The Fallible Study Bible

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Matthew26:6–13

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

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Matthew 26:6–13 — Jesus Anointed at Bethany. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

6

While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de Tou Iēsou genomenou en Bēthania en oikia Simōnos tou leprou

Word by word11 · parsed
δὲdeWhileG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ΤοῦTouG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ἸησοῦIēsouJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
γενομένουgenomenouwasG1096
√ γίνομαι — to cause to be ("gen"-erate), iVerbAorist Participle MiddleGenitive Masculine Singular
ginomai: to come to be, to become Aorist middle participle in the genitive, forming a genitive absolute with Τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. The grammar itself is a seam: the clause dates nothing and connects to nothing before it, which is why every commentator here treats vv. 6 to 13 as an episode placed for its logic (the motive of Judas in v. 14) rather than for its date.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ΒηθανίᾳBēthaniaBethanyG963
√ Βηθανία — date-houseNounDative Feminine Singular
Bethania: date-house A rare name in the Greek New Testament (12 verses). Gill fixes it at about fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem (John 11:18), roughly two miles, and reads the nearness theologically: with the passion at hand, Jesus keeps close to the city where he is to die.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
οἰκίᾳoikia[the] homeG3614
√ οἰκία — properly, residence (abstractly), but usually (concretely) an abode (literally or figuratively)NounDative Feminine Singular
ΣίμωνοςSimōnosof SimonG4613
√ Σίμων — Simon (iNounGenitive Masculine Singular
Simon: G4613 One of the commonest Jewish names of the period (69 verses), which is exactly why the epithet is attached.
τοῦtoutheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
λεπροῦleprouLeperG3015
√ λεπρός — scaly, iAdjectiveGenitive Masculine Singular
lepros: scaly, leprous A rare word (9 verses). In Matthew it belongs to the Messianic sign list: λεπροὶ καθαρίζονται, lepers are cleansed (Matthew 11:5, where the Verifier also records the pairing of G3015 with G4434 ptōchos). Gill presses the point: many lepers were healed by Christ, and this Simon is one of them, so the feast sits in a house that is itself an exhibit of the Messianic credentials. The unit therefore opens with a cleansed man, a poured perfume and a coming burial all in one room.
7

a woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume, which she poured on His head as He reclined at the table.

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Greek — tap a word ↓

gynē prosēlthen autō echousa alabastron barytimou myrou kai katecheen epi autou tēs kephalēs anakeimenou

Word by word14 · parsed
γυνὴgynēa womanG1135
√ γυνή — a womanNounNominative Feminine Singular
προσῆλθενprosēlthencameG4334
√ προσέρχομαι — to approach, iVerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
proserchomai: to approach, to come to The verb of approach used all through Matthew for those who come to Jesus with a request. Here nothing is requested. She approaches to give, and says not one word in the whole episode: every word spoken about her is spoken by others.
αὐτῷautōto HimG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
ἔχουσαechousawithG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Feminine Singular
ἀλάβαστρονalabastronan alabaster jarG211
√ ἀλάβαστρον — properly, an "alabaster" box, iNounAccusative Neuter Singular
alabastron: an alabaster flask Rare (3 verses: this, Mark 14:3, Luke 7:37). Geneva, quoting Pliny, records the ancient belief that alabaster preserved ointment unchanged; Cambridge notes these flasks had long narrow necks and were sealed, so that Mark's "she brake the box" (Mark 14:3) may mean the seal was broken. A sealed vessel cannot be half used: to open it at all is to spend it all.
βαρυτίμουbarytimouof expensiveG927
√ βαρύτιμος — highly valuableAdjectiveGenitive Neuter Singular
barytimos: heavy in price, highly valuable A very rare compound. The evangelists price the contents rather than the vessel, and the disciples in v. 9 will convert the same word into arithmetic.
μύρουmyrouperfumeG3464
√ μύρον — "myrrh", iNounGenitive Neuter Singular
καὶkaiG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
κατέχεενkatecheenwhich she pouredG2708
√ καταχέω — to pour down (out)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
katacheō: to pour down, to pour out Found only here and at Mark 14:3 in the New Testament. The direction matters: poured down on the head is the gesture of installation and of honour, not the sprinkling of a guest.
ἐπὶepionG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
αὐτοῦautouHisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
τῆςtēsG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Feminine Singular
κεφαλῆςkephalēsheadG2776
√ κεφαλή — the head (as the part most readily taken hold of), literally or figurativelyNounGenitive Feminine Singular
kephalē: the head The lexicon notes it is the part most readily taken hold of, literally or figuratively. Matthew and Mark record the head; John (12:3) the feet. Barnes harmonises by taking both as done, and observes that the feet, being the lowlier act, is what John had reason to add. In Israel's Scriptures oil poured on the head is what makes a king or a priest (1 Samuel 10:1; 16:13; Psalm 133:2), and it is the head, not the feet, that Matthew reports.
ἀνακειμένουanakeimenouas He reclined at the tableG345
√ ἀνακεῖμαι — to recline (as a corpse or at a meal)VerbPresent Participle Middle or PassiveGenitive Masculine Singular
anakeimai: to recline (as a corpse or at a meal) The one verb holds both the banquet and the bier. Jesus is reclining at a supper and is about to say that what has been poured over him is burial preparation; the lexical range is not a pun we are inventing but the plain semantic field of the word.
8

When the disciples saw this, they were indignant and asked, “Why this waste?

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de hoi mathētai Idontes ēganaktēsan legontes Eis ti hautē hē apōleia

Word by word11 · parsed
δὲdeWhenG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
οἱhoitheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Plural
μαθηταὶmathētaidisciplesG3101
√ μαθητής — a learner, iNounNominative Masculine Plural
ἸδόντεςIdontessaw thisG3708
√ ὁράω — by extension, to attend toVerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
horaō: to see, to attend to Aorist participle: the indignation follows immediately on the seeing. They see the same act Jesus sees and read it in the opposite direction.
ἠγανάκτησανēganaktēsanthey were indignantG23
√ ἀγανακτέω — akin to the base of G43 (ἀγκάλη))VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Plural
aganakteō: to be indignant Rare (7 verses). Matthew writes it of the disciples as a body; Mark has "some," and John (12:4) names Judas alone. Ellicott and Cambridge both record the narrowing; Geneva calls Matthew's plural a synecdoche for the one man. The Verifier also finds this verb at Mark 14:4 and at Luke 13:14, where it is the indignation of a ruler of the synagogue at a healing on the Sabbath: the same heat, aimed at the same kind of act.
λέγοντεςlegontesand askedG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Plural
ΕἰςEisWhyG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
τίti. . .G5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
αὕτηhautēthisG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Feminine Singular
ἡhēG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Feminine Singular
ἀπώλειαapōleiawasteG684
√ ἀπώλεια — ruin or loss (physical, spiritual or eternal)NounNominative Feminine Singular
apōleia: ruin, loss, perdition The weightiest word in the verse (17 verses). It is the word for destruction, and for the destruction of persons. Used of perfume it is bookkeeping; used of a man it is damnation. Ellicott's point stands on the lexicon and not on ingenuity: the accusation of apōleia is about to be answered by the disclosure of a burial, and the accuser himself is named with this noun in John 17:12.
9

This perfume could have been sold at a high price, and the money given to the poor.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

gar touto edynato prathēnai pollou kai dothēnai ptōchois

Word by word8 · parsed
γὰρgarG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
τοῦτοtoutoThis [perfume]G3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Neuter Singular
ἐδύνατοedynatocouldG1410
√ δύναμαι — to be able or possibleVerbImperfect Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
dynamai: to be able, to be possible Imperfect middle or passive. The tense of the lost bargain.
πραθῆναιprathēnaihave been soldG4097
√ πιπράσκω — from the base of G4008 (πέραν))VerbAorist Infinitive Passive
pipraskō: to sell A relatively rare verb (9 verses), used in the Gospels of selling goods to give the proceeds away. The Verifier finds it shared with Mark 14:5 and John 12:5, where the same objection is on record in the same words, and where John attaches it to Judas.
πολλοῦpollouat a high priceG4183
√ πολύς — (singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) manyAdjectiveGenitive Neuter Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
δοθῆναιdothēnai[the money] givenG1325
√ δίδωμι — to give (used in a very wide application, properly, or by implication, literally or figurativelyVerbAorist Infinitive Passive
πτωχοῖςptōchoisto [the] poorG4434
√ πτωχός — akin to G4422 (πτοέω) and the alternate of G4098 (πίπτω))AdjectiveDative Masculine Plural
ptōchos: poor, beggarly Not the working poor but the destitute, the ones who crouch (the lexicon links the root to the alternate of piptō, to fall). This is the Beatitude word (Matthew 5:3) and one of the Messianic signs (Matthew 11:5, the poor are evangelised, where the Verifier records the same lexeme). The objection is therefore not contemptible: it quotes a real duty back at Jesus. Barnes and Pulpit both insist the duty is real and is not being cancelled, only ordered.
10

Aware of this, Jesus asked, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful deed to Me.

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Greek — tap a word ↓

de Gnous ho Iēsous eipen autois Ti parechete kopous tē gynaiki gar ērgasato kalon ergon eis eme

Word by word17 · parsed
δὲdeG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ΓνοὺςGnousAware of thisG1097
√ γινώσκω — to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applications and with many implications (as follow, with others not thus clearly expressed)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Masculine Singular
ginōskō: to know Aorist participle with no object expressed. Whether the murmurs reached his ears or his knowledge went behind them, the text does not settle; Gill and Pulpit both state the alternatives without deciding, and we follow them.
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ἸησοῦςIēsousJesusG2424
√ Ἰησοῦς — Jesus (iNounNominative Masculine Singular
εἶπενeipenaskedG2036
√ ἔπω — to speak or say (by word or writing)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
αὐτοῖςautoisG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounDative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
ΤίTiWhyG5101
√ τίς — an interrogative pronoun, who, which or what (in direct or indirect questions)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
παρέχετεparecheteare you botheringG3930
√ παρέχω — to hold near, iVerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
parechō: to hold near, to furnish, to supply Present indicative, second person plural: the trouble is still being handed over as he speaks.
κόπουςkopous. . .G2873
√ κόπος — a cut, iNounAccusative Masculine Plural
kopos: a cut, a beating, wearying labour Accusative plural, "troubles." The plural counts their remarks. Ellicott pictures one murmurer after another adding his remonstrance; Pulpit, following Bengel, notices that the censure was really aimed past her at Jesus, and that he charges them only with what they did to her.
τῇtē[this]G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Feminine Singular
γυναικίgynaikiwomanG1135
√ γυνή — a womanNounDative Feminine Singular
γὰρgarG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ἠργάσατοērgasatoShe has doneG2038
√ ἐργάζομαι — to toil (as a task, occupation, etcVerbAorist Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
ergazomai: to toil, to work at a task Aorist middle. Set against ἀπώλεια in v. 8, the two words divide the whole scene: ruin, or labour. The Verifier finds this verb shared with Luke 13:14, the other passage where G23 indignation meets a work done for a person on a day someone else thought unsuitable.
καλὸνkalona beautifulG2570
√ καλός — X better, fair, good(-ly), honest, meet, well, worthyAdjectiveAccusative Neuter Singular
kalos: fair, noble, honest, worthy A common word (90 verses) carrying an uncommon load here. Cambridge's judgment is worth weighing: the Lord passes a higher commendation on this act than on any other recorded in the New Testament, and the commendation is aesthetic as much as moral, a sense of the fitness of things that the rest of the room lacked.
ἔργονergondeedG2041
√ ἔργον — toil (as an effort or occupation)NounAccusative Neuter Singular
ergon: toil, an effort, an occupation The noun is the cognate of the verb immediately before it, so the Greek reads "she worked a work," a figure of emphasis that English cannot carry. The pairing καλὸν ἔργον is Matthew's own idiom for the visible deed that makes men glorify God (Matthew 5:16, where it is the disciples who are told to produce it), and here the disciples are the ones who failed to recognise one. The Verifier records this cluster (G3930, G2873, G2570) shared with Mark 14:6, the parallel defence.
εἰςeistoG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
ἐμέemeMeG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Singular
11

The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have Me.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

gar tous ptōchous pantote echete meth’ heautōn de ou pantote echete eme

Word by word12 · parsed
γὰρgarG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
τοὺςtousTheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Plural
πτωχοὺςptōchouspoorG4434
√ πτωχός — akin to G4422 (πτοέω) and the alternate of G4098 (πίπτω))AdjectiveAccusative Masculine Plural
ptōchos: the destitute The same word as in v. 9, now in Jesus' mouth. He does not deny the claim of the poor; he dates it.
πάντοτεpantotevvvG3842
√ πάντοτε — every when, iAdverb
pantote: always, at every time The lexicon reads it literally "every when." It is the hinge of the verse, and it turns twice: the interlinear shows the adverb standing once in each half (indices 3 and 9), the second time under the negative. The saying is therefore not a general observation about poverty but a dated comparison of two presences, one permanent and one about to be withdrawn, which is how Barnes, Gill and Pulpit all take it.
ἔχετεecheteyou will always haveG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
echō: to hold, to have Present indicative. Gill reads the saying as a standing fact about the church: there will always be poor among the people of God, so there will always be occasion for mercy. Mark adds what Matthew omits, that whenever they will they may do them good (Mark 14:7); Barnes gathers the Old Testament and apostolic duty texts (Psalm 41:1; Proverbs 14:21; 29:7; Galatians 2:10) to show the duty is not being set aside but placed in its order.
μεθ’meth’withG3326
√ μετά — properly, denoting accompanimentPreposition
ἑαυτῶνheautōnyouG1438
√ ἑαυτοῦ — him- (her-, it-, them-, also (in conjunction with the personal pronoun of the other persons) my-, thy-, our-, your-) self (selves), etcReflexive PronounGenitive Masculine 3rd Person Plural
heautou: himself, themselves Reflexive genitive after μετά. The construction underlines that the poor remain within reach while the body about to be buried will not be.
δὲdebutG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
οὐou{you will} notG3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
πάντοτεpantotealwaysG3842
√ πάντοτε — every when, iAdverb
pantote: always Second occurrence, now negated by οὐ (G3756, the absolute negative). Ellicott hears look and tone here as addressed past the objection to the objector.
ἔχετεechetehaveG2192
√ ἔχω — to hold (used in very various applications, literally or figuratively, direct or remoteVerbPresent Indicative Active2nd Person Plural
ἐμὲemeMeG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Singular
egō: I, me Emphatic accusative ἐμέ at the end of the clause, the last word of the sentence. The sentence closes on the person who is leaving.
12

By pouring this perfume on Me, she has prepared My body for burial.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

gar balousa hautē touto to myron epi me epoiēsen mou tou sōmatos to pros entaphiasai

Word by word15 · parsed
γὰρgarG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
βαλοῦσαbalousaBy pouringG906
√ βάλλω — to throw (in various applications, more or less violent or intense)VerbAorist Participle ActiveNominative Feminine Singular
ballō: to throw, to cast Aorist active participle, feminine nominative. Jesus' own description of what she did is more violent than the narrator's.
αὕτηhautēG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Feminine Singular
τοῦτοtoutothisG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
μύρονmyronperfumeG3464
√ μύρον — "myrrh", iNounAccusative Neuter Singular
myron: ointment, perfume (myrrh) Rare (13 verses). The lexicon traces the word to myrrh, and myrrh is the spice of embalming (John 19:39 pairs it with aloes). The Verifier finds μύρον shared with Mark 14:3 to 5, John 12:3 and 5, Luke 7:38 and 46, and with Revelation 18:13, where ointment appears in the cargo list of a doomed commercial city alongside bodies of men.
ἐπὶepionG1909
√ ἐπί — properly, meaning superimposition (of time, place, order, etcPreposition
μεmeMeG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounAccusative 1st Person Singular
ἐποίησενepoiēsenshe has preparedG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
poieō: to make, to do Bare aorist with the purpose expressed by πρὸς and the articular infinitive. This construction is what lets both readings stand: she did a thing whose end was the entombing, whether or not she named that end to herself.
μουmouMyG1473
√ ἐγώ — I, mePersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 1st Person Singular
τοῦtou. . .G3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
σώματόςsōmatosbodyG4983
√ σῶμα — the body (as a sound whole), used in a very wide application, literally or figurativelyNounGenitive Neuter Singular
sōma: the body as a sound whole The Verifier records this noun shared with John 19:40, where the rare burial verb also recurs.
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Neuter Singular
πρὸςprosforG4314
√ πρός — a preposition of directionPreposition
ἐνταφιάσαιentaphiasaiburialG1779
√ ἐνταφιάζω — to inswathe with cerements for intermentVerbAorist Infinitive Active
entaphiazō: to wrap for burial The rarest verb in the unit (2 verses) and the pivot of the whole episode. Cambridge documents the practice from 2 Chronicles 16:14; Gill documents from the Mishnah that washing and anointing the dead was permitted even on the Sabbath, and observes that the women who came with spices on the first day of the week came too late. This is the sober force of the saying: the only anointing of the body of Jesus that was not too late had already happened at a supper table in Bethany.
13

Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

amēn legō hymin hopou ean touto to euangelion kērychthē en holō tō kosmō ho hautē epoiēsen kai lalēthēsetai eis mnēmosynon autēs

Word by word21 · parsed
ἀμὴνamēnTrulyG281
√ ἀμήν — properly, firm, iHebrew Word
amēn: firm, sure (Hebrew) Marked in the parse simply as "Hebrew Word." A Hebrew particle of confirmation kept untranslated in the Greek text, prefacing a prediction about the whole world.
λέγωlegōI tellG3004
√ λέγω — properly, to "lay" forth, iVerbPresent Indicative Active1st Person Singular
ὑμῖνhyminyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Plural
ὅπουhopouwhereverG3699
√ ὅπου — what(-ever) where, iAdverb
ἐὰνean. . .G1437
√ ἐάν — a conditional particleConjunction
τοῦτοtoutothisG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iDemonstrative PronounNominative Neuter Singular
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
εὐαγγέλιονeuangeliongospelG2098
√ εὐαγγέλιον — a good message, iNounNominative Neuter Singular
κηρυχθῇkērychthēis preachedG2784
√ κηρύσσω — to herald (as a public crier), especially divine truth (the gospel)VerbAorist Subjunctive Passive3rd Person Singular
kēryssō: to herald, to proclaim as a public crier Aorist subjunctive passive after the conditional particle. The lexicon's picture is a crier in a public place, not a private telling. The same verb in Matthew 24:14 had already been used of the gospel of the kingdom preached in the whole inhabited earth, which is the prediction this one leans on.
ἐνeninG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
ὅλῳholōallG3650
√ ὅλος — "whole" or "all", iAdjectiveDative Masculine Singular
τῷtōtheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleDative Masculine Singular
κόσμῳkosmōworldG2889
√ κόσμος — orderly arrangement, iNounDative Masculine Singular
kosmos: orderly arrangement, the world Dative with ὅλῳ, "in the whole world." Ellicott makes the sober historical point: at that hour the disciples expected an immediate kingdom, and the speaker expected shame and death, yet it is the speaker who describes a dominion over the souls of men wider than their expectation.
ὃhowhatG3739
√ ὅς — the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun, who, which, what, thatPersonal / Relative PronounAccusative Neuter Singular
αὕτηhautēsheG3778
√ οὗτος — the he (she or it), iPersonal / Possessive PronounNominative Feminine Singular
ἐποίησενepoiēsenhas doneG4160
√ ποιέω — to make or do (in a very wide application, more or less direct)VerbAorist Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
καὶkaivvvG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
λαληθήσεταιlalēthēsetaiwill also be toldG2980
√ λαλέω — to talk, iVerbFuture Indicative Passive3rd Person Singular
laleō: to talk, to speak Future passive, agent unnamed. Matthew's sentence has three unagented passives in a row (sold, given, in vv. 9; heralded, spoken here), and the last two come true.
εἰςeisinG1519
√ εἰς — to or into (indicating the point reached or entered), of place, time, or (figuratively) purpose (result, etcPreposition
μνημόσυνονmnēmosynonmemory ofG3422
√ μνημόσυνον — a reminder (memorandum), iNounAccusative Neuter Singular
mnēmosynon: a reminder, a memorandum Rare (3 verses). The Verifier pairs this verse with Mark 14:9 and with Acts 10:4. Read with Acts 10:4 the noun is not a human commemoration but something that goes up and is registered: what she did is entered in the same book as the alms of Cornelius, and the entering is done by God. This is the only act by a private person in Matthew of which Jesus says it will be told wherever the gospel is told.
αὐτῆςautēsherG846
√ αὐτός — the reflexive pronoun self, used (alone or in the comparative G1438 (ἑαυτοῦ)) of the third person , and (with the proper personal pronoun) of the other personsPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive Feminine 3rd Person Singular

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. A feast in the house of a man still called leprous — 26:6 to 26:7

⚙ Matthew hangs the whole episode on one genitive absolute, Τοῦ Ἰησοῦ γενομένου ("Jesus having come to be"), and gives no date. Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit are unanimous that the placement is not chronological: Ellicott fixes the supper by John 12:1 at six days before the Passover, Cambridge says St Matthew has here disregarded the strictly chronological order, and Pulpit states the principle, that Matthew describes events according to a logical or spiritual connection which overrides time. Barnes gives the reason for the placement in this spot: Matthew introduced it here to give a connected account of the conduct of Judas. Poole, harmonising, proposes instead that John dates the arrival and Matthew the feast, four days apart. We record both and settle neither.

✦ On the host, the voices converge. Benson, Barnes, Gill, Cambridge and Pulpit all read τοῦ λεπροῦ as a name that stuck rather than a diagnosis, and infer a healing; Gill uniquely checks the usual argument and rejects it, noting from the Mishnah (Celim 1.7) that lepers were barred from walled cities and not from an open village like Bethany, so the proof must be the feast itself and not the residence. Pulpit adds the parallel of Matthew still called "the publican" after leaving the trade, and reports, without a source, a tradition making Simon the father of Lazarus or the husband of Martha. ⚙ The room is therefore furnished with evidence: a cleansed leper hosting, a raised man at the table (John 12:2, cited by Ellicott, Barnes and Cambridge), a sealed flask of βαρυτίμου μύρου worth a labourer's year, and a guest reclining, ἀνακειμένου, in the posture the lexicon assigns to a corpse and to a banqueter alike.

ii. Ruin, by the arithmetic of the bag — 26:8 to 26:9

✦ Every commentator here notices the narrowing of the guilt. Matthew writes the plural, οἱ μαθηταί; Mark 14:4 has "some"; John 12:4 names Judas. Ellicott and Cambridge both lay the three side by side; Geneva calls Matthew's plural a synecdoche, since John says only Judas was moved; Barnes supposes several felt the indignation and Judas alone gave it a voice; Gill, characteristically, weighs whether the resentment was aimed at the woman, at Christ, or only at the act, and concludes it was at the act.

⚙ The Greek supplies the sting. The word they choose is ἀπώλεια, whose lexicon range is ruin or loss, physical, spiritual or eternal. Ellicott renders it perdition and observes that Jesus later applies the same noun to Judas as a son of perdition (John 17:12); Pulpit credits the same catch to Wordsworth. Neither claims Matthew has engineered the echo, and neither should we: the noun is common enough (17 verses) that the coincidence is a coincidence of vocabulary. What is not a coincidence is the shape of the complaint. Ellicott and Gill both supply the sum from the parallels, three hundred denarii, and Ellicott adds John's verdict that the zeal for the poor was a cloak. Pulpit and Barnes, who both defend the duty of almsgiving at length, still insist the complaint was an interference: Barnes, that the ointment was Mary's property and she was answerable to God and not to them.

iii. Not good but beautiful: the work, the poor, and the body — 26:10 to 26:12

✦ Cambridge and Ellicott agree that καλὸν ἔργον must not be read as "a good deed": Ellicott, a noble and honourable work; Cambridge, a noble and beautiful work, denoting an almost artistic sense of the fitness of things which the blunter perception of the rest lacked, and adding that the Lord passes a higher commendation on this than on any other act recorded in the New Testament. Pulpit, following Bengel, notices that the censure was really aimed at Jesus and that he rebukes them only for what they did to her.

✦ On v. 11 Gill and Pulpit both hear Deuteronomy 15:11 behind the words, Pulpit quoting it in full, Gill adding the rabbinic gloss from Shabbat 63a that concludes there will for ever be poverty and riches. Both, with Barnes, restrict "me ye have not always" to bodily presence, against Matthew 28:20. Geneva compresses the whole ethic into one line: Christ, once anointed in his own person, must always be anointed in the poor.

⚙ Then v. 12 turns the perfume into grave cloths. The verb is ἐνταφιάσαι, found in only two verses of the New Testament, and the other is John 19:40, the actual wrapping of the actual body. Benson says plainly that this was not her design and that Jesus put the construction on her act; Barnes says the apostles themselves did not yet comprehend the death; Gill offers the alternatives that she had some intimation or that the Spirit directed her without her knowledge, and declines to choose. Ellicott alone follows the fragrance forward: their Master, alone of all that company, knew that the perfume would not have faded when his body was laid in the sepulchre. ⚙ Our own reading adds only this: Jesus does not say she meant a burial. He says her act was done toward one, πρὸς τὸ ἐνταφιάσαι, and that is a claim about the act, not about her mind.

iv. The memorial that was entered, and the names that were not — 26:13

✦ Henry states the fulfilment flatly: this act was so remarkable that it would be reported as a memorial of Mary's faith and love wherever the gospel should be preached, and this prophecy is fulfilled. Ellicott weighs the prediction as evidence, noting that the foresight of a universal gospel at that particular hour is itself remarkable, since others saw only immediate victory while he saw shame and death and a dominion beyond their dreams. Gill ties the promise to the content of the message, the death, burial and resurrection, which this woman's act pictures. Pulpit hands the paragraph to Chrysostom, whose point is that the memorial outlasted the memorials of kings and generals who built walls and set up statues.

⚙ Two things restrain the celebration. First, μνημόσυνον is a memorandum, and its one other New Testament use outside the parallel at Mark 14:9 is Acts 10:4, where a memorial goes up before God: the record is kept upward, not merely repeated downward. Second, and against the grain of every commentator's warmth, Matthew does not give her name. Ellicott notices the reticence and calls it singular; Pulpit admits it is not known why the synoptists omit her. It is John who names Mary. ⚙ So the sentence promising that her deed would be told everywhere stands in a gospel that declines to tell who she was, and the memorial as Matthew wrote it is of an act and not of a person.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Under Sola Scriptura, offered to be tested and corrected: this scene is the coronation Matthew never otherwise reports. In Israel's Scriptures, oil poured down on the head is how a king is made (1 Samuel 10:1; 16:13) and how a priest is consecrated (Psalm 133:2), and Matthew's title for Jesus from the first verse of his book is Christos, the anointed one. No priest, no prophet and no council anoints him in this gospel. The only oil that reaches his head is βαρυτίμου μύρου in the hand of an unnamed woman, in the house of a man still called leprous, two days before he dies, and Jesus receives it with the word καλόν, beautiful, and reassigns it to his entombing. We do not claim Matthew says this; he does not. What the text does say is that the disciples priced the act and Jesus dated it, and that their category for it was ἀπώλεια, ruin. That is the test the passage sets, and it is not a test about ointment. The one interpretive line we would put on the wall is the sentence that follows this paragraph, and it is our sentence and not Scripture: the reader should weigh it against the text and discard it if it will not hold.

The only anointing this gospel grants its King is poured by a woman it does not name, and he receives it as a burial.

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The rare burial verb: the flask at the table and the grave cloths in the garden verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ ἐνταφιάσαι (G1779) occurs in only two verses of the New Testament: here, where Jesus assigns the woman's act to his entombing, and John 19:40, where Joseph and Nicodemus bind his body with spices as is the custom of the Jews to prepare for burial. The Verifier records both the rare verb and the shared noun σῶμα (G4983) for this pair. ✦ Barnes states the ancient practice plainly, that bodies were anointed and embalmed for the sepulchre and that this was really such a preparation; Gill documents from the Mishnah (Shabbat 23.5) that anointing and washing the dead were permitted works, and notes that the women who set out with spices on the first day of the week arrived too late (Luke 23:56). ⚙ The two Greek texts are both New Testament, so the verbal link is a genuine intra-Greek one; it is a lexical link and not a quotation of one passage by the other.

John 19:40

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G1779 ἐνταφιάζω (in 2 vv, the rarest verb in the unit and found nowhere else in the New Testament) and G4983 σῶμα (in 120 vv). Both refs are New Testament Greek, so a real verbal link is recordable; the rarity of G1779 carries it, and no claim is made that either verse quotes the other.

Memorandum: what is spoken in all the world and what goes up before God verbal / quotation: confirmed

⚙ μνημόσυνον (G3422) is rare, three verses in all: this one, the parallel promise at Mark 14:9, and Acts 10:4, where the angel tells Cornelius that his prayers and alms have gone up as a memorial before God. The Verifier supplies all three. ⚙ Read together they correct a sentimental hearing of Matthew 26:13. The word is not "fond memory" but a record entered; in Acts it is entered in heaven and concerns alms given to the poor. The bite is that the disciples' objection in v. 9 was precisely about alms to the poor, and the act they called ruin is the one that gets the memorial. ✦ Gill reaches the same destination by a different road, that the memory of the just is blessed and that if her act is told for a memorial, much more should what Christ did and suffered be told as a memorial of him.

Mark 14:9 · Acts 10:4

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G3422 μνημόσυνον (in 3 vv, that is every occurrence in the New Testament), with G281 ἀμήν (in 104 vv) and G2889 κόσμος (in 151 vv) also shared with Mark 14:9. All refs are New Testament Greek. Mark 14:9 is the synoptic parallel, not an independent witness; Acts 10:4 is the one genuinely separate use.

The poor shall never cease out of the land structural / thematic: confirmed

✦ Both Gill and Pulpit hear Deuteronomy 15:11 behind Matthew 26:11. Pulpit quotes the verse and says the saying is in strict accordance with the old Law; Gill says Christ seems to have respect to it, and adds the rabbinic gloss from Shabbat 63a which infers from that same verse that there will for ever be poverty and riches, and which the rabbis referred to the days of the Messiah. ⚙ The wording is close to a quotation: Deuteronomy says the poor will not cease from the midst of the land, Jesus says the poor you always have with you. But Matthew gives no citation formula, no "it is written," and the refs cross the Testaments, so no shared Strong's number can exist between a Greek text and a Hebrew one. We therefore decline the verbal tier on both counts and record the link where it can honestly be recorded: as a confirmed structural and thematic dependence, the standing provision of the Law about the permanence of the poor being reapplied to date the presence of Christ.

Deuteronomy 15:11

basis: Close to verbatim in sense and near in wording, and still not tierable verbal: the refs cross the Testaments, so the basis cannot be a shared Strong's lexeme (Greek G4434 πτωχός against Hebrew ʼebyôn / ʻānî, different numbering systems), and Matthew supplies no quotation formula. Recorded basis: the shared legal motif of the permanence of the poor in the land, attested as an allusion by Gill and by the Pulpit Commentary.

Oil poured down on the head: how a king and a priest are made typological

⚙ A figural reading, offered as such. κατέχεεν ἐπὶ αὐτοῦ τῆς κεφαλῆς, she poured it down upon his head, is the gesture of installation in Israel's Scriptures: Samuel pours the vial of oil on Saul's head (1 Samuel 10:1) and anoints David in the midst of his brothers (1 Samuel 16:13); Psalm 133:2 pictures the precious oil on the head running down on the beard of Aaron; Psalm 23:5 sets a table, an anointed head and an overflowing cup in one image. ✦ Cambridge comes nearest of our voices to saying this, that her faith enabled her to see the truth of the Kingdom as no one else then did, and that she saw that Jesus was still a King though destined to die; Barnes notes that anointing the head was the customary form and that pouring on the feet was the unusual, humbler act. ⚙ Neither Cambridge nor Barnes cites the royal anointings, and Matthew makes no citation, so the connection is ours and is typological, not verbal: a figural reading of a gesture, resting on the shared image of oil poured down on a head, with no claim that Matthew is quoting anything.

1 Samuel 10:1 · 1 Samuel 16:13 · Psalm 133:2 · Psalm 23:5

basis: Cross-Testament figural link, so no shared Strong's lexeme is possible (Greek κεφαλή and μύρον against Hebrew rōʼš and šemen). Basis: the shared ritual gesture of oil poured down on the head as installation of a king or priest. The kingly reading of the anointing is widely held and is approached by Cambridge; the specific four-text figure drawn here is our own and should be weighed as novel.

The alabaster flask in Galilee and the flask in Bethany structural / thematic: confirmed

⚙ ἀλάβαστρον (G211) appears in only three verses of the New Testament, and the third is Luke 7:37, the woman who was a sinner in the house of Simon the Pharisee. The Verifier also finds μύρον (G3464) and κεφαλή (G2776) shared with Luke 7:38 and 7:46. ✦ Whether the two scenes are one event is disputed in our own sources and has been for centuries. Ellicott reports the prevalent Western tradition identifying Mary of Bethany with the woman of Luke 7 and says there is not the shadow of proof for it, then suggests the Bethany household may have heard of that act and been prompted by it. Cambridge merely says to compare a similar act. Gill lists the differences (Simon the Pharisee against Simon the leper, Galilee against Bethany, feet against head, no such conversation) and concludes that one woman may have done a like thing twice. Pulpit says flatly that the two must not be confounded, the scene, time, actor and significance all differing. Poole leaves Luke to one side as the most different of the four accounts. Chrysostom, as the Pulpit editors note against him, identified them. ⚙ Because the rare lexeme is real but the identity of the events is contested, we record the lexical echo and refuse the quotation tier.

Luke 7:37 · Luke 7:38 · Luke 7:46

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G211 ἀλάβαστρον (in 3 vv, rare), G3464 μύρον (in 13 vv), G2776 κεφαλή (in 67 vv), G3614 οἰκία (in 85 vv). Deliberately downgraded from verbal: the rarity would permit that tier, but there is no quotation in either direction and whether Luke 7 records the same event is contested by our own sources (Ellicott, Gill, Pulpit and Poole all distinguish it; the Western tradition and Chrysostom conflate it).

Flagged: the tradition that Simon was father of Lazarus or husband of Martha flagged: verify source

✦ The Pulpit Commentary reports that tradition makes Simon the father of Lazarus or the husband of Martha, and adds that his connection with the household of Bethany by relationship or close friendship seems well established. Barnes conjectures Lazarus was a relative of Simon and was living with him; Cambridge says only that Simon was evidently a disciple and probably a near friend of Lazarus and his sisters, and that nothing further is known; Ellicott says we know nothing of the man beyond this mention. ⚙ The New Testament texts joined here (John 11:1 on the household, Luke 10:38 on Martha's house) never mention Simon, and none of our commentators names a source for the tradition. We record it as circulating and unverified, and we do not build on it.

John 11:1 · Luke 10:38

basis: Provenance disputed and unsourced: the Pulpit Commentary reports an unnamed tradition, Barnes offers a conjecture, while Ellicott and Cambridge state that nothing further is known about Simon. The linked verses contain no shared Strong's lexeme with this unit and never name Simon; the connection rests on the tradition alone.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

Anointed beforehand for a burial that would not wait ancient/widely-held

⚙ The redemptive-historical weight of this unit is carried by one very rare verb. ἐνταφιάσαι (G1779, two verses in the New Testament) puts the supper at Bethany and the garden tomb into one sentence: what was poured out here is what was needed there, and John 19:40 is the only other place the word occurs. ✦ This reading is not ours. Barnes: bodies were anointed and embalmed for the sepulchre in ancient times, and Jesus said that this was really a preparation for his burial, a fitting him for the tomb. Gill: she was come beforehand to anoint his body for the burying (Mark 14:8), and the women who came with spices on the first day found it too late. Ellicott: the fragrance of that perfume would not have died away when his body should be laid in the sepulchre. Cambridge documents the custom from 2 Chronicles 16:14. Pulpit: by this effusion she anticipated the embalming of the Lord's body. Benson and Barnes both add the honest qualification that the intention was probably not hers and that the construction is Christ's. ⚙ The point of the accumulation is that the passion is already operative two days out. The body at the table is treated as the body in the tomb, by his own word, while the disciples are still pricing perfume.

John 19:40 · Mark 14:8 · Luke 23:56

The one anointing of the Anointed novel

⚙ Matthew names Jesus Christos, the anointed, in his first verse and never records an anointing of him by prophet, priest or council. This is the only oil in the gospel that reaches his head, and it is poured by a woman Matthew leaves unnamed, in a house named after a disease, two days before the execution. ✦ Cambridge comes closest of our sources to the thought, holding that her faith let her see the truth of the Kingdom as no one else then did and that she saw Jesus was still a King though destined to die; Geneva puts the corollary in one line, that Christ, once anointed in his own person, must always be anointed in the poor, which refuses to let the reading become an excuse against v. 9. ⚙ We mark the specific framing as our own: no commentator in our brief argues from the absence of any other anointing in Matthew, and the Greek verb for anointing (chriō) does not occur here at all, so the connection is thematic and not lexical. Held loosely, it says something the whole unit supports: the kingship is conferred in the same gesture that prepares the corpse.

Matthew 1:1 · Matthew 1:16 · 1 Samuel 16:13

He saw the world while they saw the week ancient/widely-held

✦ Ellicott sets the two horizons side by side: the disciples were expecting that the kingdom of God should immediately appear (Luke 19:11) and looked to the next day for its triumph, while their Master, alone in the room, knew what was coming, and yet in v. 13 speaks of a gospel heralded in the whole world. Gill ties that gospel expressly to the death, burial and resurrection, and says these are the principal part of it. Henry states the fulfilment as accomplished fact. Pulpit gives Chrysostom's version of the argument, that the deeds of countless kings and generals have sunk into silence while this act is celebrated throughout the world. ⚙ What makes this christological rather than merely predictive is the content: the thing promised universal publication is not a victory or a law but an anointing for burial. The death is not an interruption of the mission; in v. 13 it is the message that travels.

Matthew 24:14 · Luke 19:11 · Mark 14:9

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text: BSB (CC0) with the Berean interlinear and Strong's numbering as given in the brief; all parses, glosses, lexeme frequencies and thread bases are taken from that brief and none were computed here. Greek surfaces are quoted as the interlinear prints them.

What is uncertain in this unit, stated plainly. (1) Chronology: Matthew gives no date; John 12:1 places the supper six days before the Passover, and Matthew's context suggests two. Ellicott, Cambridge, Barnes and Pulpit all resolve this by saying Matthew has arranged the material logically rather than chronologically; Poole instead proposes that John dates the arrival in Bethany and Matthew the feast four days later. We record both and decide neither. (2) The woman: Matthew does not name her. John 12:3 names Mary the sister of Lazarus, and Ellicott, Benson, Barnes, Gill, Cambridge and Pulpit all import that name. Every use of the name Mary in our synthesis is therefore on John's authority and not Matthew's, and where we speak of Matthew's own text we say "the woman." (3) Luke 7:37 to 50: whether that anointing is this one is disputed inside our own sources, and the thread on it is tiered structural for that reason. (4) Head and feet: Matthew and Mark report the head, John the feet; Barnes harmonises by taking both as done, and Pulpit notes that the Greek of v. 7 supplies no object after the verb, which leaves room for it. We have not treated the harmonisation as certain. (5) Intent: Jesus says her act was done toward his entombing; he does not say she intended a burial. Benson denies the intention outright, Gill offers a revelation or the secret direction of the Spirit as alternatives, and Barnes says the apostles themselves did not yet comprehend the death. Our notes preserve the ambiguity of πρὸς τὸ ἐνταφιάσαι rather than resolving it.

Sources: JFB supply no exposition of these verses in Matthew at all, referring the reader to Mark 14:1 to 11, so the one JFB excerpt here is their chapter heading and is labelled as such. Poole comments on the whole block at v. 13, and both his entry and Gill's at v. 7 are capped in our brief; we quoted only inside the text we were given and did not reconstruct the remainder. The Chrysostom passage at v. 13 and the Quesnel passage at v. 9 reach us through the Pulpit Commentary and are attributed accordingly, with the note that Chrysostom misidentifies the woman. Gill's rabbinic citations (Celim 1.7, Shabbat 23.5, Shabbat 63a) are reported as his, unverified by us. Bengel and Wordsworth likewise reach us only through Pulpit, and Doddridge only through Benson.

Cross-reference method: no thread joining a Greek text to a Hebrew one is tiered verbal, because shared Strong's numbers cannot exist across the two numbering systems; those links are tiered structural or typological with the reason stated in the badge. Deuteronomy 15:11 is close to verbatim and is still tiered structural on that ground, and because Matthew supplies no citation formula. The Simon tradition is flagged for want of any named source. Every thread basis reproduces the Verifier's computed lexemes and frequencies where a Verifier candidate exists; where it does not (the royal anointings, the Simon tradition), the badge says so.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)