The anointment of Jesus by Mary (Jo 12.3)

Abstract

The Gospel of John tells how “Mary took a pound of a very expensive and pure perfume of nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped his feet with her hair”, and “the house was filled with the scent of the perfume”(Jn 12,3). Some details of this action carried out by Lazarus’s sister in Bethany calls the attention of the listener-reader. Why does Mary use such a large amount of perfume since it is an extremely expensive scent? And why does Mary perfume, specifically, the feet of Jesus? Moreover, why Mary wipes Jesus’ feet with her hair after anoint them? In addition, apparently, use the perfume and then remove part of it makes no sense. The study presented here seeks to understand these elements of the Johannine narrative, emphasizing the literary and historical-cultural context of the Gospel of John.