John 12
Mary anoints Jesus at Bethany
Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. 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 odour of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.
Six days before Passover, at a dinner in Bethany with Lazarus and Martha, Mary pours a pound of costly perfume on Jesus' feet and wipes them with her hair. Judas objects that it could have been sold for the poor. Jesus tells him to leave her alone, because she has kept it for the day of his burial.
What does this mean?
"Spikenard" (KJV) or "nard" (WEB) was an expensive perfumed oil made from a plant of the Himalayas. A Roman pound was about a third of a kilogram (twelve ounces). "Three hundred pence" (KJV) or "denarii" (WEB) was roughly a year's wages for a labourer. "The bag" (KJV) means the money box.
Historical context
Guests at a formal meal reclined on couches with their feet away from the table, which is how Mary could reach his feet. Many historians note that a respectable woman letting down her hair before male guests would have been striking.
Why does it matter?
Verse 7 links the anointing with Jesus' coming burial, and the Gospel later shows his body anointed with a great quantity of spices (19:39). The contrast between Mary's lavish devotion and Judas' greed sets up the betrayal. Luke 7 tells a similar story of a woman anointing Jesus' feet in Galilee; scholars debate how the accounts relate.
Editorial notes, not scripture.
Told in three Gospels
Matthew 26:6–13
The anointing at Bethany
How Matthew tells it
Matthew, like Mark, sets the scene in Simon the leper's house with the oil poured on Jesus' head. Matthew says 'the disciples' objected, where Mark says 'some' and John names Judas. Matthew omits Mark's price of three hundred denarii. John sets it six days before Passover, at a dinner where Lazarus is present, with Mary anointing Jesus' feet.
Continue reading in Matthew →Mark 14:3–9
A woman anoints Jesus at Bethany
How Mark tells it
Mark's woman breaks the jar of pure nard, worth over three hundred denarii (as in John). The objectors are simply 'some' — the disciples in Matthew, Judas in John. Only Mark has Jesus say 'she hath done what she could' and that they can help the poor whenever they wish. In John, Mary anoints Jesus' feet.
Continue reading in Mark →How John tells it
Matthew and Mark set this in the house of Simon the leper, where an unnamed woman pours ointment on Jesus' head. John names her as Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, has her anoint his feet and wipe them with her hair, and attributes the objection to Judas, whom he calls a thief. John dates it six days before Passover.