Mark 14:3
1 After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.
2 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.
And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
4 And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made?
5 For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- While Jesus was in Bethany reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke open the jar and poured it on Jesus’ head.
- KJV
- And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.
- WEB
- While he was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard—very costly. She broke the jar and poured it over his head.
- ASV
- And while he was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster cruse of ointment of pure nard very costly; [and] she brake the cruse, and poured it over his head.
- DARBY
- And when he was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he lay at table, there came a woman having an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly; and having broken the alabaster flask, she poured it out upon his head.
- BLB
- And of Him being in Bethany in the house of Simon the Leper, [at] His having reclined, a woman came, having an alabaster flask of fragrant oil of pure nard of great price. Having broken the alabaster flask, she poured [it] on His head.
- ÅB
- Og mens han var i Betania, i Simon den spedalskes hus, og satt til bords, da kom en kvinne som hadde en alabaster-krukke med ekte kostelig nardussalve, og hun brøt alabaster-krukken i sønder og helte den ut over hans hode.
- OTB
- Mens Jesus var i Betania, til bords i huset til Simon den spedalske, kom en kvinne med en alabastkrukke med meget kostbar salve, laget av ren nardus. Hun brøt krukken og helte salven over hodet hans.
- B1930
- Og mens han var i Betania, i Simon den spedalskes hus, og satt til bords, da kom en kvinne som hadde en alabaster-krukke med ekte kostelig nardussalve, og hun brøt alabaster-krukken i sønder og helte den ut over hans hode.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Luke 7:37–39
And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
Read in contextJohn 12:1–8
Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
Read in contextJohn 11:2
(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
Read in contextMatthew 26:6–13
Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
Read in contextSong of Solomon 4:13–14
Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,
Read in context