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The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

John 12:3

JOHN—NOTE ON John 12:3 Compare John 11:2. A pound (or half a liter) is a very large amount of fragrant oil or perfume. Pure and expensive nard was imported from northern India and used by the Romans for anointing the head. John says that Mary anointed the feet of Jesus, while Matthew 26:7 and Mark 14:3 mention that she anointed Jesus’ head. Considering the large quantity of ointment, Mary probably anointed both Jesus’ head and his feet. Attending to the feet was the work of servants (see John 1:27; John 13:5), so Mary’s actions show humility and devotion. Her wiping of Jesus’ feet with her hair is also remarkable, since Jewish women rarely unbound their hair in public. Mary’s action indicates an expression of intense personal devotion to Christ, but there is no hint of immoral thoughts or conduct.

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See also John 12:3 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse John 12:3. _THEN TOOK MARY A POUND OF OINTMENT_] Matthew 26:7, Matthew 26:7; _see also Clarke "_Mark 14:3_"_. I...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    See this passage explained in the notes at Matthew 26:3. John 12:2 A SUPPER - At the house of Simon the leper, Matthew 26:6....

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    CHAPTER 12 1. The Feast at Bethany. (John 12:1 .) 2. The Entrance into Jerusalem. (John 12:9 .) 3. The Inquiring Greeks and His Answer. (John 12:20 .) 4. His Final Words. ...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    JOHN 12. THE FINAL SCENES IN THE PUBLIC MANIFESTATION. John 12:1. The Anointing. The scene is the same as that recorded by Mt. and Mk. Luke 7:36 represents a different incident, or at least a widely...

  • B. W. Johnson's Bible Commentary

    THEN TOOK MARY. POUND OF OINTMENT OF SPIKENARD, VERY COSTLY. Spikenard, from which the ointment was, made, was an aromatic herb of the valerian family. It was imported from an early age from Arabia,...

  • Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT)

    LOVE'S EXTRAVAGANCE (John 12:1-8)...

  • Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT)

    Now six days before the Passover Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus was whom he raised from the dead. So they made him a meal there, and Martha was serving while Lazarus was one of those who recline...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    MARY. See App-100. POUND. Greek. _litra_ Latin. _libra =_ about 12 oz. App-51. Occurs only here and John 19:39. OINTMENT. Greek. _muron._ Aromatic balSamaritan Pentateuch SPIKENARD. See note on Mar...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _took Mary a pound_ S. John alone gives her name and the amount of ointment. The pound of 12 ounces is meant. So large a quantity of a substance so costly is evidence of her over-flowing love. Comp. J...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    The Judgment of Men Note the dramatic contrast between the different sections of this division; the devotion of Mary and the enmity of the hierarchy, Christ's triumph and the Pharisees" discomfiture,...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    THE DEVOTION OF MARY...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    THE JUDGMENT OF MEN Note the dramatic contrast between the different sections of this division; the devotion of Mary and the enmity of the priests, Christ’s triumph and the Pharisees’ discomfiture, t...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    ΛΊΤΡΑΝ. S. John alone gives Mary’s name and the amount. The pound of 12 ounces is meant. So large a quantity of a substance so costly is evidence of her overflowing love. Comp. John 19:39. ΝΆΡΔΟΥ ΠΙΣΤ...

  • Catena Aurea Commentary

    Ver 1. Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. 2. There they made him a supper: and Martha served: but Lazarus was...

  • Charles Box Commentaries

    _JESUS WAS ANOINTED AT BETHANY -- JOHN 12:1-11:_ Jesus often visited Bethany, the home of His friends Lazarus, Martha and Mary. This visit was special because Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the gr...

  • Charles Rose Commentaries

    ΛΑΒΟΎΣΑ _aor. act. part. пот. fem. sing. от_ ΛΑΜΒΆΝΩ (G2983) брать. Part, сопровождающего обстоятельства. _Aor._ указывает на предшествующее действие: "она взяла" ΛΊΤΡΑ (G3046) римский фунт, 373 грам...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    THEN TOOK MARY A POUND OF OINTMENT— This supper is supposed by many to have been the same with that mentioned Matthew 26:6 and Mark 14:3 but upon examination, they will appear to have been different....

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    AN ACT OF LOVEWITH OMINOUS OVERTONES _Text 12:1-11_ 1 Jesus therefore six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus raised from the dead. 2 So they made him a supper...

  • Combined Bible Commentary

    EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN John 12:1-11 Below is an Analysis of the passage which we are about to study:— What is recorded in John 12 occurred during the last week before our Lord’s death. In...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. For the exposition of this portion, see the notes at Mark 14:3, and Rem...

  • Concordant Commentary on the New Testament by A. E. Knoch

    49 The high priest's prophecy is another clear indication of the overruling and sovereign power of God. His enemies fulfill His will even when they are most opposed to His plans and purpose, as they s...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    12:3 pure (b-10) Or 'liquid;' a word difficult of interpretation, but most likely 'pure.' see Note, Mark 14:3 ....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY. CLOSE OF THE PUBLIC MINISTRY 1-11. Supper at Bethany (see on Matthew 26:6 and Mark 14:3, which record the same incident). The event in Luke 7:36. is different. The supper was at t...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    JOHN TELLS THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT JESUS GOSPEL OF JOHN _MARION ADAMS_ CHAPTER 12 MARY POURS EXPENSIVE *PERFUME OVER JESUS’ FEET 12:1-11 V1 Six (6) days before the *Passover, Jesus returned to Betha...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    THEN TOOK MARY A POUND OF OINTMENT OF SPIKENARD. — Here, again, St. John alone gives the name of her whom St. Matthew and St. Mark call “a woman,” and here, too, she is true to the earlier character a...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    I. _ THE ANOINTING OF JESUS._ "Jesus therefore six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus raised from the dead. So they made Him a supper there: and Martha served; but...

  • Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

    Ἡ οὖν Μσρία … The third member of the Bethany family appears also in character, λαβοῦσα λίτραν μύρου νάρδου πιστικῆς πολυτίμου. λίτρα (Lat. libra), the unit of weight in the Roman empire, slightly ove...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    LOVE'S FRAGRANT GIFT John 12:1-11 Martha's service reminds us of Luke 10:41. The earlier Gospels (Matthew 26:1-75; Mark 14:1-72) do not mention Mary's name, probably because the whole family might ha...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    The shadows of the Passion were now falling across the path of the Christ. In what happened at the supper we have a vivid contrast. Mary and Judas arrest our attention. She, discovering the sorrows of...

  • Godbey's Commentary on the New Testament

    THE SUPPER AT BETHANY Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:2-8. _“Then they made for Him a supper there, and Martha served; and Lazarus was one of those sitting along with Him.”_ Matthew and Mark say...

  • Godet's commentary on Luke, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians

    SECOND SECTION: 12:1-36. THE LAST DAYS OF THE MINISTRY OF JESUS. This section includes three parts: 1. The supper of Jesus at Bethany: John 12:1 to John 11:2. His entry into Jerusalem: John 12:12 to...

  • Godet's commentary on Luke, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians

    I. THE SUPPER AT BETHANY: JOHN 12:1-11. In the presence of the great struggle of whose approach every one has a presentiment, the devotion of the friends of Jesus becomes loftier; by way of counter-st...

  • Godet's commentary on Luke, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians

    “ _Therefore they made him a feast there, and Martha served; but Lazarus was one of those who were at table with him._ 3. _Mary therefore, having taken a pound of ointment of pure nard, which was of g...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    Then Jesus, six days before the passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. (2) There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    The point at which we have arrived gives me an opportunity of saying a little on the beginning of this chapter, and the end of the last; for it is well known that many men, and, I am sorry to add, not...

  • James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary

    _AN OFFERING OF LOVE_ ‘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 o...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    3._And the house was filled with the odor _of the ointment. It was not a simple liquor extracted from _spikenard, _but a compound of many odoriferous substances; and therefore it is not wonderful that...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    His place (chapter 12) now is with the remnant, where His heart found rest the house of Bethany. We have, in this family, a sample of the true remnant of Israel, three different cases with regard to t...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    THEN TOOK MARY A POUND OF OINTMENT OF SPIKENARD VERY COSTLY,.... Worth three hundred pence, according to Judas's estimation of it. This Mary was the other sister of Lazarus; Matthew 26:7, Mark 14:3,...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    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. Ver. 3. _Of sp...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _Then took Mary a pound of ointment_, &c. See notes on Matthew 26:6; Mark 14:1. She did what is here related in token of the warm sense she had of the many favours Christ had conferred on her and her...

  • Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament (1851)

    SPIKENARD; an aromatic plant, from which was made a precious ointment....

  • Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament (1851)

    Christ's feet anointed by Mary. Matthew 26:6-13; MARK 14:3-9....

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    THE ANOINTING OF JESUS. John 12:1 Jesus at supper:...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    THEN TOOK MARY 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 ODOR OF THE OINTMENT. See Mark 14:3. The...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    A SUPPER FOR HIM AT BETHANY (vs.1-8) Six days before the Passover He returned to the area of Jerusalem, coming by way of Jericho, as Luke shows us (Luke 19:1). These days He spent in ministering mai...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    1-11 Christ had formerly blamed Martha for being troubled with much serving. But she did not leave off serving, as some, who when found fault with for going too far in one way, peevishly run too far...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    Ver. 3-8. Both Matthew and Mark relate this story with some different circumstances: see the notes upon those two places, where all the differing circumstances are considered and explained, and the pa...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    John 12:3 Then G3767 Mary G3137 took G2983 (G5631) pound G3046 costly G4186 oil G3464 spikenard G3487...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    ‘Mary therefore took a pound of very costly fragrant oil of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the aromatic oil....

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    JESUS IS ANOINTED (JOHN 12:1). This incident is significant in that it is unintentionally prophetic. By her action in anointing Jesus, Mary is intending to proclaim her gratitude and love, but what s...

  • Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT (4 vols)

    John 12:3. MARY THEREFORE TOOK A POUND OF OINTMENT OF SPIKENARD, VERY PRECIOUS. By ointment we are to understand rather a liquid perfume than what we commonly know as ointment. The precise description...

  • Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT (4 vols)

    Jesus has been doomed to death (John 11:53; John 11:57), and the hour is at hand when He shall be seized, and the sentence executed. But the malice of man cannot interfere with the purposes of God. In...

  • Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament

    A POUND (λιτραν). Latin _libra_, late _Koine_ (Polybius, Plutarch) word with weight of 12 ounces, in N.T. only here and John 19:39. Mark (Mark 14:3) and Matthew (Matthew 26:7) have alabaster cruse.O...

  • Scofield's Bible Commentary

    MARY As Martha stands for service, and Lazarus for communion, so Mary shows us the worship of a grateful heart. Others before her had come to his feet to have their need met; she came to give Him His...

  • Sermon Bible Commentary

    John 12:3 Church Building and Church Decoration I. I only remember reading in the Old Testament of two collections being made, and both of these were for what we might call Church Building and Church...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    John 12:1. _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;_ It was in the house of Simon t...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    John 12:1. _Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead._ The days Christ was to spend upon the earth were getting to...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    John 12:1. _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...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: The supper at Bethany. The triumphal entry. Jesus' answer to Greeks. CHARACTERS: Jesus, Lazarus, Mary, Martha, disciples, Judas, Philip, Andrew, Isaiah, Pharisees. CONCLUSION: The most plen...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    John 12:1. _Six days before the passover._ The Hebrew sabbath was kept from sunset to sunset. The worship of the day being closed, the jews indulged in a good supper after the light food of the day. T...

  • The Bible Study New Testament

    THEY PREPARED A DINNER FOR HIM. For notes on this dinner and the anointing, see Matthew 26:6-16. FOR THE DAY OF MY BURIAL. Before the week ended, he would be in the grave. It was the custom to anoint...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Then Jesus six days before the Passover._ --The following calendar of the Passover week is taken from Lightfoot (2.586): NISAN IX;_ The Sabbath_. Six days before the Passover, Jesus sups with Lazar...

  • The Gospels Compared

    A WOMAN ANOINTS JESUS WITH PERFUME MATTHEW 26:6-13; MARK 14:3-9; JOHN 12:1-8; MATTHEW 26:6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Sim

  • The Great Commentary of Cornelius à Lapide

    _Mary_ (Magdalene) _therefore_ (that she might not be wanting on her part, and in order specially to honour Christ, and to surpass all others in her services, as she surpassed them in love) _look a po...

  • The Great Commentary of Cornelius à Lapide

    1-50 CHAPTER 12 Ver. 1. _Then Jesus six days before the Passover_, &c. He came from Ephraim, as the Passover was drawing on when He was to die. And He came to Bethany to prepare Himself for it; nay m...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    _EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL NOTES_ John 12:1. See Homiletic Note, p. 341. John 12:2. The Synoptists inform us that it was in the house of Simon the leper (Matthew 26:6;...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION The twelfth chapter neither belongs intrinsically to that which precedes nor to that which follows. It is a paragraph of high significance, as bearing on the construction of the Gospel. It...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he had raised from the dead. They made him a supper; and Martha served [typical of Martha]: but Laz...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    John 11:2; John 11:28; John 11:32; Luke 10:38; Luke 10:39;...

  • Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament (4 Volume Set)

    A pound [λ ι τ ρ α ν]. Only here and John 19:39. Matthew and Mark, ajlabastron, a flask. Of spikenard [ν α ρ δ ο υ π ι σ τ ι κ η ς]. So Mark. See on Mark 14:3. Very precious [π ο λ υ τ ι μ ο υ]. Lit...

  • Wells of Living Water Commentary

    MARY ANOINTING HER LORD John 12:1 INTRODUCTORY WORDS We are now coming to the close of the life of our Master presenting the third of three Bible scenes centering around Martha, Mary, and Lazarus....

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    Then Mary, taking a pound of ointment — There were two persons who poured ointment on Christ. One toward the beginning of his ministry, at or near Nain, Luke 7:37, &c. The other six days before his la...

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