Matthew 26:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table.

NIV: a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

NASB: a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very expensive perfume, and she poured it on His head as He was reclining at the table.

CSB: a woman approached him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table.

NLT: While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head.

KJV: There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.

NKJV: a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table.

It's not explicitly stated if this instance of Jesus being anointed with oil while in Bethany is the same event recorded in John 12:1–11. It could be a different event that happened around the same time. However, most Bible scholars believe Matthew's details are part of the same event. This would mean the woman who anoints Jesus' head here is Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus (John 11:1).

In both descriptions, the act is extravagant. It would not have been uncommon to anoint the head of an honored guest with simple household oil. This woman, though, uses an extremely expensive perfumed ointment to anoint Jesus. Matthew describes an alabaster flask, one which would have likely required the neck of the bottle to be broken so that the oil could be poured out. The woman pours the thick, aromatic oil over Jesus' head as He reclines at the table with the other dinner guests. She does so in full view of all those gathered at Simon's home.

If the events are the same, John describes the oil as a pound of ointment made from pure nard. He shows Mary pouring the oil on Jesus' feet and wiping His feet with her long hair. A pound is a lot of oil. It's not surprising that John says the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume (John 12:3). Everyone would quickly have become aware of Mary's intimate act of anointing Jesus, the one who had raised her dead brother back to life.

Matthew 26:6–16 finds Jesus and the disciples in Bethany at the home of a man identified as "Simon the leper." A woman, likely Mary the sister of Lazarus, opens a bottle of extremely expensive ointment and anoints Jesus' head as He reclines at the table during dinner. The disciples think the ointment should have been sold and the money given to the poor, but Jesus insists she has done a beautiful thing that will prepare Him for burial. Judas then offers to turn Jesus over to the chief priests. They pay him 30 silver pieces, a price ironically associated with the cost of a common slave.

The Jewish religious leaders further their plots to arrest and kill Jesus, finding a willing traitor in Judas Iscariot. A woman anoints Christ with oil during a dinner at Bethany. Next, Jesus and the disciples hold the Passover meal in an upper room where Jesus predicts His arrests and introduces the sacrament of communion. Then Jesus prays in unimaginable agony in the garden of Gethsemane before being betrayed by Judas and captured. The disciples scatter. Before the high priest, Jesus explicitly claims to be divine. They convict Him of blasphemy and sentence Him to death. As this happens, Peter denies knowing Jesus and runs away in shame.

After a long series of teaching (Matthew 24—25), Matthew 26 begins with Jesus saying He will be delivered up for death. Christ is anointed at a dinner in Bethany and Judas agrees to turn Him over to the chief priests. Jesus holds a Passover meal with the disciples, predicts an act of treachery, and introduces the sacrament of communion. He tells the disciples they will run in fear and that Peter will deny Him, which happens just as prophesied. Christ prays in great sorrow in a garden and is then arrested and taken away and unfairly sentenced to death. After this, Jesus will be taken to the Roman governor, where Jewish leadership will press for Him to be executed as an insurgent.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.