John

11:55-12:11

The signs of the Messiah, 2:1-12:50

7. Jesus the triumphant king, 11:55-12:50

i] Mary anoints Jesus for his burial

This passage makes up the first of a set of episodes which conclude Jesus' public ministry - the anointing, triumphal entry, visit of the Greeks, rejection and call to faith, 12:1-50. Each of the gospels has an anointing story. Luke's version seems to be quite different to John's story, while Mark 14:3-9 is the closest to John's account, with Matthew 26:6-13 containing some similarities.

It is interesting how John has the anointing before the triumphal entry, while Mark has it following. With this arrangement John may be shaping it, not so much as a funeral rite, as in Mark, but as a coronation rite, the anointing of the messiah. Certainly Barrett takes this line arguing that the anointing serves "as a means of expressing the royal dignity of Jesus in preparation for his triumphal entry into Jerusalem." Brown strongly disagrees seeing it as "a figurative representation ...... of a future embalming." Given verse 7 the story does seem to be a preparation for Jesus death; "he is anointed as one would anoint a corpse", Dodd. In that sense John aligns with Luke in presenting Jesus as "one who is about to die for the sins of men", Marsh, rather than with Matthew and Mark who present the anointing "as an act of devotion with clear regal and messianic meaning", Marsh. Lindars takes a slightly different line. He recognizes that the anointing is a symbolic anticipation of Jesus' burial / his departure, but also notes the link with the washing of the disciples' feet by Jesus and the treachery of Judas.

oun "-" - therefore. This conjunction is usually inferential, "therefore", but here and in v2 and 3 it is most likely consequential, or even just sequential, "then".

eJx "six" - John has the commencement of Passover on the Friday evening of the crucifixion, so six days proV "before" is a Saturday evening, the Sabbath having ended with the setting of the sun.

oJpou hJn LazaroV "where Lazarus lived" - where lazarus was.

oun "then" - therefore. See above. As a consequence of Jesus being in Bethany where he had raised Lazarus to life, a dinner is given in his honour

epoihsan oun autw/ deipon ekei "Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor" - so they made/gave to him a supper there. The "they" is not identified, although some suggest Lazarus was the host.

twn anakeimenwn (anakeimai) pres. part. "those reclining at the table" - the ones reclining. The participle functions as a substantive. For us it is "sitting at the table", but they did actually recline on cushions around a low table.

Mariam "Mary" - Mary of Bethany is mentioned in the gospels of Luke and John. In Luke she is described as the one who sat and listened to Jesus while Martha busied herself in the kitchen, Lk.10:38-42. All four gospels have an anointing, but the details are different, with only Mark's account fairly close to John's account. In Luke, the anointing is by a woman who is a "sinner", Lk.7:37-50. It has been suggested that this woman was Mary Magdalene who was exorcised by Jesus, Lk.8:2. If this is the case then Mary of Magdala is the same person as Mary of Bethany. This is possible, but unlikely. It also seems unlikely that the woman who anointed Jesus in Luke's gospel is the same person who anointed Jesus in John's gospel. In fact, as Origin suggested, Jesus was probably anointed on a number of occasions and the stories have converged somewhat within the oral tradition of the early church. Look, for instance, at the pronounced differences between Luke's account of the anointing and John's account. None-the-less, Luke and John do seem to have the same theme in mind.

labousa (lambanw) aor. part. "took" - having taken. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "anointed / she poured".

litran (a) "pint" - A Roman pound = 325 grams. In rough terms we would say one pint or half a liter.

murou (on) "perfume" - Correctly Myrrh, extracted from the Balsam plant, but also a common term for any aromatic oil.

nardou (oV) "nard" - The aromatic oil spikenard.

pistikhV (oV) "pure" - The word is unknown, so the guesses are "real", "pure", genuine",.. although spikenard by itself is too strong to be applied to the skin. It would be diluted with a rubbing oil, say pistachio nut oil. The concentration of the spikenard would reflect its purpose. For anointing the dead it would be highly concentrated, and therefore, very expensive, in which case the word may mean "strong / concentrated". On the other hand, the word may mean "diluted", eg, "mixed nard anointing/massaging oil".

ek "[and the house was filled] with" - from, out of. The house was filled from the perfume source; "filled with the fragrance given forth from the perfume", Cassirer.

oJ mellwn "who was later" - the one being about. The participle is adjectival, as NIV; "Judas Iscariot (who was to betray him), said, ...", Moffatt.

paradidonai (paradidwmi) pres. inf. "to betray [him]" - to deliver over. The infinitive is complementary, completing the verbal sense of the participle "being about".

dia ti "why" - because / on account of why [this aromatic oil not sold three hundred Denarii and given to poor?]. Given that one Denarii is a day's wage, three hundred indicates that it was a highly concentrated spikenard oil.

de "-" - but, and. Probably adversative, "but he did not say this ...", yet better treated as a connective, as NIV.

oJti "because" - Expressing cause/reason.

alla "but [because he was a thief]" - but. Adversative, as NIV. The tradition has not served Judas well; his failings are enshrined in the scriptures. Thankfully, our failings are not so well recorded. One gets the impression that his fellow disciples didn't think too highly of him, and with good reason, yet there is stealing and there is stealing, and we will never know how light-fingered he actually was.

exwn (exw) pres. part. "as keeper of [the money bag]" - having [the money box]. The participle is probably adverbial, causal; "it was not because the poor meant anything to him that he said this, but because he was a thief, for he had charge of the money-box, and he pilfered from what was deposited in it", Barclay.

ebastazen (bastazw) imperf. "he used to help himself" - he lifted. Further on the issue of Judas' light-fingered tendencies, it is natural that the disciples were angered by the fact that one of their own betrayed Jesus. Yet, it seems that they were oblivious to Judas' thieving ways prior to the crucifixion, given that they took no action to question his accountancy methods. Judas committed suicide within hours of the betrayal and left no suicide note. So, does the tradition of "thief" reflect a desperate search for a motive behind his betrayal of Jesus? Money was not necessarily the motive for the betrayal. Of course, such musings have implications with regard the issue of Biblical authority.

ta ballomena (ballw) pres. pas. part. "what was put into it" - the things being thrown, put. The participle functions as a substantive.

afeV authn "leave her alone" - The sense here may be either, "Don't pick on her" or "allow her to perform this duty."

iJna + subj. "that [she should save]" - that [..... she may keep]. The construction here causes some difficulty. It normally forms a final clause (purpose), "in order that she may keep", but sometime consecutive (consequence), although unlikely here. As a purpose clause it doesn't make sense. While being anointing, Jesus tells the disciples to leave here alone, so that she can keep the oil for his embalming. It may form an imperative, "keep this essential oil till the day of my burial", ie. use it for my embalming. So, is Jesus telling her not to anoint him? Brown follows the sense of a weak reading "she has kept", a reading obviously intended to overcome the problem. Carson agrees, arguing that the clause is an ellipsis, ie. some words, eg. "she has done this", are assumed and therefore, not included. The point is that as a follower of Jesus, she has kept this essential oil for his death and embalming, and out of devotion, sensing that his death is imminent, symbolically performs the embalming at this opportune time.

This verse does not provide an excuse for the withholding of compassion toward the poor, but rather notes that right priorities should motivate behavior.

gar "-" - for. Here explanatory.

eme de ou pantote exete "but you will not always have me" - but me not always will you have. Brown notes that the statement reflects rabbinic theology where a work of mercy (eg., preparing someone for burial) exceeds a work of justice (eg., almsgiving).

John Introduction

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