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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. But there were some who were indignant among themselves, saying, “Why has this ointment been wasted? For this might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii,[a] and given to the poor.” So they grumbled against her.

But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to, you can do them good; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for the burying. Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News may be preached throughout the whole world, that which this woman has done will also be spoken of for a memorial of her.”

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Footnotes

  1. 14:5 300 denarii was about a year’s wages for an agricultural laborer.

Jesus’ Anointing at Bethany

And while[a] he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as[b] he was reclining for a meal, a woman came holding an alabaster flask of very costly perfumed oil of genuine nard. After[c] breaking the alabaster flask, she poured it[d] out on his head. But some were expressing indignation to one another:[e] “Why has there been this waste of perfumed oil? For this perfumed oil could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor!” And they began to scold[f] her. But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you cause trouble for her? She has done a good deed to me. For the poor you always have with you, and you can do good for them whenever you want, but you do not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand[g] for burial. And truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.

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Footnotes

  1. Mark 14:3 Here “while” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“was”)
  2. Mark 14:3 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“was reclining for a meal”)
  3. Mark 14:3 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“breaking”) which is understood as temporal
  4. Mark 14:3 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
  5. Mark 14:4 Or perhaps “within themselves”
  6. Mark 14:5 The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to scold”)
  7. Mark 14:8 Literally “she has anticipated to anoint my body”