arable of the Two Debtors; and a contrast is drawn
etween his neglect of the ordinary forms of hos- pitality and the humble devotion of the penn woman, who is bidden to go in peace. In the other Gospels the disciples are reminded that the poor would be always with them, while their Master would shortly leave them; that the woman had done a good work in anointing His body for the impending burial; nay, that this action of hers would be reported in her praise throughout the world, wherever the gospel was preached.
Such being the diversity of the narratives, it is evident that there are many difliculties in the way of any one who would regard them as all speaking
Mr 205.
Τοῦ δὲ ᾿Ιησοῦ γενομένου ἐν Βηθανίᾳ ἐν οἰκίᾳ Σίμωνος τοῦ λεπροῦ, προσῆλθεν αὐτῷ γυνὴ ἔχουσα ἀλάβαστρον μύρου βαρντίμου, καὶ κατέ- xeev ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ ἀνακειμένου. ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ μαθηταὶ ἠγανάκτησαν, λέ- Ὕοντες, His τί ἡ ἀπώλεια αὕτη; ἐδύνατο yap τοῦτο πραθῆναι πολλοῦ, καὶ δοθ- ἣναι πτωχοῖς. γνοὺς δὲ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Τί κόπους παρέχετε τῇ γυναικί; ἔργον γὰρ καλὸν ἠργάσατο εἰς ἐμὲ πάντοτε γὰρ τοὺς πτωχοὺς ἔχετε μεθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν, ἐμὲ δὲ οὐ πάντοτε ἔχετε" βαλοῦσα γὰρ αὕτη τὸ μύρον τοῦτο ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματός μου, πρὸς τὸ ἐνταφιάσαι με ἐ- ποίησεν. ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅπου ἐὰν κηρυχθῇ τὸ εὐαγ- γέλιον τοῦτο ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ, λαληθήσεται καὶ ὃ ἐποίησεν αὕτη, εἰς μνημό- συνον αὐτῆς. τότε πορευ- θείς. . . ᾿Ιούδας.
MARY
MARY
Conspectus of the Anointings.
(‘The thick type is used in the Synoptic Gospels to mark their mutual differences: in Jn for the opposite purpose of marking his resemblances to one or other of the Synoptists).
MK 145.
Καὶ ὄντος αὐτοῦ ἐν Βηθ- ανίᾳ, ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ Σίμωνος τοῦ λεπροῦ, κατακειμένου αὐτοῦ, ἦλθεν γυνὴ ἔχουσα ἀλάβαστρον μύρου νάρδον πιστικῆς πολυτελοῦς" συν- τρίψασα τὴν ἀλάβασ- τρον, κατέχεεν αὐτοῦ τῆς κεφαλῆς. ἦσαν δέ τινες ἀγανακτοῦντες πρὸς ἕαυ- τούς, Εἰς τί ἡ ἀπώλεια αὕτη τοῦ μύρου γέγονεν ; ἠδύνατο γὰρ τοῦτο τὸ μύρον πραθῆναι ἐπάνω δηναρίων τριακοσίων, καὶ δοθῆναι τοῖς πτωχοῖς" καὶ ἐνεβρι- μῶντο αὐτῇ. Ὁ δὲ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπεν, Ἄφετε αὐτήν" τί αὐτῇ κόπους παρέχετε; καλὸν ἔργον ἠργάσατο ἐν ἐμοί. πάντοτε γὰρ τοὺς πτωχοὺς ἔχετε μεθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν, καὶ ὅταν θέλητε δύνασθε αὐτοῖς πάντοτε εὖ ποιῆ- σαι, ἐμὲ δὲ οὐ πάντοτε ἔχετε" ὃ ἔσχεν ἐποίησεν, προέλαβεν μυρίσαι τὸ σῶμά μου εἰς τὸν ἐνταφι-
LK 7*.
᾽Ηρώτα δέ ris αὐτὸν τῶν Φαρισαίων, ἵνα φάγῃ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ" καὶ εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ Φαρισαίου κατε- κλίθη. Kal ἰδοὺ, γυνὴ ἥτις ἣν ἐν τῇ πόλει ἁμαρτωλός, καὶ ἐπιγνοῦσα ὅτι κατά- κειται ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ Φαρι- σαίου, κομίσασα ἀλάβαστρον μύρου, καὶ στᾶσα ὀπίσω παρὰ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ κλαίουσα, τοῖς δάκρυσιν ἤρξατο βρέχειν τοὺς πό- ϑας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ταῖς θριξὶν τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῆς ἐξέ- μασσεν, καὶ κατεφίλει τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ καὶ ἤλειφεν τῷ μύρῳ. ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ Φαρισαῖος ὁ καλέσας αὐτὸν εἶπεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, λέγων, Οὗτος εἰ ἦν προ- φήτης, ἐγίνωσκεν ἂν τίς καὶ ποταπὴ ἡἣ γυνὴ, ἥτις ἅπτεται αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἁμ- αρτωλός ἐστιν. Καὶ ἀπο- κριθεὶς ὁ ᾿Τησοῦς, κιτ.λ.
JN 11? 121,
Hy δὲ Μαριὰμ ἡ ἀλείψ- ασα τὸν Κύριον μύρῳ, καὶ ἐκμάξασα τοὺς πόδας αὐὖ- τοῦ ταῖς θριξὶν αὐτῆς. ...
Ἦλθεν εἰς Βηθανίαν... ἐποίησαν οὖν αὐτῷ δεῖπνον ἐκεῖ καὶ ἡ Μάρθα διηκόνει, ὁ δὲ Λάζαρος εἷς ἣν τῶν ἀνακειμένων σὺν αὐτῷ. ἡ οὖν Μαριὰμ λαβοῦσα λίτραν μύρου νάρδου πιστικῆς πολυτίμου, ἤλειψεν τοὺς πόδας ᾿Ιησοῦ, καὶ ἐξέμαξεν ταῖς θριξὶν αὐτῆς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ' ἡ δὲ οἰκὶα ἐπληρώθη ἐκ τῆς ὀσμῆς τοῦ μύρου. λέγει ᾿Ιούδας ὁ Ἰσκαριώτης εἷς τῶν μαθη- τῶν αὐτοῦ, ὁ μέλλων αὐτὸν παραδιδόναι, Διὰ τί τοῦτο τὸ μύρον οὐκ ἐπράθη τριακοσίων δηναρίων καὶ ἐδόθη πτωχοῖς ; εἶπεν δὲ τοῦτο, οὐχ ὅτι περὶ τῶν πτωχῶν ἔμελεν αὐτῷ ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι κλέπτης ἦν, καὶ τὸ γλωσσόκομον ἔχων τὰ βαλ- λόμενα ἐβάσταζεν. εἶπεν
ασμόν. ἀμὴν δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅπου ἐὰν κηρυχθῇ τὸ εὐαγ- γέλιον εἰς ὅλον τὸν κόσμον, καὶ ὃ ἐποίησεν αὕτη λαλη- θήσεται εἰς μνημόσυνον αὐτῆς. Kai ᾿Ιούδας. .. ἀπῆλθεν.
of one person and recording one scene.* And yet it is almost as difficult to suppose that such an action could have been repeated. Is it likely that our Lord would have uttered such a high en- comium upon Mary’s act if she were only following the example already set by the sinful woman of Galilee ; or (taking the other view) if she herself were only repeating under more favourable cir- cumstances the act of loving devotion for which she had already received His commendation? Is it likely, again, that St. John would have distin- guished Mary as ‘ her who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair’ if he had known that in this she was only doing what had been done by another before her? Taking a more general view, is it likely that so rare an act, the beauty of which lay in its instinctive spon- taneity and freedom from self-consciousness, could have been imitated or reproduced without losing all its savour ?
Perhaps it may be answered that the act was not really unusual, since the context in Luke implies that not to anoint the head of a guest is to be wanting in ordinary courtesy.t It is true we have no other reference to the anointing of the feet in the Bible, but that this was not un- precedented may be seen from Arist. (Vesp. 605, ὃ δέ γ᾽ ἥδιστον τούτων ἐστὶν πάντων... ὅταν οἴκαδ᾽ ἴω τὸν μισθὸν ἔχων... καὶ πρῶτα μὲν ἡ θυγάτηρ με ἀπονίζῃ