Tuesday, February 7, 2012

The Cost of Alabaster (Matthew 26:7)

What kind of box (or jar) held the ointment which the woman poured on Jesus’ head? Alabaster (Matthew 26:7)

In Matthew’s gospel, the first event of Passion week occurs when a woman anoints Jesus’ head with expensive perfume while he dines in Bethany (Matthew 26:6-13). Similar incidents occur in all four gospels (Matthew 26:6-13; Mark 14:1-9, Luke 7:36-50; John 12:1-8) but there are enough discrepancies between the accounts that scholars debate exactly how many times Jesus was actually anointed.

In the Synoptic gospels, the perfume is extracted from an alabastron (Matthew 26:7; Mark 14:3; Luke 7:37).

a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. (Matthew 26:7 NASB)
The word alabastron is used in the New Testament only in connection with Jesus’ anointing. The term encompasses both the type of material as well as the form of the container. Hence the word is rendered variously “alabaster jar” (HCSB, NIV, NLT, NRSV), “alabaster flask” (ESV, NKJV, RSV), “alabaster box” (KJV), “alabaster cruse” (ASV), “alabaster vial” (NASB) and more simply “bottle” (CEV, MSG).

Martha Jean Mugg Bailey (b. 1957) appraises that alabaster is “a firm, very fine-grained, variety of gypsum, used for statuary and as indoor decorative stone, especially for carved ornamental vases and figurines...The biblical terms translated alabaster...may also refer to marble, although alabaster probably entered Israel from Egypt much earlier than marble was imported from the Greek world (David Noel Freedman [1922-2008], Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, 39).”

Alabaster containers were ideal receptacles for perfume. W.D. Davies (1911-2001) and Dale C. Allison, Jr. (b. 1950) inform:

According to Pliny [23-79], Nautral History 13.3, ‘perfumes are best kept in alabaster vases’, and archaeology confirms that the stone, often imported from Egypt was frequently made into handleless perfume flasks. The necks were typically long and thin. (Davies and Allison, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew (International Critical Commentary) Volume III: XIX-XVIII, 444)
Though in modern English, “alabaster” is most commonly used in reference to skin as a synonym for pale, not all alabaster was white. John A. Broadus (1827-1895) chronicles:
Some kinds of alabaster are of delicate and richly varied hues, and are extremely beautiful and costly. The Jews, like all the other civilized ancient peoples, made much use of fragrant ointment, often rare and of great price; and the flasks which contained it were of great variety as to material and shape...It was, with its contents, a tasteful and costly object, such as a woman would delight in possessing (Broadus, Commentary on Matthew, 519)
While the container was consequential, its imported contents were equally prized. Craig S. Keener (b. 1960) notes that though anointing a dinner guest was not uncommon, the woman’s extravagance was.
Hosts of banquets customarily provided oil to anoint the heads of guests of notable social status ...but the outpouring of love here is more costly than the mere use of oil in customary acts of hospitality...They would seal the ointment to prevent evaporation, requiring the long neck of the jar to be broken and the ointment to be expended at once...Archaeologists have uncovered such long-necked flasks in first-century tombs near Jerusalem, suggesting the frequent once-for-all expenditure of this expensive perfume at the death of loved ones ...Nard was a costly ointment imported from India...or elsewhere in the east...and its expense might suggest an heirloom passed from one generation to the next. (Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, 618)
Because of its monetary value, in three of the gospels, the woman faces criticism for the way she chose to allocate her resources (Matthew 26:8-9; Mark 14:4-5; John 12:4). It is posed that the perfume could have been better used by liquidating her liquid asset and dispersing the funds. In each account the woman’s action is personally affirmed by Jesus himself (Matthew 26:10-13; Mark 14:6-9; John 12:7-8). In Matthew and Mark, as many verses are devoted to Jesus’ praise of the woman as are spent on describing the action itself.

Why was anointing Jesus a better choice than taking the cash value of the alabaster jar and dispersing it amongst the poor? Why does the woman do as she does?

For the woman, the alabaster jar was likely a treasured possession and possibly an heirloom. Many have speculated that the woman was saving it for a very special occasion.

Jackie Kendall (b.1950) conjectures:

In the days of Jesus, when a young woman reached the age of availability for marriage, her family would purchase an alabaster box for her and fill it with precious ointment. The size of the box and the value of the ointment would parallel her family’s wealth. This alabaster box would be part of her dowry. When the young man came to ask for her in marriage, she would respond by taking the alabaster box and breaking it at his feet. The gesture of anointing his feet showed him honor. (Kendall, Say Goodbye to Shame: And 77 Other Stories of Hope and Encouragement, 156)
While Kendall’s writing is speculative, what is not supposition is the woman’s sacrifice. In Mark’s version of the anointing, the woman needed to shatter the jar like a piggy bank to use its contents (Mark 14:3). When the moment was over, she had nothing left of her treasure. The high cost of the woman’s sacrifice is set in stark contrast to the relatively cheap payment Jesus’ betrayer received for his complicity in the gospel’s next story (Matthew 26:15, 27:3, 9).

Does it matter how the woman acquired the perfume? What are you saving for just the proper occasion? What is the greatest sacrifice you have made for anyone? For God?

“You can sacrifice and not love. But you cannot love and not sacrifice.” - Kris Vallotton (b. 1955)

13 comments:

  1. The abstract painting in this post, “Alabaster Jar”, was inspired by the anointing of Jesus in Luke 7. The artist is Maria Elizabeth Chapman.

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  3. Is there any way that the woman in the three gospels could be the same woman? Could sister of Laz be the same person as Mary Magdelena? Sorry for this question, it just seems the same story with differing focal points... but if this is so, why are the two women differently identified! One of my favorite stories. Great blog.

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    1. Based on my research into the Bible and the time lines i formed of each story, Jesus was anointed three times by three different women in two different geographical locations. Matthew (26:7) and Mark (14:3) state that Jesus was in BETHANY at the house of Simon the Leper when a Woman came in with an Alabaster flask and poured the oil (Matthew) of Spikenard (Mark) on his HEAD. Then some rebuked her and Jesus said they will always have the poor but he won't be with them forever. THEN Judas went to the Chief priests to plan the betrayal. All this happened after the Triumphal Entry and soon before the Passover
      Luke's gospel (7:38) speaks of a completely different time and place. In NAIN, at the house of Simon a Pharisee, a Sinful Woman came in and wept at His FEET, wiped the tears with her hair, kissed his FEET and then anointed them with a fragrant oil. Then Simon the Pharisee thought to himself that Jesus, if he were a prophet would know this woman was a sinner and as a consequence, not allow her to touch him (this is important. Simon the leper and Simon the pharisee could not have been the same person. Pharisees would not be touched by sinners, much less lepers who were confined to the outskirts of towns and had restricted contact with others). Jesus then contrasts the woman's behaviour to Simon's. this happened before the Triumphal Entry and Long before the Passover
      Finally, the Gospel of John talks about a supper made with Lazarus and his sister Martha served in BETHANY (same location at the supper with Simon the Leper) when Mary took a pound of Spikenard and anointed the FEET of Jesus and wiped them with her hair. She did not cry. Judas says the oil could have been sold for the poor but does not go ou to meet anyone. Jesus makes a statement again about His presence and that of the Poor. All this happened before the Triumphal Entry but i could not find where this gospel speaks of Passover but this is presumably before the Passover as the Passover occurred after the Triumphal entry.
      It was customary to anoint guests of honorable or notable status so I guess this gesture was not uncommon. I assume that Nard was one of the well known Costly fragrances used to anoint guests at this time as those present knew it by the fragrance without even asking; they ever knew how much it could sell for! Even today, it's sold in little glass bottles and has a distinct pleasant fragrance

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    2. Read John 11 KJV 1st and 2nd verse. It was Mary of Bethany that annointed Jesus and wiped his feet with her tears. The ASV confirms the same scripture. Which is the most accurate biblical scripture reference available to us. This was revelation of God. I was so thrilled when this was unveiled to me. For years Mary Magdalene was preached to have been the sinner. The Loose, Harlot, Protitute, all those things.I heard this my whole life until the Lord revealed this to me that what Mary Magdalene was perceived as was not who she really was. She was healed of 7 demons. We could just stop right there. She was healed. But it says that Immediately she ministered unto Jesus of her substance. She wasn't Mary the Protitute at all. She was Ministering Mary. Giving Mary. Providing Mary. The Moral is we are not who man says we are but who and what the Word Of God Says about us.

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    3. Mary Magdalene was Mary of Magdala she was called by her city she was born or the the place where she lived.

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  4. I love the Vallotton quote, but I think that lavishing blessing, praise, and wealth on God is more than sacrifice. Ministry to God is (according to Vallotton's mentor, Bill Johnson) our primary ministry. I think the key to Jesus' Kingdom Mindedness is best explained here: http://12stone.com/series/blessed-life/

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  5. How costly Alabaster ointment in dollars?

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    1. the price of the alabaster ointment is equal to 1 year salary

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  6. Wow. Thanks for posting this, im just so glad to find this posting about the alabaster jar in historical context. It really helped, and glad you are using your talents for research for this. all glory to God!

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  7. Thanks so much. I just found what I've been looking for. God bless the source.

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  8. I have one doubt whether (Mathew, Mark, John) this three women's are same one person or different persons?

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