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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Mark 14:3 Commentaries: While 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.</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/newcom.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; 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and she brake the box, and poured <i>it</i> on his head.</div><div id="jump">Jump to: <a href="/commentaries/alford/mark/14.htm" title="Henry Alford - Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary">Alford</a> • <a href="/commentaries/barnes/mark/14.htm" title="Barnes' Notes">Barnes</a> • <a href="/commentaries/bengel/mark/14.htm" title="Bengel's Gnomen">Bengel</a> • <a href="/commentaries/benson/mark/14.htm" title="Benson Commentary">Benson</a> • <a href="/commentaries/illustrator/mark/14.htm" title="Biblical Illustrator">BI</a> • <a href="/commentaries/calvin/mark/14.htm" title="Calvin's Commentaries">Calvin</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/mark/14.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/mark/14.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/mark/14.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/mark/14.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers">Ellicott</a> • <a href="/commentaries/expositors/mark/14.htm" title="Expositor's Bible">Expositor's</a> • <a href="/commentaries/edt/mark/14.htm" title="Expositor's Dictionary">Exp Dct</a> • <a href="/commentaries/egt/mark/14.htm" title="Expositor's Greek">Exp Grk</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gaebelein/mark/14.htm" title="Gaebelein's Annotated Bible">Gaebelein</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gsb/mark/14.htm" title="Geneva Study Bible">GSB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gill/mark/14.htm" title="Gill's Bible Exposition">Gill</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gray/mark/14.htm" title="Gray's Concise">Gray</a> • <a href="/commentaries/guzik/mark/14.htm" title="Guzik Bible Commentary">Guzik</a> • <a href="/commentaries/haydock/mark/14.htm" title="Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary">Haydock</a> • <a href="/commentaries/hastings/mark/12-41.htm" title="Hastings Great Texts">Hastings</a> • <a href="/commentaries/homiletics/mark/14.htm" title="Pulpit Homiletics">Homiletics</a> • <a href="/commentaries/icc/mark/14.htm" title="ICC NT Commentary">ICC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/jfb/mark/14.htm" title="Jamieson-Fausset-Brown">JFB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kelly/mark/14.htm" title="Kelly Commentary">Kelly</a> • <a href="/commentaries/king-en/mark/14.htm" title="Kingcomments Bible Studies">King</a> • <a href="/commentaries/lange/mark/14.htm" title="Lange Commentary">Lange</a> • <a href="/commentaries/maclaren/mark/14.htm" title="MacLaren Expositions">MacLaren</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhc/mark/14.htm" title="Matthew Henry Concise">MHC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhcw/mark/14.htm" title="Matthew Henry Full">MHCW</a> • <a href="/commentaries/meyer/mark/14.htm" title="Meyer Commentary">Meyer</a> • <a href="/commentaries/parker/mark/14.htm" title="The People's Bible by Joseph Parker">Parker</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pnt/mark/14.htm" title="People's New Testament">PNT</a> • <a href="/commentaries/poole/mark/14.htm" title="Matthew Poole">Poole</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pulpit/mark/14.htm" title="Pulpit Commentary">Pulpit</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sermon/mark/14.htm" title="Sermon Bible">Sermon</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sco/mark/14.htm" title="Scofield Reference Notes">SCO</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ttb/mark/14.htm" title="Through The Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/vws/mark/14.htm" title="Vincent's Word Studies">VWS</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/mark/14.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/mark/14.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(3-9) <span class= "bld">And being in Bethany.</span>—See Notes on <a href="/context/matthew/26-6.htm" title="Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,">Matthew 26:6-13</a>.<p><span class= "bld">Ointment of spikenard.</span>—The Greek word so translated is, as the various renderings in the margin show, of doubtful import. It is used by St. John (<a href="/john/12-3.htm" title="Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.">John 12:3</a>) in his account of the same facts.<p><span class= "bld">She brake the box.</span>—As in the “breaking through” the roof in <a href="/mark/2-4.htm" title="And when they could not come near to him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.">Mark 2:4</a>, 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.<p><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/mark/14.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>14:1-11 Did Christ pour out his soul unto death for us, and shall we think any thing too precious for him? Do we give him the precious ointment of our best affections? Let us love him with all the heart, though it is common for zeal and affection to be misunderstood and blamed; and remember that charity to the poor will not excuse any from particular acts of piety to the Lord Jesus. Christ commended this woman's pious attention to the notice of believers in all ages. Those who honour Christ he will honour. Covetousness was Judas' master lust, and that betrayed him to the sin of betraying his Master; the devil suited his temptation to that, and so conquered him. And see what wicked contrivances many have in their sinful pursuits; but what appears to forward their plans, will prove curses in the end.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/mark/14.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>Ointment - This word does not convey quite the proper meaning. This was a perfume. It was used only to give a pleasant odor, and was liquid.<p>Of spikenard - The "nard," from which this perfume was made, is a plant of the East Indies, with a small, slender stalk, and a heavy, thick root. The best perfume is obtained from the root, though the stalk and fruit are used for that purpose.<p>And she brake the box - This may mean no more than that she broke the "seal" of the box, so that it could be poured out. Boxes of perfumes are often sealed or made fast with wax, to prevent the perfume from escaping. It was not likely that she would break the box itself when it was unnecessary, and when the unguent, being liquid, would have been wasted; nor from a broken box or vial could she easily have "poured it" on his head.<a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/mark/14.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>3. And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman—It was "Mary," as we learn from Joh 12:3.<p>having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard—pure nard, a celebrated aromatic—(See So 1:12).<p>very precious—"very costly" (Joh 12:3).<p>and she brake the box, and poured it on his head—"and anointed," adds John (Joh 12:3), "the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment." The only use of this was to refresh and exhilarate—a grateful compliment in the East, amid the closeness of a heated atmosphere, with many guests at a feast. Such was the form in which Mary's love to Christ, at so much cost to herself, poured itself out.<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/poole/mark/14.htm">Matthew Poole's Commentary</a></div>Ver. 3-9. <span class="bld">See Poole on "<a href="/matthew/26-6.htm" title="Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,">Matthew 26:6</a>"</span>, and following verses to <span class="bld"><a href="/matthew/26-13.htm" title="Truly I say to you, Wherever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman has done, be told for a memorial of her.">Matthew 26:13</a></span>, where this piece of history is fully considered, with the differing circumstances related by our evangelist and by St. John. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/mark/14.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>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: <p>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 Gill on <a href="/matthew/26-6.htm">Matthew 26:6</a>; <p>as he sat at meat there came a woman; generally thought to be Mary Magdalene, or Mary the sister of Lazarus: <p>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 <p>very precious, costly, and valuable: <p>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": <p>and poured it on his head; on the head of Christ, as the same version presses it; See Gill on <a href="/matthew/26-7.htm">Matthew 26:7</a>. <p>(w) Nat. Hist. l. 12. c. 12. <a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/mark/14.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2">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.</span></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/meyer/mark/14.htm">Meyer's NT Commentary</a></div><a href="/context/mark/14-3.htm" title="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....">Mark 14:3-9</a>.[160] See on <a href="/context/matthew/26-6.htm" title="Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,...">Matthew 26:6-13</a>. Comp. <a href="/context/john/12-1.htm" title="Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead....">John 12:1-8</a>, who also has the peculiar expression <span class="greekheb">πιστικῆς</span>, either directly from Mark, or from the form of tradition from which Mark also adopted it. Luke has at <a href="/mark/7-36.htm" title="And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;">Mark 7:36</a> ff. a history of an anointing, but a different one.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">μύρου νάρδου</span>] On the costliness of this, see Pliny, <span class="ital">H. N.</span> xiii. 2.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">πιστικῆς</span>] See on this word, Fritzsche <span class="ital">in loc.</span> and in the <span class="ital">Hall. Lit. Z.</span> 1840, p. 179 ff.; Lücke on <a href="/john/12-3.htm" title="Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.">John 12:3</a>; Winer, p. 89 [E. T. 121]; Wichelhaus, <span class="ital">Leidensgesch.</span> p. 74 f.; Stephani <span class="ital">Thes.</span>, ed. Hase, VI. p. 1117. <span class="greekheb">πιστικός</span>, in demonstrable usage, means nothing else than (1) <span class="ital">convincing, persuading</span> (Xen. <span class="ital">Cyrop.</span> i. 6. 10 : <span class="greekheb">πιστικωτέρους</span> … <span class="greekheb">λόγους</span>, Plato, <span class="ital">Gorg.</span> p. 455 A: <span class="greekheb">ὁ ῥήτωρ ἐστι</span> … <span class="greekheb">πιστικὸς μόνον</span>), thus being equivalent to <span class="greekheb">πειστικός</span>; (2) <span class="ital">faithful, trustworthy</span> (Artemidorus, <span class="ital">Oneir.</span> ii. 32, p. 121: <span class="greekheb">γυνὴ πιστικὴ καὶ οἰκουρός</span>, comp. <span class="greekheb">πιστικῶς</span>, Plut. <span class="ital">Pel.</span> 8; Scymn. <span class="ital">orb. descr.</span> 42), thus equivalent to <span class="greekheb">πιστός</span>. The latter signification is here to be maintained: nard, <span class="ital">on which one can rely</span>, i.e. unadulterated <span class="ital">genuine</span> nard, as Eusebius, <span class="ital">Demonstr. ev.</span> 9, calls the gospel the <span class="greekheb">εὐφροσύνη τοῦ πιστικοῦ τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης κράματος</span> (where the contextual reference to the drinking lies not in <span class="greekheb">πιστικοῦ</span>, but in <span class="greekheb">κράματος</span>). The opposite is “<span class="ital">pseudonardus</span>” (Plin. <span class="ital">H. N.</span> xii. 12. 26), with which the genuine nard was often adulterated (comp. also Dioscor. <span class="ital">mat. med.</span> i. 6 f.). This is the explanation already given by Theophylact, Euthymius Zigabenus (both of whom, however, add that a special <span class="ital">kind</span> of nard may also be intended), and most of the older and more recent commentators (Lücke is not decided). But Eritzsche (following Casaubon, Beza, Erasmus Schmid, Maldonatus, and others of the older expositors quoted by Wolf, who deduce it from <span class="greekheb">πίνω</span>) derives it from <span class="greekheb">πιπίσκω</span>, and explains it as <span class="ital">nardus potabilis</span>. Certainly anointing oils, and especially oil of spikenard, were <span class="ital">drunk</span> mingled with wine (Athen. xv. p. 689; Lucian, <span class="ital">Nigrin.</span> 31; Juvenal, <span class="ital">Sat.</span> vi. 303; Hirtius, <span class="ital">de bell. Hisp.</span> 33. 5; Plin. <span class="ital">H. N.</span> xiv. 19. 5; and see in general, Hermann, <span class="ital">Privatalterth</span>. § 26. 8, 9); but the actual <span class="ital">usus loquendi</span> stands decidedly opposed to this view, for according to it <span class="greekheb">πιστός</span> doubtless (Aesch. <span class="ital">Prom.</span> 478; Lobeck, <span class="ital">Technol.</span> p. 131) has the signification of <span class="ital">drinkable</span>, but not <span class="greekheb">πιστικός</span>, even apart from the facts that the <span class="ital">context</span> does not point to <span class="ital">this</span> quality, and that it is asserted not of the <span class="ital">ointment</span>, but of the <span class="ital">nard</span> (the plant). The <span class="ital">usus loquendi</span>, moreover, is decisive against all other explanations, such as that of the Vulgate (comp. Castalio, Hammond, Grotius, Wetstein, Rosenmüller): <span class="ital">spicati;</span>[161] and that of Scaliger: <span class="ital">pounded nard</span> (equivalent to <span class="greekheb">πιστκῆς</span>), from <span class="greekheb">πτίσσω</span>, although this etymology <span class="ital">in itself</span> would be possible (Lobeck, <span class="ital">Paralip.</span> p. 31). Others have derived <span class="greekheb">πιστικῆς</span> from the proper name of some unknown place (<span class="ital">Pistic nard</span>), as did Augustine; but this was a <span class="ital">cutting</span> of the knot.[162]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">πολυτελοῦς</span>] belongs to <span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ΜΎΡΟΥ</span></span></span>, not to <span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ΝΆΡΔΟΥ</span></span></span>, which has its epithet already, and see <a href="/mark/14-5.htm" title="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 14:5</a>. Comp. <a href="/matthew/26-7.htm" title="There came to him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.">Matthew 26:7</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ΣΥΝΤΡΊΨΑΣΑ</span></span></span>] neither: <span class="ital">she rubbed it and poured, etc</span>. (Kypke), nor: <span class="ital">she shook</span> the vessel (Knatchbull, Hammond, Wakefield, <span class="ital">Silv. crit.</span> V. p. 57), but: <span class="ital">she broke it</span> (<a href="http://apocrypha.org/ecclesiasticus/21-14.htm" title="The inner parts of a fool are like a broken vessel, and he will hold no knowledge as long as he liveth.">Sir 21:14</a>; Bar 6:17; Dem. 845, 18; Xen., <span class="ital">et al.</span>), namely, the narrow (Plin. <span class="ital">H. N.</span> ix. 35) neck of the vessel, for she had destined the <span class="ital">entire</span> contents for Jesus, nothing to be reserved.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">τὴν ἀλάβ</span>.] <span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ἈΛΆΒΑΣΤΡΟς</span></span></span> occurs in all the three genders, and the codices vary accordingly. See the critical remarks.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ΑὐΤΟῦ Τῆς ΚΕΦΑΛῆς</span></span></span>] (see the critical remarks) <span class="ital">on him upon the head</span>, without the preposition usual in other cases (Plato, <span class="ital">Rep.</span> iii. p. 397 E), <span class="greekheb">κατά</span> before <span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">Τῆς ΚΕΦΑΛῆς</span></span></span> (Plato, <span class="ital">Leg.</span> vii. p. 814 D; Herod, iv. 62).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/mark/14-4.htm" title="And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?">Mark 14:4</a>. <span class="ital">But there were some, who grumbled to one another</span> (uttered grumblings to one another). <span class="greekheb">πρὸς ἐαυτ</span>., as at <a href="/mark/11-31.htm" title="And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then did you not believe him?">Mark 11:31</a>, <a href="/mark/10-26.htm" title="And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?">Mark 10:26</a>, <span class="ital">al. What</span> they murmured, is contained in what follows, without <span class="greekheb">καὶ λέγοντες</span>. Comp. the use of <span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ΘΑΥΜΆΖΕΙΝ</span></span></span>, <span class="ital">mirabundum quaerere</span>, in Sturz, <span class="ital">Lex. Xen.</span> II. p. 511 f.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/mark/14-5.htm" title="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 14:5</a>. <span class="greekheb">ἐνεβριμ</span>. <span class="greekheb">αὐτῇ</span>] <span class="ital">they were angry at her</span>. Comp. <a href="/mark/1-43.htm" title="And he straightly charged him, and immediately sent him away;">Mark 1:43</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/mark/14-7.htm" title="For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you will you may do them good: but me you have not always.">Mark 14:7</a>. <span class="greekheb">καὶ ὅταν θέλητε κ</span>.<span class="greekheb">τ</span>.<span class="greekheb">λ</span>.] certainly an amplifying addition of tradition, found neither in Matthew nor in John.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/mark/14-8.htm" title="She has done what she could: she is come beforehand to anoint my body to the burying.">Mark 14:8</a>. <span class="ital">What she was able</span> (to do) <span class="ital">she has done; the greatest work of love which was possible to her, she has done</span>. Comp. Xen. <span class="ital">Mem.</span> ii. 1. 30: <span class="greekheb">διὰ τὸ μηδὲν ἔχειν</span>, <span class="greekheb">ὅ τι ποιῇς</span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ΠΡΟΈΛΑΒΕ Κ</span>.<span class="greekheb">Τ</span>.<span class="greekheb">Λ</span>.<span class="greekheb"></span></span></span>] <span class="ital">Beforehand she hath anointed my body on behalf of embalming</span> (in order thereby to embalm it). A classical writer would have said <span class="greekheb">προλαβοῦσα ἐμίρισε</span> (Xen. <span class="ital">Cyr.</span> i. 2.3; Thuc. iii. 3; Dem. 44, 3, <span class="ital">al.</span>). Passages with the <span class="ital">infinitive</span> from Josephus may be seen in Kypke, I. 192. We may add that the <span class="ital">expression</span> in Mark already betrays the <span class="ital">explanatory</span> tradition.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/mark/14-9.htm" title="Truly I say to you, Wherever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she has done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.">Mark 14:9</a>. <span class="greekheb">εἰς ὅλον τ</span>. <span class="greekheb">κόσμον</span>] as in <a href="/mark/1-39.htm" title="And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.">Mark 1:39</a>. The relation to <span class="greekheb"><span class="bld"><span class="ital">ὍΠΟΥ</span></span></span> is as at <a href="/matthew/26-13.htm" title="Truly I say to you, Wherever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman has done, be told for a memorial of her.">Matthew 26:13</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[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 <span class="ital">named</span> Judas as the murmurer. Now Mark has <span class="greekheb">τινές</span> in general, and Matthew designates <span class="greekheb">οἱ μαθηταί</span> as the murmurers. John is the first to name Judas.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[161] Mark having retained the Latin word, but having given to it another form. See also Estius, <span class="ital">Annot.</span> p. 892.—Several codd. of the It., too, have the translation <span class="ital">spicati</span>; others: <span class="ital">pistici</span>, Verc.: <span class="ital">optimi</span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>[162] Still the <span class="ital">possibility</span> of its being the adjective of a local name may not be called in question. In fact, the Scholiast, Aesch. <span class="ital">Pers.</span> 1, expressly says: <span class="greekheb">τάδε μὲν Περσῶν πιστὰ καλεῖται</span> … <span class="greekheb">πόλις ἐστι Περσῶν Πίστενρα καλουμένη</span>, <span class="greekheb">ἥν συγκόψας ὁ ποιητὴς Πίστα ἔφη</span>. Lobeck, <span class="ital">Pathol.</span> 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 <span class="ital">pistici</span>, which the Vulgate also, along with codd. of It., has in <a href="/john/12-3.htm" title="Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.">John 12:3</a>, although in the present passage it gives <span class="ital">spicati</span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/egt/mark/14.htm">Expositor's Greek Testament</a></div><a href="/context/mark/14-3.htm" title="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....">Mark 14:3-9</a>. <span class="ital">The anointing in Bethany</span> (<a href="/context/matthew/26-6.htm" title="Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,...">Matthew 26:6-13</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/cambridge/mark/14.htm">Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</a></div><span class="bld">3–9</span>. The Feast in Simon’s House. The Anointing by Mary<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">3</span>. <span class="ital">And being in Bethany</span>] 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<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">Simon the leper</span>] 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.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">as he sat at meat</span>] 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 (<a href="/john/12-2.htm" title="There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.">John 12:2</a>).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">there came a woman</span>] This was Mary the sister of Lazarus, full of grateful love to Him, who had poured back joy into her once desolated home.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">having an alabaster box</span>] “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 <span class="ital">alabastrons</span>. This name was eventually extended to the stone of which they were formed; and at length the term <span class="ital">alabaster</span> was applied without distinction to all perfume vessels, of whatever materials they consisted.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">of ointment of spikenard</span>] Or, as in margin, <span class="bld">of pure</span> (= <span class="ital">genuine</span>) <span class="bld">nard or liquid nard. Pure</span> or <span class="bld">genuine</span> seems to yield the best meaning, as opposed to the <span class="ital">pseudo-nardus</span>, for the spikenard was often adulterated. Pliny, <span class="ital">Nat. Hist</span>. 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.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">very precious</span>] 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 (<a href="/john/12-3.htm" title="Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment.">John 12:3</a>). 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 <span class="ital">cadus</span> (= 36 quarts nearly) of wine, for a small onyx box of spikenard (<span class="ital">Carm</span>. iv. xii. 16, 17),<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>“Nardo vina merebere;<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>“Nardi parvus onyx eliciet cadum.”<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">brake the box</span>] 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 <span class="ital">Life of Christ</span>, iii. 13.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/bengel/mark/14.htm">Bengel's Gnomen</a></div><a href="/mark/14-3.htm" title="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.">Mark 14:3</a>. <span class="greekheb">Πιστικῆς</span>, <span class="ital">genuine</span>) French <span class="ital">veritable</span> [So marg. of Eng. Vers., <span class="ital">pure</span>, or else <span class="ital">liquid</span>; but its text, <span class="ital">ointment of spikenard</span>”]. Pliny, on the contrary, mentions <span class="ital">Pseudo-nardum</span>. Nonnus lengthens the middle syllable in <span class="greekheb">πιστικῆς</span>; viz. as if formed from <span class="ital">Pista</span>, 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 <span class="greekheb">πιστᾶιος</span>; would rather be the form, if derived from the proper name, [<span class="greekheb">συντρίψασα</span>, <span class="ital">having broken</span>) 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.]<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="pul" id="pul"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/mark/14.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 3.</span> - <span class="cmt_word">And while he was in Bethany, in</span> <span class="cmt_word">the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster cruse</span> (<span class="greek">ἀλάβαστρον</span>) - literally, <span class="accented">an alabaster</span>; as we say, "a glass," of a vessel made of glass - <span class="cmt_word">of ointment of spikenard very costly</span> (<span class="greek">μύρου νάρδου πιστικῆς πολυτελοῦς</span>); <span class="cmt_word">and she brake the cruse, and poured it over his head</span>. This anointing of our Lord appears to have taken place on the Saturday before Palm Sunday (see <a href="/john/12-1.htm">John 12:1</a>). The anointing mentioned by St. Luke (<a href="/luke/7-36.htm">Luke 7:36</a>) evidently has reference to some previous occasion. The narrative here and in St. Matthew and St. John would lead us to the conclusion that this was a feast given by Simon - perhaps in grateful acknowledgment of the miracle which had been wrought upon Lazarus. He is called "Simon the leper," probably because he had been a leper, and had been healed by Christ, although he still retained the name of "leper," to distinguish him from others named Simon, or Simeon, a common name amongst the Jews. <span class="accented">There came a woman.</span> This woman, we learn from St. John (<a href="/john/12-2.htm">John 12:2, 3</a>), was Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. The vessel, or cruse, which she had with her was made of alabaster, a kind of soft, smooth marble, which could easily be scooped out so as to form a receptacle for ointment, which, according to Pliny ('Nat. Hist.,' 13:3), was best preserved in vessels made of alabaster. The vessel would probably be formed with a long narrow neck, which could easily be broken, or crushed (the word in the original is <span class="greek">συντρίψασα</span> so as to allow of a free escape for the unguent. The ointment was made of spikenard <span class="greek">νάρδου πιστικῆς</span>). The Vulgate has <span class="accented">nardi spicati.</span> If this is the true interpretation of the word <span class="greek">πιστικῆς</span>, it would mean that this ointment was made from a bearded plant mentioned by Pliny ('Nat. Hist.,' 12:12), who says that the ointment made from this plant was most precious. The plant was called by Galen "nardi spica." Hence <span class="greek">πιστικῆν</span> it would mean "genuine" ointment - ointment made from the flowers of the choicest kind of plant, pliny ('Nat. Hist.,' 12:26) says that there was an inferior article in circulation, which he calls "pseudo-nard." The Syriac Peshito Version uses an expression which means the principal, or best kind of ointment. The anointing of the head would be the more usual mark of honor. It would seem most probable that Mary first wiped the feet of Jesus, wetting them with her tears, and then wiping off the dust, and then anointing them; and that she then proceeded to break the neck of the cruse, and to pour its whole contents on his head. Mark 14:3<a name="vws" id="vws"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/vws/mark/14.htm">Vincent's Word Studies</a></div>Alabaster box<p>See on <a href="/matthew/26-7.htm">Matthew 26:7</a>.<p>Spikenard (νάρδου πιστικῆς)<p>The meaning of πιστικῆς greatly disputed. The best authorities define it genuine or unadulterated: pure nard.<p>Brake<p>Possibly by striking the brittle neck of the flask. 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