John 12:1-8
Mary anoints Jesus for his burial
12:1Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
12:2There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him.
12:3Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
12:4But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said,
12:5″Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?”
12:6(He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.)
12:7Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial.
12:8You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”
[1]Ὁ οὖν ᾿Ιησοῦς πρὸ ἓξ ἡμερῶν τοῦ πάσχα ἦλθεν εἰς Βηθανίαν, ὅπου ἦν Λάζαρος ὁ τεθνηκώς, ὃν ἤγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν.
[2]ἐποίησαν οὖν αὐτῷ δεῖπνον ἐκεῖ, καὶ ἡ Μάρθα διηκόνει· ὁ δὲ Λάζαρος εἷς ἦν τῶν ἀνακειμένων σὺν αὐτῷ.
[3]ἡ οὖν Μαρία, λαβοῦσα λίτραν μύρου νάρδου πιστικῆς πολυτίμου, ἤλειψε τοὺς πόδας τοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ καὶ ἐξέμαξε ταῖς θριξὶν αὐτῆς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ· ἡ δὲ οἰκία ἐπληρώθη ἐκ τῆς ὀσμῆς τοῦ μύρου.
[4]λέγει οὖν εἷς ἐκ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, ᾿Ιούδας Σίμωνος ᾿Ισκαριώτης, ὁ μέλλων αὐτὸν παραδιδόναι·
[5]διατί τοῦτο τὸ μύρον οὐκ ἐπράθη τριακοσίων δηναρίων καὶ ἐδόθη πτωχοῖς;
[6]εἶπε δὲ τοῦτο οὐχ ὅτι περὶ τῶν πτωχῶν ἔμελεν αὐτῷ, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι κλέπτης ἦν, καὶ τὸ γλωσσόκομον εἶχε καὶ τὰ βαλλόμενα ἐβάσταζεν.
[7]εἶπεν οὖν ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· ἄφες αὐτήν, εἰς τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ ἐνταφιασμοῦ μου τετήρηκεν αὐτό.
[8]τοὺς πτωχοὺς γὰρ πάντοτε ἔχετε μεθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν, ἐμὲ δὲ οὐ πάντοτε ἔχετε.
Comments
Martha truly ‘serves’ (διηκόνει, v. 2), and Judas either intended to betray Jesus or was virtually ‘destined’ by divine will to do so (v. 4). Jesus expresses certainty about the poor and his impending death by means of a ‘prophetic present’ (v.8). Whether Judas helped himself to donations depends on how we interpret ἐβάσταζεν (v. 6).
[1] ὁ τεθνηκώς: pf. part. < θνῄσκω, ΄I die’, pf. tense= ‘I am dead’; the participle here is attributive, ‘the dead one’.
[2] διηκόνει: 3rd pers. sg., impf. < διακονέω, abs., already in cl. Gk = ‘serve, be a servant’; hence διάκονος (whence the Engl. deacon) = ‘temple servant’ in Hellenistic Gk (LSJ s.v., I.1).
In the NT the vb can mean ‘serve at table’ (EDNT s.v., 1). The preverb δια- expresses the idea of action ‘on all sides’, i.e. of going to great lengths to serve. True to this verb, Martha rushed about in every direction serving everyone, and her subsequent anointing of Jesus with her hair carried her service still further.
λίτραν μύρου νάρδου πιστικῆς: λίτρα, ἡ, ‘1/2 pint’ (koine Gk LSJ: s.v. ,II).
πιστικῆς: πιστικός, perhaps ‘unadulterated’, ‘extremely pure’ (EDNT s.v.). The adj. modifies νάρδου < νάρδος, ἡ, ‘spikenard’ (LSJ s.v., I.1).
ὀσμῆς: ὀσμή, ἡ, ‘smell’, of foul smells (in Homer & cl. Gk) but also of ‘fragrant odours’ (in cl. Gk) (LSJ s.v., I.1). The ‘smell’ filling the house is sweet.
[4] ὁ μέλλων αὐτὸν παραδιδόναι: μέλλω, already in Homer, means ‘I am destined or likely to do’ ( LSJ s.v., I.a). Here the phrase either means ‘he who intended to betray him’ or implies that Judas’ future action is ‘based on the divine will and thus is certain to occur’ (EDNT s.v., 2a. 3 & 4).
[5] ἐπράθη: Attic pass. aor. of πωλέω,‘ itself an Attic form, ‘I sell’.
[6] τὸ γλωσσόκομον: ‘money box’; here, ‘common purse’, a koine word (EDNT s.v.).
ἐβάσταζεν: impf.; the vb here means either ‘he carried/ would carry from place to place’ (cl Gk: LSJ s.v. , II.1) or ‘he would take for himself, steal’ (LSJ s.v., III.1), apparently koine.
[8] πάντοτε ἔχετε: the pres. is prophetic, expressing absolute certainty about a future event, a usage found in cl. Gk. (Πάντοτε, ‘always’, apparently early koine.)
Insights into Biblical Greek Grammar and Syntax 