Vv. 55-57. Approach of the Passover. —Ver. 55. fv δὲ ἑαντούς. ‘ Now
805
29 7% 9 ας 3 ~ κ 2 3 , ae ~ 56. ἐζήτουν οὖν τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν, καὶ ἔλεγον pet ἀλλήλων ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ
ἑστηκότες, “ Ti 57. Δεδώκεισαν
δοκεῖ ὑμῖν, ὅτι οὐ μὴ ἔλθῃ eis τὴν ἑορτήν; δὲ καὶ ot ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ of Φαρισαῖοι ἐντολὴν,ὶ
an A , ἵνα ἐάν τις yv@ ποῦ ἐστι, μηνύσῃ, ὅπως πιάσωσιν αὐτόν.
XII. 1. Ὁ ΟΥΝ ᾿Ιησοῦς "πρὸ ἐξ ἡμερῶν τοῦ πάσχα ᾖλθεν εἷς α Απιος |. τ.
bs 2 Βηθανίαν, ὅπου ἦν Λάζαρος 6 τεθνηκὼς,' ὃν Άγειρεν ἐκ νεκρῶν. 36. 2. Ὁ ἐποίησαν οὖν αὐτῷ δεῖπνον ἐκεῖ, καὶ ἡ Μάρθα διηκόνει"
Λάζαρος ets ἦν τῶν συνανακειµένων §
Μας. χν.
ὁ δὲ ὃ Dan. v. 1. Mk. vi. 21.
7A ε ? [ή αὐτῷ. 3. H οὐν Μαρία
λαβοῦσα "λίτραν µύρου νάρδου πιστικῆς πολυτίµου, “ἤλειψε τοὺς c xix. 39. A fol > a aA A 1. 2. πόδας τοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ, καὶ " ἐξέμαξε ταῖς θριξὶν αὐτῆς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ -
* evroAny in ADL, it. vulg., etc. ; εντολας in ΔΝ Β 1.
29 τεθνηκως omitted by Ti.W.H.R. with SBLX. T.R.in ADIFA. The words have some appearance of a gloss for greater perspicuity,
3 ανακειµενων συν in SABDILN.
the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the country before the Passover to purify themselves.” Cf. xviii. 28, Num. ix. το, 2 Chron, xxx. 17. Some purifications required a week, others consisted only of shaving the head and washing the clothes. See Lightfoot im loc.—Ver. 56. ἐζήτουν . . . €optyv; Jesus was one main topic of conversation among those who stood about in groups in the Temple when their purifications had been got through; and the chief point discussed was whether He would appear at this feast. Cf. vii. 10-13.—Ver. 57. There was room for difference of opinion, for Δεδώκεισαν . . . αὐτόν, ‘the Sanhedrim had issued instructions that if any knew where He was he should intimate this, that they might arrest Him”.
CHAPTER XII.—-Vv, 1-11. Fesus em- balmed in the love of His intimates.— Ver. 1. ‘O οὖν ᾿Ιησοῦς . . . Βηθανίαγ. οὖν takes us back to xi. 55; the Passover being at hand, Jesus therefore came to Bethany.—mpo @& ἡμερῶν τοῦ πάσχα, not, as Vulgate, “' ante sex dies Paschae,”’ but with Beza “‘sex ante Pascha diebus ”. So Amos i. I, πρὸ δύο ἐτῶν τοῦ σεισμοῦ. Josephus, Antig., xv. 14, πρὸ μιᾶς ἡμέρας τῆς ἑορτῆς. Other examples in Kypke ; cf. x. 18, xxi. 8, and see Viereck’s Sermo Graecus, p. 81. Six days before the Passover probably means the Sabbath before His death. According to John Jesus died on Friday, and six days before that would be a Sabbath. But it is difficult to ascertain with exactness what day is intended. Bethany is now de- scribed as the place ὅπου ἦν Λάζαρος ὅ
τεθνηκώς. This description is given to explain what follows.—Ver. 2. ἐποίησαν . ++ αὐτῷ. ἐποίησαν is the indefinite plural: ‘‘they made Him” a supper ; δεῖπνον, originally any meal, came to be used invariably of the evening meal.— καὶ ἡ Μάρθα διηκόνει, ''απά Martha waited at {ἰαῦία, which was Πες peculiar province (Lk. x. 40).—o δὲ Λάζαρος . . . αὐτῷ. This is mentioned, not to show that Lazarus was still alive and well, but because the feast was not in his house but in that of Simon the leper (Mk. xiv. 3, Mt. xxvi. 6). That this was the same feast as that mentioned by the Synoptists is apparent; the only discrepancy ofany consequence being that the Synoptists seem to place the feast only two days before the Passover. But they introduce the feast parenthetically to present the immediate motive of Judas’ action, and accordingly disregard strict chronology.—Ver. 3. Ἡ οὖν Μαρία... The third member of the Bethany family appears also in character, \aBotea λίτραν µύρου νάρδου πιστικῆς πολυτίμον. λίτρα (Lat. libra), the unit of weight in the Roman empire, slightly over eleven ounces avoirdupois. μύρον (from μύρω, to trickle, or from µύρρα, myrrh, the juice of the Arabian myrtle) is any unguent, more costly and luxurious than the ordinary ἔλαιον. Cf. Lk. vii. 46, and Trench, Synonyms. νάρδος, “the head or spike of a fragrant East Indian plant belonging to the genus Valeriana, which yields a juice of delicious odour which the ancients used in the preparation of a most precious ointment”. Thayer. πιστικῆς iS sometimes derived from