TEXT [Commentary]

2. The anointing at Bethany (14:3-9; cf. Matt 26:6-13; John 12:2-11)

3 Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. While he was eating,[*] a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard. She broke open the jar and poured the perfume over his head.

4 Some of those at the table were indignant. “Why waste such expensive perfume?” they asked. 5 “It could have been sold for a year’s wages[*] and the money given to the poor!” So they scolded her harshly.

6 But Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me? 7 You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time. 9 I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.”

NOTES

14:3 Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. This detail makes this event distinct from Luke 7:36-50, where Pharisees were present. They would never have been with a leper and would have been slow to associate with one whose main association had been with leprosy (on a lack of clarity as to Simon the leper’s state at the time of this meal, see Gundry 1993:812). It is possible the home was associated with him and yet he was not present at the meal. If so, Pharisees would not seek out a home where leprosy was or perhaps had been recently present. The NLT rendering assumes a cure has already taken place, which also is possible. What is important to Mark is the association of the locale with one known as a leper. The detail shows that Jesus continued to socialize with those on the fringes of society.

14:5 “sold for a year’s wages . . . given to the poor!” So they scolded her harshly. The Gr. refers to “three hundred denarii,” which was about a year’s wage. The poor were especially remembered at Passover time (John 13:27-29; Lane 1974:493). Those complaining did not appreciate the woman’s action and told her so.

14:6 Leave her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me? Jesus came to her defense. He described her act as a good thing (Gr., “good work”).

14:7 You will always have the poor among you. Jesus’ remark on the poor comes from Deut 15:11 (Hurtado 1989:232).

14:8 She has . . . anointed my body for burial ahead of time. The verb for anointing here is murizō [TG3462, ZG3690], its only use in the NT; it speaks of anointing a corpse according to Jewish custom (m. Shabbat 23:5; BDAG 661). This verb is related to the noun for myrrh and points to anointing with perfume.

COMMENTARY [Text]

This event seems to parallel John 12:1-8, although John places this event six days before Passover. It may be that Mark moved the event into the last week sequence because its outcome, Judas’ betrayal, came in the time frame of the final few days.

While Jesus was eating, “a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume” (14:3). The woman’s alabaster jar and perfume, which Mark names as nard (Lane 1974:492), were worth a great deal of money, up to a year’s wages (14:5). The woman poured it out on Jesus to anoint and honor him (2 Kgs 9:6 has an event like this involving Jehu). The reaction to this act tells us this was no common anointing. The woman broke the flask and emptied it—her offering was total, sparing nothing.

Some observers of this event were furious and said that the nard had been wasted, as it could have been sold and the money given to the poor. Jesus responded, “You will always have the poor among you. . . . But you will not always have me.” They could take care of the poor later, as the poor would always be around.

The woman was more sensitive than anyone around her, whether she intended this as an anointing for Jesus’ death or whether Jesus assigned this significance to her act (Hurtado 1989:229-230). Jesus said, “This woman’s deed will be remembered” and thereby memorialized it. He noted that her act would be recalled as an appropriate way to have honored Jesus by all who preach the gospel. It was appropriate to sacrifice this perfume worth a year’s wage because Jesus was worthy of such honor.