John 12:1-7

Jesus’ Anointing

12:1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom he ¹  had raised from the dead. 12:2 So they prepared a dinner for Jesus ²  there. Martha ³  was serving, and Lazarus was among those present at the table ⁴  with him. 12:3 Then Mary took three quarters of a pound ⁵  of expensive aromatic oil from pure nard ⁶  and anointed the feet of Jesus. She ⁷  then wiped his feet dry with her hair. (Now the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfumed oil.) ⁸  12:4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was going to betray him) ⁹  said, 12:5 “Why wasn’t this oil sold for three hundred silver coins ¹⁰  and the money ¹¹  given to the poor?” 12:6 (Now Judas ¹²  said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money box, ¹³  he used to steal what was put into it.) ¹⁴  12:7 So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She has kept it for the day of my burial. ¹⁵ 

[12:1]  ¹ tn Grk “whom Jesus,” but a repetition of the proper name (Jesus) here would be redundant in the English clause structure, so the pronoun (“he”) is substituted in the translation.

[12:2]  ² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity and to conform with contemporary English style.

[12:2]  ³ tn Grk “And Martha.” The connective καί (kai, “and”) has been omitted in the translation because it would produce a run-on sentence in English.

[12:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “reclining at the table.”

[12:3]  ⁵ tn Or “half a liter”; Grk “a pound” (that is, a Roman pound, about 325 grams or 12 ounces).

[12:3]  ⁶ tn Μύρον (muron) was usually made of myrrh (from which the English word is derived) but here it is used in the sense of ointment or perfumed oil (L&N 6.205). The adjective πιστικῆς (pistikh") is difficult with regard to its exact meaning; some have taken it to derive from πίστις (pistis) and relate to the purity of the oil of nard. More probably it is something like a brand name, “pistic nard,” the exact significance of which has not been discovered.

[12:3]  ⁷ tn Grk “And she.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[12:3]  ⁸ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. With a note characteristic of someone who was there and remembered, the author adds that the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfumed oil. In the later rabbinic literature, Ecclesiastes Rabbah 7.1.1 states “The fragrance of good oil is diffused from the bedroom to the dining hall, but a good name is diffused from one end of the world to the other.” If such a saying was known in the 1st century, this might be the author’s way of indicating that Mary’s act of devotion would be spoken of throughout the entire world (compare the comment in Mark 14:9).

[12:4]  ⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[12:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “three hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth a standard day’s wage, so the value exceeded what a laborer could earn in a year (taking into account Sabbaths and feast days when no work was done).

[12:5]  ¹¹ tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (as the proceeds from the sale of the perfumed oil).

[12:6]  ¹² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:6]  ¹³ tn Grk “a thief, and having the money box.” Dividing the single Greek sentence improves the English style.

[12:6]  ¹⁴ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. This is one of the indications in the gospels that Judas was of bad character before the betrayal of Jesus. John states that he was a thief and had responsibility for the finances of the group. More than being simply a derogatory note about Judas’ character, the inclusion of the note at this particular point in the narrative may be intended to link the frustrated greed of Judas here with his subsequent decision to betray Jesus for money. The parallel accounts in Matthew and Mark seem to indicate that after this incident Judas went away immediately and made his deal with the Jewish authorities to deliver up Jesus. Losing out on one source of sordid gain, he immediately went out and set up another.

[12:7]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “Leave her alone, that for the day of my burial she may keep it.” The construction with ἵνα (Jina) is somewhat ambiguous. The simplest way to read it would be, “Leave her alone, that she may keep it for the day of my burial.” This would imply that Mary was going to use the perfumed oil on that day, while vv. 3 and 5 seem to indicate clearly that she had already used it up. Some understand the statement as elliptical: “Leave her alone; (she did this) in order to keep it for the day of my burial.” Another alternative would be an imperatival use of ἵνα with the meaning: “Leave her alone; let her keep it.” The reading of the Byzantine text, which omits the ἵνα and substitutes a perfect tense τετήρηκεν (tethrhken), while not likely to be original, probably comes close to the meaning of the text, and that has been followed in this translation.