Bible Strands
Mark 14:3
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus is reclining at a meal in Bethany at the home of Simon the Leper while a woman approaches with an alabaster jar of perfume. This event occurs immediately after the religious leaders agree to arrest Jesus but avoid doing so during the feast to prevent a riot.
The words — ὄντος (ontos) = when is being; οἰκίᾳ (oikia) = house. These terms anchor the narrative in a specific domestic location where Jesus is present.
The thread — The anointing with nard appears in Luke 7:37 and John 12:1, with John 11:2 noting the connection to Lazarus and Mary. All accounts place the act in Bethany shortly before the Passover.
Why it lands — The text records a woman breaking a sealed jar and pouring costly perfume on Jesus, an act that directly precedes accusations of waste. The narrative requires the reader to observe the physical preparation for Jesus’ imminent death without editorializing the motive.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Luke 7:37 When a sinful woman from that town learned that Jesus was dining there, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume.
- John 12:1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, the hometown of Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.
- John 11:2 (Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was to anoint the Lord with perfume and wipe His feet with her hair.)
- Matthew 26:6 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper,
- Song of Solomon 4:13 Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard,
- Song of Solomon 5:5 I rose up to open for my beloved. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt.
- Matthew 21:17 Then He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where He spent the night.