Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of John 12:7
Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.
7. hath she kept ] The large majority of authorities, including the best, read that she may keep, and the whole will run: Let her alone that she may preserve it for the day of My burial. The simplest interpretation of this is ‘Let her preserve what remains of it; not, however, to be sold for the poor, but to be used for My burial, which is near at hand.’ The text has probably been altered to bring it more into harmony with the Synoptists, with whom the present anointing appears as anointing for the burial by anticipation. The word for ‘burial’ or ‘entombment’ occurs only here and Mar 14:8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 7. Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.] Several MSS. and versions read thus: – , – Let her alone, THAT she may keep it to the day of my embalming. This is the reading of BDLQ, four others, Arabic, Coptic, AEthiopic, Armenian, later Syriac in the margin, Slavonic, Vulgate, all the Itala but one; Nonnus, Ambrosius, Gaudentius, and Augustin. This reading, which has the approbation of Mill, Bengel, Griesbach, Pearce, and others, intimates that only a part of the ointment was then used, and that the rest was kept till the time that the women came to embalm the body of Jesus: Lu 24:1. See the notes on Mt 26:12; Mt 26:13.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
7. said Jesus, Let her alone,against the day of my burying hath she done thisnot that shethought of His burial, much less reserved any of her nard to anointher dead Lord. But as the time was so near at hand when that officewould have to be performed, and she was not to have that privilegeeven alter the spices were brought for the purpose (Mr16:1), He lovingly regards it as done now.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Then said Jesus, let her alone,…. Do not disturb her in what she does, or hinder her, or blame her for it:
against the day of my burial hath she kept this; this ointment, which she now poured on Christ; it was usual to embalm the dead with ointments and spices: Christ suggests, that the time of his death and burial were nigh, and that this woman had kept this ointment till now, for such a purpose; and whereas she would not be able to make use of it at the time of his interment, she had embalmed his body with it now, beforehand; though without any knowledge of his death, or any such intention and design in her, but the Holy Ghost so directing her: for this is not to be understood of her keeping any part of it till that time, which it does not appear she did.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Suffer her to keep it against the day of my burying ( , ). This reading ( , purpose clause with and first aorist active subjunctive of ) rather than that of the Textus Receptus (just , perfect active indicative) is correct. It is supported by Aleph B D L W Theta. The can be rendered as above after according to Koine idiom or more probably: “Let her alone: it was that,” etc. (supplying “it was”). Either makes good sense. The word is a later and rare substantive from the late verb , to prepare for burial (Matt 26:12; John 19:40), and means preparation for burial. In N.T. only here and Mr 14:8. “Preparation for my burial” is the idea here and in Mark. The idea of Jesus is that Mary had saved this money to use in preparing his body for burial. She is giving him the flowers before the funeral. We can hardly take it that Mary did not use all of the ointment for Mark (Mr 14:3) says that she broke it and yet he adds (Mr 14:8) what John has here. It is a paradox, but Jesus is fond of paradoxes. Mary has kept this precious gift by giving it now beforehand as a preparation for my burial. We really keep what we give to Christ. This is Mary’s glory that she had some glimmering comprehension of Christ’s death which none of the disciples possessed.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Let her alone : against the day of my burying hath she kept this (afev aujthn eijv thn hJmeran tou ejntafiasmou). This passage presents great difficulty. According to the reading just given, the meaning is that Mary had kept the ointment, perhaps out of the store provided for Lazarus ‘ burial, against the day of Christ ‘s preparation for the tomb. The word ejntafiasmou is wrongly rendered burial. It means the preparation for burial, the laying out, or embalmment. It is explained by Joh 19:40, as the binding in linen cloths with spices, “as the manner of the Jews is ejntafiazein to prepare for burial,” not to bury. It is the Latin pollingere, to wash and prepare a corpse for the funeral pile. Hence the name of the servant to whom this duty was committed was pollinctor. He was a slave of the libitinarius, or furnishing undertaker. Mary, then, has kept the ointment in order to embalm Jesus with it on this day, as though He were already dead. This is the sense of the Synoptists. Matthew (xxvi. 12) says, she did it with reference to my preparation for burial. Mark, she anticipated to anoint.
The reading of the Received Text is, however, disputed. The best textual critics agree that the perfect, tethrhken, she hath kept, was substituted for the original reading thrhsh, the aorist, she may keep, or may have kept, by some one who was trying to bring the text into harmony with Mr 14:8; not understanding how she could keep for His burial that which she poured out now. Some, however, urge the exact contrary, namely, that the perfect is the original reading, and that the aorist is a correction by critics who were occupied with the notion that no man is embalmed before his death, or who failed to see how the ointment could have been kept already, as it might naturally be supposed to have been just purchased. (So Godet and Field.) According to the corrected reading, ina, in order that, is inserted after afev aujthn, let her alone, or suffer her; tethrhken, hath kept, is changed to thrhsh, may keep, and the whole is rendered, suffer her to keep it against the day of my burying. So Rev.
But it is difficult to see why Christ should desire to have kept for His embalmment what had already been poured out upon Him. Some, as Meyer, assume that only a part of the ointment was poured out, and refer aujto, it, to the part remaining. “Let her alone, that she may not give away to the poor this ointment, of which she has just used a portion for the anointing of my feet, but preserve it for the day of my embalmming.” Canon Westcott inclines to this view of the use of only a part. But the inference from the synoptic narratives can be only that the whole contents of the flask were used, and the mention of the pound by John, and the charge of waste are to the same effect. There is nothing whatever to warrant a contrary supposition.
Others explain, suffer her to have kept it, or suffer that she may have kept it. So Westcott, who says : “The idiom by which a speaker throws himself into the past, and regards what is done as still a purpose, is common to all languages.”
Others, again, retain the meaning let her alone, and render ina, in order that, with an ellipsis, thus : “Let her alone : (she hath not sold her treasure) in order that she might keep it,” etc.
The old rendering, as A. V., is the simplest, and gives a perfectly intelligible and consistent sense. If, however, this must be rejected, it seems, on the whole, best to adopt the marginal reading of the Rev., with the elliptical ina : let her alone : it was that she might keep it. This preserves the prohibitory force of afev aujthn, which is implied in Mt 26:10, and is unquestionable in Mr 14:6. Compare Mt 14:14; Mt 19:14; Mt 27:49. 40 Note that the promise of the future repute of this act (Mt 26:13; Mr 14:9) is omitted by the only Evangelist who records Mary ‘s name in connection with it.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “Then said Jesus,” (eipen ho lesous) “Then Jesus said,” to them, to Judas and those who railed against the woman, Mary.
2) ”Let her alone: (aphes auton) “Leave or lay off haggling her , It’s her property, neither yours nor ours. She is steward of it, to use of her own volition, Mat 26:10; Mar 14:15.
3) “Against the day of my burying hath she kept this.” (hina eis ten hemeran tou entaphiasmou mou terese auto) “She has done this in order that she may observe my burial by it,” as His burial was now drawing near, at hand, less than one week away, Mat 16:21-23; Mat 26:12; Mar 14:8; Joh 19:40.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
7. Let her alone. When Christ bids them let Mary alone, he shows that they act improperly and unjustly who disturb their neighbors without a good reason, and raise a disturbance about nothing. Christ’s reply, as given by the other Evangelists, is longer; but the meaning is the same. The anointing, which Judas finds fault with, is defended on this ground, that it will serve for his burial. Christ, therefore, does not approve of! it as an ordinary service, or one which ought to be commonly used in the Church; for if he had intended that an office of this sort should be performed daily, he could have said something else instead of speaking of it as connected with his burial. God certainly does not approve of outward display. Nay, more, perceiving that the mind of man is too prone to carnal observances, He frequently enjoins us to be sober and moderate in the use of them. Those persons, therefore, are absurd interpreters, who infer from Christ’s reply, that costly and magnificent worship is pleasing to God; for he rather excuses Mary on the ground of her having rendered to him an extraordinary service, which ought not to be regarded as a perpetual rule for the worship of God.
For the day of my burial she hath kept it. When he says, that the ointment was kept, he means that it was not poured unseasonably, but with a due regard to the time when it occurred; for a thing is said to be kept, which is reserved in store to be brought cut at a fit time and place. It is certain that, if any person, at a former period, had burdened him with costly delicacies, he would not have endured it. But he affirms that Mary did not do this as a customary matter, but in order to discharge her last duty towards him. Besides, the anointing of bodies was not at that time a useless ceremony, but rather a spiritual symbol, to place before their eyes the hope of a resurrection. The promises were still obscure; Christ had not risen, who is justly designated the first-fruits of them that rise, (1Co 15:20.) Believers, therefore, needed such aids to direct them to Christ, who was still absent; and, accordingly, the anointing of Christ was not at that time superfluous, for he was soon to be buried, and he was anointed as if he were to be laid in the tomb. The disciples were not yet aware of this, and Mary unquestionably was suddenly moved to do, under the direction of the Spirit of God, what she had not previously intended. But Christ applies to the hope of his resurrection what they so greatly disapproved, in order that the usefulness, which he pointed out to them in this action, (4) might lead them to renounce the fretful and wicked opinion which they had formed respecting it. As it was the will of God that the childhood of his ancient people should be guided by such exercises, so, in the present day, it would be foolish to attempt the same thing; nor could it be done without offering an insult to Christ, who has driven away such shadows by the brightness of his coming. But as his resurrection had not yet brought the fulfillment of the shadows of the Law, it was proper that his burial should be adorned by an outward ceremony. The odor of his resurrection has now sufficient efficacy, without spikenard and costly ointments, to quicken the whole world. But let us remember that, in judging of the actions of men, we ought to abide by the decision of Christ alone, at whose tribunal we must one day stand.
(4) “ A fin que l’utilite laquelle il leur monstre en ce faict les retire du jugement chagrin et pervers qu’ils en faisoyent.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Against the day of my burying hath she kept this.The majority of the better MSS. read, that she keep this against the day of My burying. Comp. Mat. 26:12 and Mar. 14:8. The thought here differs from that in the earlier Gospels, and the common reading has therefore been adapted to harmonise with it. Taking the better text, the meaning here is, Let her alone, that she may keep this for the day of My embalmment. She had taken a pound of ointment (Joh. 12:3) and had anointed His feet. This reminds Him of the embalmment of the dead, which had been but lately in that very place, and in the person of one sitting with them, present to their minds. Her act is significant of the future which is approaching. Let them not stay that deed of love. Before the week ends His body will be carried to the sepulchre. The preparations for the grave have already been begun.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘Jesus therefore said, “Leave her alone, that she may keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me with you’.
This is a brief summary of what Jesus actually said. Mark’s clarification makes it easier to understand. John knows that his readers have the background of the tradition behind Mark’s Gospel, but because he wants to emphasise the contrast between Mary and Judas rather than the significance of the anointing, he keeps the speech as short as possible.
Interestingly Jesus’ comment both approves of their general attitude while at the same time gently rebuking their lack of insight. ‘Let her keep it for the day of my burial’. Mark says ‘she has done what she could, she has anointed my body beforehand for burial’. What Jesus therefore intended them to understand was that this moment must not be spoiled by arguments. As with the High Priest earlier (Joh 11:49-51) her act was unconsciously a prophetic action (although possibly subconsciously it held within it a hint of prophecy – it is such as Mary who sometimes have a presentiment of doom, and she would know of His earlier teaching about His future suffering at the hands of the Jewish leaders, and she would be well aware of the threats that were going around) . She had by it anointed Him for His burial in advance. So He means ‘let her keep what she has done for the day of my burial’ – when that day came and He was buried unanointed, she would say to herself ‘I anointed Him in readiness for this’ and be comforted. What seemed like extravagance would be seen to have been a necessity.
We need to recognise that the writers of the Gospels do not try to tell us everything that Jesus said to its fullest extent. They do not see themselves as simply doing an interview and repeating everything word for word. Rather they are men putting over a message. Possibly what Jesus actually said in full was, ‘Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing for me, let her keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, and whenever you are willing you can do good to them, but you do not always have me with you. She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for burying. And truly I say to you, wherever the Good News is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be described in memory of her’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Joh 12:7. Against the day of my burying, &c. The Jews first washed the corpse all over with water, after it was laid out, Act 9:37 and then anointed it with liquid spices, or odours, as appears from this apology which our Lord makes for Mary; for the full import whereof, see the note on Mat 26:10.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Joh 12:7-8 . According to the Recepta , Jesus says: “She has fulfilled a higher purpose with the spikenard ointment ( ); in order to embalm me with it to-day (as though I were already dead), has she (not given it out for the poor, but) reserved it .” Comp. on Mat 26:12 . According to the correct reading, however (see the critical notes): “Let her alone, that she may preserve it (this ointment, of which she has just used a portion for the anointing of my feet, not give it away for the poor, but) for the day of my embalmment ” (for behoof of that). Nonnus aptly remarks: , . Comp. also Baeumlein. According to this view, the . is the actual, impending day of embalmment, in opposition to which, according to the Recepta , the present day of the anointing of the feet would be represented proleptically as that of the anointing of the corpse. The thought of the Recepta is that of the Synoptics; the Johannean carries with it the supposition of originality, and, comparing the thoughtful significance of the two, the Johannean is more in harmony with the circumstance that Mary anointed the feet merely , and by no means resembles a faulty correction (Hengstenberg, Godet). The circumstance that, afterwards, the corpse of Jesus was not actually anointed (Mar 16:1 ), can, in view of an utterance so rich and deep in feeling, afford no ground for deserting the simple meaning of the words.
is to be explained, agreeably to the context (comp. Joh 2:10 ), as an antithesis to , Joh 12:5 , but not by the quite arbitrary assumption that the ointment had remained over from the burial of Lazarus (Kuinoel and several others); but to understand of the past; that she may have preserved it (B. Crusius, Ebrard) is grammatically wrong. [106] According to Ewald, is to be understood, as elsewhere, of festal usages (Joh 9:16 ): “ Let her so observe this on the day of my burial ,” so that Jesus would have that day already regarded as equivalent to the day of His burial, when such a loving custom was suitable. But as regards , see what precedes; instead of the indefinite , it , however, was at least to have been expected.
Joh 12:8 . Reason of the statement introduced with , . . .
] in your own neighbourhood, so that you have sufficiently immediate opportunity to give alms to such. For the rest, see on Mat 26:11 .
[106] The modification of this rendering in Luthardt: “Let her rest as regards the fact that she has kept the ointment for me with the design (even though unconscious) of preserving it for the representation, beforehand, of the day of my embalmment,” is a grammatical impossibility. Similarly, however, Bengel.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.
Ver. 7. Let her alone ] Christ crossed the traitor in his covetous desire of fingering such a sum. Hence his discontent put him upon that desperate design of contracting with the chief priests. He is resolved to have it, however he come by it; Rem, rem, quocunque modo rem. Horat. Take heed of discontent. It was the devil’s sin that threw him out of heaven. Ever since which this restless spirit loves to fish in troubled waters, to dwell in a darkened soul: as in Saul, envious at David: and as some heretics, missing preferment, have invented their heresies, ut se consolarentur, as Epiphanius observed.
Against the day ] Being at a feast he speaketh of his funeral.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
7. ] See note on Mat 26:12 . To suppose that it was a remnant from that used at the burial of Lazarus, is not only fanciful, but at variance with the character of the deed as apparent in the narrative. The rec [163] . reading, . . . . , seems to be an adaptation to Mar 14:8 , in order to escape from the difficulty of understanding how she could keep for His burial , what she poured out now . Meyer understands the text of the remnant: but Luthardt rightly observes that the history clearly excludes the idea of a remnant: cf. and . He himself, with Baumg.-Crusius, takes as past, “ Let her have kept it ,” i.e. blame her not for having kept it: but this is vapid in sense, and ungrammatical. I understand the words, which, like all our Lord’s proleptical expressions, have something enigmatical in them, of her whole act, not regarded as a thing past, but spoken of in the abstract as to be allowed or disallowed: Let her keep it for the day of my burial: not meaning a future day or act, but the present one, as one to be allowed.
[163] The Textus Receptus or received text of the Greek Testament. Used in this Edition when elz and Steph agree
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Let her alone, &c. L T Tr. A WI R (not the Syriac) read, “Let her alone, in order that she may keep it, “&c.
against = unto. Greek. eis. App-104.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
7.] See note on Mat 26:12. To suppose that it was a remnant from that used at the burial of Lazarus, is not only fanciful, but at variance with the character of the deed as apparent in the narrative. The rec[163]. reading, . . . . , seems to be an adaptation to Mar 14:8, in order to escape from the difficulty of understanding how she could keep for His burial, what she poured out now. Meyer understands the text of the remnant: but Luthardt rightly observes that the history clearly excludes the idea of a remnant: cf. and . He himself, with Baumg.-Crusius, takes as past, Let her have kept it, i.e. blame her not for having kept it: but this is vapid in sense, and ungrammatical. I understand the words, which, like all our Lords proleptical expressions, have something enigmatical in them, of her whole act, not regarded as a thing past, but spoken of in the abstract as to be allowed or disallowed: Let her keep it for the day of my burial: not meaning a future day or act, but the present one, as one to be allowed.
[163] The Textus Receptus or received text of the Greek Testament. Used in this Edition when elz and Steph agree
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Joh 12:7. , said) Jesus does not openly reprove the mind of Judas: He rather marks [stigmatises] the thing itself.-) This very day[not against the day of My burying, as if it were future]: at that time was the day;[312] Mat 26:12, notes. His death, and the burial itself, was in six days after (comp. Joh 12:1) about to follow this present , preparation for the sepulchre. See Ord. Temp. p. 263, etc. [Ed. ii. 228].–)[313] Understand, this has been done. Let her alone: this has been done, that she might keep it, etc. So , ch. Joh 9:3, etc. [ , ]. The , why, which had been started as an objection by Judas, is aptly repelled [by this . ]), and at the same time Judas is warned; for his treachery waxed stronger and stronger until it eventuated in the Saviours death.-, that she might keep it) So there was no waste. She had been previously prepared to contribute it to the poor, if it should be needed; but she was guided by the Divine counsel, that she should keep it for the object for which it was needed, although she herself was unconscious of it.
[312] Of the , not the committal to the sepulchre, but the preparation of the body for it.-E. and T.
[313] This reading, which had been placed by the margin of the Ed. Maj. as it were in equilibrium [the arguments being regarded as equally balanced on both sides], has obtained the preference in Ed. 2 and Vers. Germ.-E. B. [BDQLXabc Vulg. have : A and Rec. Text, .-E. and T.]
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Joh 12:7
Joh 12:7
Jesus therefore said, Suffer her to keep it against the day of my burying.-Jesus reproved his complaint at her and told him that this was anointing him for his burial. Not that he expected to die then and be buried, but he knowing his end was near said it could serve as the anointing for his burial. [Judas virtually accused Mary of robbing the poor. So Jesus came forward in her defense and complimented her, saying she has anointed my body before death and prepared it for burial. This was the only anointing the body of Jesus received from the hands of his female friends since he arose from the grave before they reached the sepulchre with their spices. Mary did not know the full import of her act of love at the time she bestowed it.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Let: Psa 109:31, Zec 3:2, Mat 26:10, Mar 14:6
against: Joh 19:38-42, Mat 26:12, Mat 27:57-60, Mar 15:42-47, Luk 23:50
Reciprocal: Gen 50:2 – embalmed 2Ki 4:27 – Let her alone Mar 14:7 – ye have Mar 14:8 – she is Joh 19:39 – a
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A GOOD WORK
Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of My burying hath she kept this.
Joh 12:7
Note the time: it enhanced the gift. It was the insight of love. The Saviour was but a few hours from Calvary. Death was near.
I. She did it for My Burial.Mary saw something was troubling Him. She had seen His Face in all its moods, and she noticed it was saddened now. The Cross was casting its shadow before. Some thought it waste. Christ called it a good, that is, a beautiful, work. It was beautiful with faith and love and sacrifice. To His sensitive Nature it was most touching. He was to be forsaken, hated, betrayed, but here at least was one heart beating true.
II. Pour your affection on those you love during their life: do not wait to lavish it on the dead. Mary did not wait to show her love: Nicodemus did.
III. Mary wanted no reward.Love never wants to be paid. So you want a bonus, said Hegel to Heine, when the latter spoke of the reward which awaits virtue after death; you want a bonus for having taken care of your sick mother? Love never wants any bonus. But when we are dead we do wish some one to speak kindly of us. Every human heart desires this. So Christ promised that wherever His Gospel was preached, along with the Story of Bethlehem and Calvary and Olivet the story of the alabaster box should be told too; that this deed should go down to unborn ages and be the theme of praise to countless tongues. As St. Chrysostom said in his great Church of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, over 1400 years ago: While the victories of many kings and generals are lost in silence, and many, who have founded states and reduced nations to subjection, are not known by reputation or by name, the pouring of ointment by this woman is celebrated throughout the world.
Rev. F. Harper.
Illustrations
(1) There are so many like the ex-artillery man in Bleak House, who confides to his comrade George what a treasure he has in his wife, but I never tell her so. I always take her advicebut I never tell her so. I never knew her equalbut I never tell her so. There are many Mr. Bagnets who keep the alabaster box sealed up till the day of death.
(2) In 1858 a funeral reached the old Greyfriars graveyard in Edinburgh. Among others it was attended by the dead mans faithful dog. After the funeral the other mourners returned home, the dog alone remained. So inconsolable was the loving creature that for fourteen years, till his death in 1872, he refused to leave the neighbourhood of his masters grave. All the city heard of the dogs love, and little children were brought to see a dog whose love was stronger than death, and men and women blushed when they looked at that graveyard dog. There he layon the gravemaking little boys and girls more tender, and wringing tears from men. Baroness Burdett-Coutts heard of the Greyfriars dog, and erected near the entrance of the churchyard a fountain of marble, with a dog in bronze surmounting it, and this inscription: A tribute to the affectionate fidelity of Greyfriars Bobby. In 1858, this faithful dog followed the remains of his master to Greyfriars churchyard, and lingered near the spot until his death in 1872.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
7
Against the day of my burying. It was an old custom to anoint the dead and use spices at the time of burial. (See 2Ch 16:14; Joh 19:40; Luk 23:56.) Mar 14:8 quotes Jesus as saying, “She is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.”
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.
[Against the day of my burying hath she kept this.] Baronius proves from this place that this Mary was Mary Magdalene, because she is named amongst those that anointed Christ for his interment; and Christ saith in this place, that she reserved some of this ointment for this use: which I have had occasion to mention elsewhere. If this exposition do not take, then add this clause, “Let her alone”: for this may be an argument and sign that she hath not done this vainly, luxuriously, or spent so costly an ointment upon me upon any delicacy; because she hath reserved it for this time, wherein I am so near my grave and funeral, and poured it not on me before.
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Joh 12:7. Jesus therefore said, Let her alone, that for the day of the preparation for my burial she may keep it. The meaning of the word which in the Authorised Version is rendered burial is made clear by chap. Joh 19:40 (where substantially the same word is used); they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to prepare for burial. The true reading of the Greek text, that which our rendering represents, undoubtedly presents a difficulty, as we, knowing that our Lord is speaking of the day then present, cannot understand how Jesus can say that . . . she may keep it. The simplest solution of the difficulty, were it admissible, is afforded by the rendering, Suffer that she may have kept it; but it is very doubtful whether the Greek words can admit of this translation. Another suggestion is that, as the quantity of nard was so great, our Lord in saying that she may keep it refers to the portion still remaining in the flask. The objection to this is found in what has been said of the mode of opening the flask and in the pouring described by the other Evangelists: it is not easy to see that any portion worth speaking of could still remain. Hence we must probably seek for an explanation of a different kind. We must not forget that these words were enigmatical, and intentionally so. Our Lord was not distinctly affirming that this day was, so to speak, the day on which He was prepared for entombment: it was His wont to use language which but partially revealed the approaching event, which seemed to unenlightened hearers to contain only some dark hint of trouble impending, but which stood forth in luminous significance when the implied prophecy was ready to be fulfilled. Hence here, in speaking of the (unconscious or half-unconscious) purpose of Mary, He uses words which leave the time of the conception and fulfilment of the purpose altogether doubtful. His answer amounts to this: Meddle not with the intention that she has had to keep this for the day on which I must be prepared for the tomb. It is possible that the sentence is left incomplete, and that there is a break between the two parts:Let her alone;that she may keep it unto the day, etc. Such an elliptic use of a clause of purpose is not uncommon in this Gospel. If we may assume that we have an example of this usage here, the meaning will be, It is, or, It was, or, She hath bought this ointment, that she might keep it, etc. The meaning is almost the same as that previously given.
The word which our Lord uses in this verse shows in what light this section is to be viewed. It is not so much the living Saviour that we have before us as the Saviour on whom sentence of death has been passed. At the feet of Him whom the Jews are seeking to kill, and whom false friends are betraying, faith pours her richest treasures. Mary thought only of showing her reverence and love: Jesus sees in it a prophetic recognition of the impending event which crowned His humiliation and became His exaltation. The Evangelist relates an unconscious prophecy on the part of a disciple, as he has related a prophecy by an enemy who spake not of himself (chap. Joh 11:51).
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Vv. 7, 8. Jesus therefore said to him: Let her alone; she has kept it for the day of my burial. 8. For the poor you have always with you; but me you have not always.
We translate according to the reading of the T. R. which alone seems to us admissible. The imperative is absolute: Let her alone (in peace); cease to disturb her by thy observations. The reason is given afterwards. With the Alexandrian variant, has for its object the following clause, either in the sense given by the Vulgate, Meyer, Baumlein, etc. Let her keep this (, the remainder of the ointment of which she had poured out only a part) to embalm me on the day of my death,or in that given byBengel, Lange, Luthardt, Weiss, Keil: Allow her to have reserved this ointment for this day, which, by the act which she has done with respect to me, becomes, as it were, that of an anticipated burial. This last sense is grammatically inadmissible. The expression , to allow, necessarily refers to the future, not to the past. With that meaning, why not say quite simply: ? How are we to understand that Weiss justifies so forced an explanation by asserting that there was no other way of expressing this idea? The meaning given byMeyer is still more impossible. By what right can we suppose that only a part of the ointment had been poured out; that there was a remainder, and that it is this remainder which is designated by ?
Moreover, when thus understood, the words of Jesus no longer form an answer to the objection of Judas. The latter had not disputed Mary’s right to keep the whole or a part of this ointment for the purpose of using it in the future on a more suitable occasion; quite the contrary; that which he charged against her was that she had wasted and not kept it. We must acknowledge therefore with Lucke and Hengstenberg, that, however this reading is interpreted, it offers no tolerable meaning. It is an unhappy correction from the hands of critics who thought that the embalming of a man did not take place before his death. The received reading, on the contrary, offers a simple and delicate sense. Jesus ascribes to the act of Mary precisely that which was wanting to the view of Judas, a purpose, a practical utility. It is not for nothing, as thou chargest her, that she has poured out this ointment. She has to-day anticipated my embalming; comp. Mar 14:8 : She has been beforehand in embalming my body for my burial; in other terms: She has made this day the day of my funeral rites of which thou wilt soon give the signal. : the embalming and, in general, the preparations for burial. The word , she has kept, is full of delicacy. It is as if there had been here on Mary’s part a contrived plan and one in harmony with the utilitarianism on which the reproach of Judas rested.
Can Joh 12:8, which is wanting in D, have been introduced here by the copyists from the text of the two Synoptics, and can this manuscript alone be right as against all the other documents? It is more probable that it is one of those faulty omissions which are so frequent in D. The sense is: If the poor are really the object of your solicitude, there will always be opportunity to exercise your liberality towards them; but my person will soon be taken away from the assiduous care of your love. The first clause seems to contain an allusion to Deu 15:11. The present , you have, in the first clause, is owing to the , always, and the following present is introduced by the first.
Beyschlag correctly observes respecting this passage: It is asserted that the fourth evangelist likes to depreciate the Twelve; but why then does he, and he alone, place all to the account of Judas? It is further said: He has a special hatred to Judas. This is to affirm beyond question the authenticity of the Gospel; for what writer of the second century could have cherished a personal hatred against Judas? Let us also remark that the slight modifications which John introduces into the Synoptic narrative are perfectly insignificant from the standpoint of theidea of the Logos. They can only be explained by the more distinct knowledge which he has of the fact and by the more thoroughly historical character of the whole representation. We see, finally, how false is the idea ofdependence with relation to the narrative of Mark, which Weizsacker attributes to the fourth evangelist, by reason of the three hundred denarii which are common to the two accounts and the coincidences in expressions (Untersuch, p. 290). The superiority of the narrative of John shows its independence.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
12:7 {2} Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.
(2) This extraordinary anointing, which was a sign, is allowed by God so that he may witness that he will not be worshipped with outward pomp or costly service, but with alms.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Probably Jesus meant that the disciples should permit Mary to keep the custom of anointing for burial since Jesus’ burial was not far away. There is no indication that Mary realized that Jesus would die soon any more than the other disciples did. However she was anointing Jesus out of love, as mourners anointed the bodies of loved ones who had died. It was not uncommon to do this at lavish expense. Jesus viewed her act as a pre-anointing for His death, though Mary may not have viewed it as such (cf. Joh 11:51). If she did, perhaps this is why she did not go to Jesus’ tomb with the other women to anoint His body.
It is a good idea to express our love for people we appreciate to them before they die. Flowers at a funeral are nice, but flowers before the funeral are even better.