very ingenious!}7, and boldly suggests that Simon the Pharisee was also called Simon the leper, was the husband of Martha, and not friendly to Clirist : — that this accounts for Martha being more " careful and troubled," in Luke x. 41, than Mary, and for unfriendly Pharisees being present at the raising of Lazarus; — that Mary Magdalene was the same as Mary of Bethany, and that Mary of Bethany was the " sinner," in Luke vii.
Toletus frankly admits that the Romish Church holds that there was only one anointing by one person, as it is plainly de- clared in one of her formularies : viz., the Breviary.
My own opinion is decidedlyagainst the last of these views. I hold that there were at least two anointings, — one at a com- paratively early period of our Lord's ministry, and another at the close of it, — one in the house of an unfriendly Pharisee named Simon, and another at the house of Simon the leper, in Bethany, — one by a woman who had been pre-eminently a sinner, another by Mary the sister of Martha, against whose moral character we know nothing. — Why the house of Martha and Mary at Bethany is called the house of Simon the leper, I admit I cannot explain. I can only surmise that there was some relationship of which we know nothing. But this difficulty is nothing in my eyes com- pared to that of supposing, with Augustine and his followers, that the event described in Luke vii. took place just at the end of our Lord's ministry. There is strong internal evidence that it did not, to my mind. Surely at the end of our Lord's ministry, people wOuld not have said with wonder, " Who is this that for- giveth sins? " Surely Mary would not be spoken of as a noto- rious " sinner."
On the other hand, if we hold the view that our Lord was only anointed twice, once at the house of Simon the Pharisee, and once at Bethany, it must be frankly admitted that there is a very grave difficulty to be got over. That difficulty is that St. Mark says that a woman anointed our Lord " two days " before the Passover, and poured the ointment on His "head" while John says He was anointed " six days before the passover," and the ointment poured on His " feet." — I do not see how this difficulty can be got over. If, however, we hold that our Lord was anoint- ed twice in the last week before He was crucified, once " six days " before, and once " two days " before, and on each occa- sion by a woman, the whole thing is clear. That such a thing should be done more than once, in those days, does not strike me as any objection, considering the customs of the age. That our Lord's language in defence of the woman should on each occasion be the same is somewhat remarkable. But it is only a minor difficulty. On the whole, therefore, if I must give an opinion, I incline to agree with Chrysostom, that there were three anointings. I also think there is something in the view, of Ferus, that Mary, sister of Lazarus, anointed our Lord twice, once six days before the passover, and once again two days before.