate life. Note.There is no ground whatever for thepopular notion that this woman was Mary Magdalene, nor do we knowwhat her name was. (See on Lu 8:2.)
an alabaster box ofointmenta perfume vessel, in some cases very costly (Joh12:5). “The ointment has here a peculiar interest, as theoffering by a penitent of what had been an accessory in herunhallowed work of sin” [ALFORD].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And behold, a woman in the city,…. Not Mary Magdalene, spoken of in Lu 8:2 under another character; and is a different person, who had not been taken notice of by the evangelist before; nor Mary the sister of Lazarus, who is said to anoint the feet of Christ, and wipe them with her hair, Joh 12:3. The character given of this woman, does not seem so well to agree with her; at least, the fact here recorded, cannot be the same with that; for this was in Galilee, and that in Bethany; this in the house of Simon the Pharisee, that in the house of Lazarus; this was some time before Christ’s death, and after this he went a circuit through every city and village, that was but six days before his death, and after which he never went from those parts; nor is this account the same with the history, recorded in Mt 26:6 for that fact was done in Bethany also, this in Galilee; that in the house of Simon: the leper, this in the house of Simon the Pharisee; that was but two days before the death of Christ, this a considerable time before; the ointment that woman poured, was poured upon his head, this upon his feet: who this woman was, is not certain, nor in what city she dwelt; it seems to be the same in which the Pharisee’s house was; and was no doubt one of the cities of Galilee, as Naim, Capernaum, or some other at no great distance from these:
which was a sinner; a notorious sinner, one that was known by all to have been a person of a wicked, life and conversation; a lewd woman, a vile prostitute, an harlot, commonly reputed so: the Arabic word here used, signifies both a sinner and a whore k; and so the word, sinners, seems to be used elsewhere by Luke; see Lu 15:1 compared with Mt 21:31. Some think she was a Gentile, Gentiles being reckoned by the Jews sinners, and the worst of sinners; but this does not appear:
when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house; having observed it herself, that he was invited by him, and went with him, or being informed of it by others,
brought an alabaster box of ointment: ointment was used to be put in vessels made of “alabaster”, which kept it pure and incorrupt; and this stone was found about Damascus, l so that there might be plenty of it in Judea; at least it might be easily had, and such boxes might be common; and as this woman appears to have been a lewd person, she might have this box of ointment by her to anoint herself with, that she might recommend herself to her gallants. The historian m reports, that
“Venus gave to Phaon an alabaster box with ointment, with which Phaon, being anointed, became the most beautiful of men, and the women of Mitylene were taken with the love of him.”
If this box had been provided with such a view; it was now used to another and different purpose.
k Vid. Castell. Lex. Heptaglott. col. 1195. l Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 36. c. 8. m Aelian. var. Hist. l. 12. c. 8.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
A woman which was in the city, a sinner ( ). Probably in Capernaum. The use of means “Who was of such a character as to be” (cf. 8:3) and so more than merely the relative , who, that is, “who was a sinner in the city,” a woman of the town, in other words, and known to be such. H, from , to sin, means devoted to sin and uses the same form for feminine and masculine. It is false and unjust to Mary Magdalene, introduced as a new character in Lu 8:2, to identify this woman with her. Luke would have no motive in concealing her name here and the life of a courtesan would be incompatible with the sevenfold possession of demons. Still worse is it to identify this courtesan not only with Mary Magdalene, but also with Mary of Bethany simply because it is a Simon who gives there a feast to Jesus when Mary of Bethany does a beautiful deed somewhat like this one here (Mark 14:3-9; Matt 26:6-13; John 12:2-8). Certainly Luke knew full well the real character of Mary of Bethany (10:38-42) so beautifully pictured by him. But a falsehood, once started, seems to have more lives than the cat’s proverbial nine. The very name Magdalene has come to mean a repentant courtesan. But we can at least refuse to countenance such a slander on Mary Magdalene and on Mary of Bethany. This sinful woman had undoubtedly repented and changed her life and wished to show her gratitude to Jesus who had rescued her. Her bad reputation as a harlot clung to her and made her an unwelcome visitor in the Pharisee’s house.
When she knew (). Second aorist active participle from , to know fully, to recognize. She came in by a curious custom of the time that allowed strangers to enter a house uninvited at a feast, especially beggars seeking a gift. This woman was an intruder whereas Mary of Bethany was an invited guest. “Many came in and took their places on the side seats, uninvited and yet unchallenged. They spoke to those at table on business or the news of the day, and our host spoke freely to them” (Trench in his Parables, describing a dinner at a Consul’s house at Damietta).
He was sitting at meat (). Literally, he is reclining (present tense retained in indirect discourse in Greek).
An alabaster cruse of ointment ( ). See on Mt 26:7 for discussion of and .
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
A woman who [] . Of that class which was, etc.
A sinner. Wyc., a sinneress. Her presence there is explained by the Oriental custom of strangers passing in and out of a house during a meal to see and converse with the guests. Trench cites a description of a dinner at a consul’s house in Damietta. “Many came in and took their places on the side – seats, uninvited and yet unchallenged. They spoke to those at table on business or the news of the day, and our host spoke freely to them” (” Parables “). Bernard beautifully says : “Thanks to thee, most blessed sinner : thou hast shown the world a safe enough place for sinners – the feet of Jesus, which spurn none, reject none, repel none, and receive and admit all. Where alone the Pharisee vents not his haughtiness, there surely the Ethiopian changes his skin, and the leopard his spots” (cit. by Trench, ” Parables “).
Sat [] . Lit., is reclining at meat : a lively change to the present tense.
Alabaster. See on Mt 26:7.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And, behold, a woman In the city, which was a sinner,” (kai idou gune hetis en te polei hamartolos) “And behold a woman who was a sinner (a morally and ethically lawless woman) in the city,” well known for her bad conduct, for her unchaste life, an harlot, a woman who had abandoned any upright character, yet a sinner for whom Jesus came to die and to save, Luk 19:10; Isa 53:5-6.
2) “When she knew that Jesus sat at meat,” (kai epignousa koti katakeitai) “And knowing that Jesus reclined,” for the meal, as an honored guest that day, just walked right into the house, as if she were accustomed to do so.
3) “In the Pharisee’s house,” (en to oikia tou Pharisaiou) “in the residence of the Pharisee,” where a festivity was made. It is not unusual for strangers to walk right in during a meal in Eastern countries and engage those who are eating in conversation.
4) “Brought an alabaster box of ointment.” (komisas aiabastron murou) “Bringing (with her) an alabaster box of ointment,” or a cruse, a flask, of precious kind and value, much as that brought by Mary to the home of Simon the leper on one occasion, Mar 14:3.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
37. A woman who was a sinner The words stand literally as I have translated them,( ἥτις ἧν ἁμαζτωλὸς.) Erasmus has chosen to take the pluperfect tense, who Had Been a sinner, (241) lest any one should suppose that at that time she still was a sinner But by so doing, he departed from the natural meaning; for Luke intended to express the place which the woman held in society, and the opinion universally entertained respecting her. Though her sudden conversion had rendered her a different person in the sight of God from what she had previously been, yet among men the disgrace attaching to her former life had not yet been effaced. She was, therefore, in the general estimation of men a sinner, that is, a woman of wicked and infamous life; and this led Simon to conclude, though erroneously, that Christ had not the Spirit of discernment, since he was unacquainted with that infamy which was generally known. (242)
(241) “ Quoe fuerat peccatrix
(242) “ Veu qu’il ne cognoist point l’infamie de la vie de ceste femme qui estoit notoire a un chacun;” — “since he does not know the infamy of the life of this woman, which was notorious to every one.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(37) A woman in the city, which was a sinner.The word is clearly used as pointing to the special sin of unchastity. The woman was known in the city as plying there her sinful and hateful calling. The question who she was must be left unanswered. Two answers have, however, been given. (1) The widespread belief that she was Mary Magdaleneshown in the popular application of the term Magdalen to a penitent of this classhas absolutely not a single jot or tittle of evidence in Scripture. Nor can there be said to be anything like even a tradition in its favour. The earliest Fathers of the Church are silent. Origen discusses and rejects it. Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine are doubtful. It first gained general acceptance through the authority of Gregory the Great. The choice of this narrative in the Gospel for the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene stamped it as with the sanction of the Western Church. The omission of that feast from the calendar of the Prayer Book of 1552 shows that the English Reformers at least hesitated, if they did not decide against it. We may note further (a) that if the popular belief were true we should have expected some hint of it on the occurrence of the name of Mary Magdalene in Luk. 8:3; (b) that the description given of that Mary, as one out of whom had been cast seven devils, though not incompatible with a life of impurity, does not naturally suggest it; (c) that, on the assumption of identity, it is difficult to say when the devils had been cast out. Was it before she came with the ointment, or when our Lord spake the words, Thy sins are forgiven thee? It is obvious that the conduct of the woman in the Pharisees house was very different from the wild frenzy of a demoniac. (2) The belief adopted by some interpreters, and more or less generally received in the Church of Rome, that the woman was none other than Mary the sister of Lazarus, who, on this hypothesis, is identified also with Mary Magdalene, is even more baseless. The inference that when St. John speaks of Mary of Bethany as that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, must refer to the previous anointing which St. Luke narrates, and not to that which St. John himself records (Joh. 12:3), is almost fantastic in its arbitrariness; and it will seem to most minds inconceivable that such a one as the sister of Lazarus, who appears in Luk. 10:42 as having chosen the good part, could so shortly before have been leading the life of a harlot of the streets. Occurring as the narrative does in St. Luke only, it is probable enough that the woman which was a sinner became known to the company of devout women named in Luk. 8:1-3, and that the Evangelist derived his knowledge of the facts from them. His reticencepossibly their reticenceas to the name was, under the circumstances, at once natural and considerate.
When she knew that Jesus . . .The words imply that she had heard of Himperhaps had listened to Him. She may have heard of His compassion for the widow of Nain in her sorrow. She might have been drawn by the ineffable pity and tenderness of His words and looks. She would show her reverence as she could.
Brought an alabaster box of ointment.See Note on Mat. 26:7. There is not the same stress laid here, as in the anointing by Mary of Bethany, on the preciousness of the ointment; but we may believe that it was relatively as costly. Passages like Pro. 7:17, Isa. 3:24, suggest the thought that then, as perhaps in all ages, the lavish and luxurious use of perfumes characterised the unhappy class to which the woman belonged. The ointment may have been purchased for far other uses than that to which it was now applied.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
37. A woman in the city a sinner It is not said that her character was notorious through town, or that she was “a woman of the town;” but that, being in town, she heard of the Lord’s also being there, and where he was. Dr. Clarke holds, correctly we think, that the word sinner, here and often elsewhere, signifies heathen or Gentile. The decisive proof-text for this then customary meaning of the word is Gal 2:15, where it was held ritually unclean to eat with sinners, namely, of the Gentiles. The phrase publicans and sinners requires this meaning; otherwise the phrase is a solecism; for the publicans themselves were a class of sinners in the common sense of that term. See Mar 2:15-17; Mar 14:41; Luk 15:1-2; Luk 15:7; Luk 15:10; Luk 19:7; Joh 9:31.
To this woman there evidently belongs a previous history, which Luke presupposes, but does not give. It is plain that the entire argument of Jesus assumes that her love to him was preceded by forgiveness and was caused by it. She must, therefore, at some previous time, have heard with faith the Gospel from his lips; must have felt her condition of sin and ruin; must have repented and experienced the joy and gratitude of conversion. That justification, however, she had felt only by his spirit in her heart; never by announcement from his lips. Hence, when she learns the place of his stay, she hastens, provided with the fragrant token of gratitude, the ointment, to pour forth upon him.
Brought In the East, the warm climate produces tents and open doors, destroying much of that exclusiveness which reigns in the close houses of more northern latitudes. The meals are often taken in the court, with one side perfectly open. And even in the house, while the company are at table, persons will come in, and, uninvited and unchallenged, take their seat upon the divan or long sofa that lines the walls, and enter freely into conversation with the host and guests at table.
Alabaster box See note on Mat 26:7.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And behold, there was a woman who was in the city, a sinner; and when she knew that he was sitting at a meal in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster cruse of ointment, and standing behind at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.’
And then there was a sudden interruption. It was clearly not a large house, and there were apparently few servants, for through the doorway there came a woman with unbound hair. It was in fact quite normal for the doors to be left open as an act of charity so that people could enter the house while the meal was going on, hoping either to receive a hand out, or some pearls of wisdom from the learned men sat at table.But wa woman like this would not have been welcomed. Unbound hair would be seen as a disgrace in a woman, and would indicate her profession. She had heard that Jesus was sitting at a meal in the Pharisee’s house, and she came bringing an alabaster cruse of precious ointment.
Everything was against the woman, and she would know it. She had been dealing with Pharisees for years. She knew that her touch was unclean, she knew that her precious ointment had been bought with immoral earnings (or would be seen as so), she knew that she should not enter a Pharisee’s house. But she was determined. No doubt she wanted to anoint Jesus’ head with her ointment. And she did so because of her faith in the fact that He would be her Saviour (Luk 7:50), and because of a consciousness of sins forgiven through her previous contact with Him. It was because she knew that she was now clean that she felt that she could do what she did.
So entering the house she made for where Jesus was lying on a couch by the table. He would be lying on one elbow with His feet extended backwards. And she took in the situation at a glance. It was clear that Jesus’ feet were still dirty from the road. It would take her by surprise. To her he was the most important person in the room, and she would not be able to believe that they had not had the courtesy to arrange for His feet to be washed. Perhaps that was why she began to weep as she realised how her beloved Master was being treated, or perhaps she was already weeping. But it altered her whole approach. Reaching down she wiped the dust of His feet with her tears, and then she wiped them with her hair. Then she kissed His feet, and poured on them the precious ointment that she had brought. How dared they treat her beloved Master like this? And to everyone’s surprise Jesus appeared unmoved and made no effort to prevent it.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Luk 7:37. Which was a sinnerbox of ointment, Who had been a sinnerbox of perfume. It is generally supposed, that the woman who anointed our Lord in Simon’s house, was she who in the Gospel is called Mary Magdalene, for no other reason than because St. Luke, in the beginning of the following chapter, mentions her as one of our Lord’s attendants, and one out of whom he had cast seven devils. Some indeed attempt to prove it out of the Talmud, which mentions a lewd woman called Mary Megadella, or the plaiter, viz. of hair, an epithet probably given to all prostitutes in those times on account of their nicety in dress; but this has no relation to the name Magdalene. In truth Mary Magdalene seems rather to have been a woman of high station and opulent fortune,being mentioned by St. Luke, (ch. Luk 8:2.) even before Joanna, though the wife of so great a man as Herod’s steward. Besides, the other evangelists, when they have occasion to speak of our Lord’s female friends, commonly assign the first place to Mary Magdalene, who was probably so called from Magdala, the place of her birth, a town situated near the lake of Tiberias, and mentioned Mat 15:39. The character given to this woman, that she had been a sinner, renders it probable that she had formerly been a harlot; for the word is frequently used in this sense: but her action on this occasion proves, that she was now awakened to a just sight and sense of her sins. The city, in which she is said to have lived, means Capernaum, the place of our Lord’s ordinary residence, which is often described in that general way. Probably she was acquainted at the Pharisee’s house, for she gained easy access even into the room where the company was sitting. It may be necessary just to remark, that this is a very different historyfrom that of Mary’s anointing Christ’s head alittle before his death. See Mat 26:6; Mat 26:75 and the parallel places.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Luk 7:37-38 . . .] According to this arrangement (see the critical remarks): who in the city was a sinner : she was in the city a person practising prostitution. [110] See on in this sense, Wetstein in loc .; Dorvill, ad Char . p. 220. Comp. on Joh 8:7 . The woman through the influence of Jesus (it is unknown how ; perhaps only by hearing His preaching and by observation of His entire ministry) had attained to repentance and faith, and thereby to moral renewal. Now the most fervent love and reverence of gratitude to her deliverer urge her to show Him outward tokens of these sentiments. She does not speak, but her tears, etc., are more eloquent than speech, and they are understood by Jesus. The imperfect does not stand for the pluperfect (Kuinoel and others), but Luke narrates from the standpoint of the public opinion, according to which the woman still was (Luk 7:39 ) what she, and that probably not long before, had been . The view, handed down from ancient times in the Latin Church (see Sepp, L. J. II. p. 281 ff.; Schegg in loc .), and still defended by Lange, [111] to whom therefore the is Magdala, which identifies the woman with Mary Magdalene (for whose festival the narrative before us is the lesson), and further identifies the latter with the sister of Lazarus, is, though adopted even by Hengstenberg, just as groundless (according to Luk 8:2 , moreover, morally inadmissible) as the supposition that the in the passage before us is Jerusalem (Paulus in his Comment. u. Exeg. Handb. ; in his Leben Jesu: Bethany ). Nain may be meant, Luk 7:11 (Kuinoel). It is safer to leave it indefinite as the city in which dwelt the Pharisee in question .
. . .] According to the well-known, custom at meals, Jesus reclined, with naked feet, and these extended behind Him, at table.
] vividness of description attained by making conspicuous the first thing done .
] superfluous in itself, but contributing to the vivid picture of the proof of affection.
] as Mat 26:49 . Comp. Polyb. xv. 1. 7 : . Among the ancients the kissing of the feet was a proof of deep veneration (Kypke, I. p. 242; Dorvill, ad Charit . p. 203), which was manifested especially to Rabbins (Othonius, Lex . p. 233; Wetstein in loc .).
The tears of the woman were those of painful remembrance and of thankful emotion.
[110] Grotius says pertinently: “Quid mirum, tales ad Christum confugisse, cum et ad Johannis baptismum venerint? Mat 21:32 .” Schleiermacher ought not to have explained it away as the “sinful woman in the general sense.” She had been a (Mat 21:31 ).
[111] Heller follows him in Herzog’s Encykl . IX. p. 104.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
Ver. 37. A woman ] Not that woman, say some, mentioned Mat 26:6 ; Joh 11:2 , but some other.
A sinner ] A strumpet, a she-sinner, as their mates call such.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Luk 7:37 . , etc., a woman who was in the city, a sinner. This arrangement of the words ( , W.H [78] ) represents her as a notorious character; how sinning indicated by expressive silence: a harlot. In what city? Various conjectures. Why not Capernaum? She a guest and hearer on occasion of the feast in Levi’s house, and this what came of it! Place the two dinners side by side for an effective contrast. , having learned, either by accident, or by inquiry, or by both combined. . .: the Pharisee again, nota bene! A formidable place for one like her to go to, but what will love not dare?
[78] Westcott and Hort.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
a woman. Not to be identified with Mary Magdalene: it is a libel on her to do so, and quite arbitrary. Compare Mat 21:32.
the city. That it was Magdala is a pure assumption.
which = who: i.e. reference to a class.
was, &c. All the texts read “which was in the city, a sinner”.
when she knew = having got to know. Greek. ginosko. App-132.
Jesus = He. alabaster. See Mat 26:7. Mar 14:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Luk 7:37. , a woman) whose name is unknown. [There is certainly a great correspondence between this history and that which Joh 12:3, etc.; Mat 26:6, etc.; and Mar 14:3, etc., record: especially in this respect, that both events happened in the house of a certain Simon. But indeed the anointing described by Luke took place in a city of Galilee, before the transfiguration, nay, even before the second Passover: the other anointing took place at Bethany, six days before the third Passover. The woman in Luke had been heretofore a sinner; Mary had been a different kind of character, Joh 11:1-2 (comp. Luk 7:5). In fine, Simon the Pharisee doubted whether Jesus was a prophet: whereas Simon the leper had no longer any grounds left for doubting, inasmuch as Lazarus, who had been raised to life, was present.-Harm., p. 302.]-, a sinner) Referring to the chief sin which women can commit, unchastity.- , and having come to know [having learnt]) , and, omitted by many, is here a redundant particle;[77] but yet it adds grace to the sentence, as in , 1Ch 28:5. The particle may also seem to have been repeated after a parenthesis [ (-) .], for the purpose of separating the mention of her sins and of her conversion.- , in the house) Love impelled her so, as that she did not expect to find a more convenient place or opportunity for effecting her purpose elsewhere.
[77] ABP Memph. Syr. support it. Rec. Text and Vulg. omit it.-ED. and TRANSL.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
sinner
i.e. in the sense of unchaste.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
which: Luk 7:34, Luk 7:39, Luk 5:30, Luk 5:32, Luk 18:13, Luk 19:7, Mat 21:31, Joh 9:24, Joh 9:31, Rom 5:8, 1Ti 1:9, 1Ti 1:15, 1Pe 4:18
an: Mat 26:7, Mar 14:3, Joh 11:2, Joh 12:2, Joh 12:3
Reciprocal: Est 2:12 – six months Mat 21:32 – the publicans Luk 7:44 – Seest 1Co 13:7 – hopeth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
TEARS OF PENITENCE
And, behold, a woman in the city began to wash His feet with tears.
Luk 7:37-38
The sweet grace of penitence put forth all its fruits in one rich cluster in that womans soul. The self-abandonment is perfect. She has found Jesus in all, and all in Jesus.
I. How tears of penitence come.Do not think that a mere sense of sins will ever draw a tear of penitence. There is no instance of it on record. The three great examples which we have of tears of penitence are David, St. Peter, and the woman in the text. There is a great deal of hope, there is a great deal of forgiveness, there is a great deal of peace, there is a great deal of love, there is a great deal of Christ in penitential tears. The eye must pass from the sin to Jesus. And, still more, from Jesus to the sinto make repentance. The sin and the Saviour strangely meet in the heart at the same moment. You never wept till you had some feelingChrist is mine! Many cannot understand why it is that they cannot cry for their sins. Let them see some token that God loves them. Let them believe that Christ looks upon them pityingly and tenderly. Let them hear a voice whispering, Thy sins are forgiven. That will bring the tears.
II. Forgiven sinners make weeping penitents.Christ made this quite clear respecting the woman. He traced back the links of a chain. She has done great sin, and she is forgiven. How do I know that she has done great sin and is forgiven? She wept much. Why did she weep much? Because she loved much. Why did she love much? Because she has been forgiven much. Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much; but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
III. At the feet of Jesus.What I should advise you is to go and put yourself at the feet of Jesus, and first take a look up into that meek, kind, gentle, pitying face, and then, under the beam of that light, take one sina besetting sina habit of sin in particular. Pull that sin to pieces, and examine it in its detail. Especially see it with its background. Its background! all the aggravations of the when, and the where, and the how. All it resisted! But look most at God, more than at your own heart.
Happy those who so obey the law of tears in this world, that, this life ended, they may come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sadness shall flee away!
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
7
All people are sinners in a general sense, but there were certain outcasts who were called thus as a class. This incident must not be confused with the one in Mat 26:7; that woman was Mary a sister of Lazarus (Joh 11:2).
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
[A woman which was a sinner.] I. Women of an ill name amongst the Jews were such as these:
“She who transgresseth the law of Moses, and the Jewish law.” The Gloss is, “The Jewish law, that is, what the daughters of Israel follow, though it be not written.”
“Who is she that transgresseth the law of Moses? She that gives her husband to eat of what is not yet tithed: she that suffers his embraces while her menstrua are upon her: she that doth not set apart a loaf of bread for herself: she that voweth and doth not perform her vow.”
“How doth she transgress the Jewish law? If she appears abroad with her head uncovered: if she spin in the streets: if she talk with every one she meets. Abba Saul saith, If she curse her children. R. Tarphon saith, If she be loud and clamorous.” The Gloss is, “If she desire coition with her husband within doors, so very loud that her neighbours may hear her.”
Maimonides upon the place: “If when she is spinning in the street, she makes her arms so naked that men may see them: if she hang either roses or myrtle, or pomegranate, or any such thing either at her eyes or cheeks: if she play with young men: if she curse her husband’s father in the presence of her husband,” etc.
II. However, I presume the word sinner; sounds something worse than all this, which also is commonly conjectured of this woman; viz. that she was actually an adulteress, and every way a lewd woman. It is well known what the word sinners signifies in the Old Testament, and what sinners; in the New.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Luk 7:37. A woman who was in the city, a sinner, i.e., an unchaste person. The words in the city show that she led this life of sin in the place where the Pharisee lived. What place it was we do not know. Certainly not Jerusalem, but some place in Galilee. Those who identify the woman with Mary Magdalene must, to be consistent, think it was Magdala. It might have been Nain, but if Mat 11:20-30 immediately precedes, then Capernaum is the more probable place.
And when she knew, etc. Since I came in (Luk 7:45) suggests that she came in about the same time with our Lord. Our Lord was constantly followed by a crowd, and the crowd undoubtedly thronged the houses into which He entered. The woman must have heard our Lord, and the first penitent step was her coming thus. The previous discourse, probably the one which influenced her, was that touching one (Mat 11:28-30): Come unto me all ye, etc. Had this been Mary Magdalene, we must suppose either that she had been healed of her bodily disease, but not of her spiritual one,or that seven demons does not refer to a literal possession. Neither alternative is probable. See on chap. Luk 8:2.
An alabaster box of ointment. A vase or cruse; see on Mat 26:7. Alford: The ointment here has a peculiar interest, as being the offering by a penitent of that which had been an accessory in her unhallowed work of sin.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Social custom allowed needy people to visit such meals and to partake of some of the leftovers. [Note: Liefeld, p. 903.] Moreover it was not unusual for people to drop in when a rabbi was visiting. [Note: Martin, p. 224.] Luke gallantly omitted describing why the woman was a sinner, though the commentators love to guess. Some have assumed that the woman was Mary Magdalene, but this is pure speculation. The point was that she was a member of the social class called sinners that the Pharisees regarded as treating the law loosely. The liquid perfume was in an expensive alabaster vial. Jewish women frequently wore such vials suspended from a cord around their necks. [Note: Morris, pp. 146-47.]