The breaking of the flask (Mc 14.3)

Abstract

In Bethany, a woman breaks a flask of perfume in order to spill its contents over Jesus’ head. How can we understand more precisely this act narrated in Mark 14:3? Perhaps this is an irrational gesture? Why destroy a precious flask as it might be used again? Or was it necessary or even common to break such a flask to use the aromatic essence it contained? Appearing with this is a question with repect to possible symbolic-theological connotations implied in the act of the woman from Bethany. The aim here is to present an historical study of flasks of perfume in the ancient world, a semantic study of the word “break,” and a theological reading of the narrative detail of the breaking of the flask.