Bible Studies

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She Anointed His Feet
By David Wiseman
“And truly say I to you, that wherever My gospel is preached, in all the world also will be told the thing which she did as a memorial to her.” Matt. 26:13
What was so important that Y’shua would actually say that everywhere His gospel is told, this story would be told? It is a simple story, really. A woman, a sinner, anointed Him with precious oil. He said it was for His burial.
First, the account in Matthew, “And When Y’shua was in Bethany, in the house of Shimon the potter,” (Matt. 26:6) wait! The Authorized Version reads, “Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,” not “Shimon the potter.” According to the Law of Moses, a leper is not allowed to stay in the city. According to Luke 7:39, Shimon was not only observant of the Law, but he was a Pharisee. How, then, could he still be in the city? In the Aramaic text of Matthew, the Aramaic being closer to the original than the Greek, the word used can mean either leper, or leprosy, or skin, or pottery, or a vessel. Of course a potter would be allowed to be in the camp.
“A woman approached Him, who had with her an alabaster vase of ointment which was a perfume, very precious, and she poured it upon the head of Y’shua while He was reclining.” (Matt. 26:7) “And while He was in Bethany in the house of Shimon the potter, while reclining, a woman came who had with her an alabaster vase of perfume of nard, the best, very expensive, and she opened it and poured it upon the head of Y’shua.” (Mark 14:3) “And a sinful woman there was in the city, and when she learned that, in the house of the Pharisee, He was reclining, she took an alabaster vase of ointment and stood behind Him at His feet, and crying she began, with her tears, washing His feet and with the hair of her head wiping them. And she was kissing His feet and anointing them with ointment.” (Luke 7:37-38) “And Miriam took an alabaster vase of perfume of nard, the choicest, very expensive, and anointed the feet of Y’shua, and wiped with her hair His feet, and the house was filled by the fragrance of the perfume.” (Jn. 12:3)
Yes, these are all the same story. In Aramaic, these are the only four times the word “Alabaster box” appears. The word for ointment is also the same in all of them, and there are many other parallels. First, the word for ointment, in the Peshitta Aramaic text, is from the word Mashcha. The Hebrew equivalent of this word is Mashiach, which is transliterated into English as Messiah. It means, “Anointed one.” The word “anoint” also comes from Mashcha. In Scripture anointing takes place for a specific purpose. That isn’t always a good purpose. Anointing can be for something bad, just as much as for something good. It is simply a setting aside. Y’shua says what she was anointing Him for in Matt. 26:12, “but that one who poured this perfume upon my body, as though for my burial she did it.”
When He was baptized in the Jordan River with John, the Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove, as a symbol of anointing with the Holy Spirit. This was His anointing for ministry, and here we see His anointing for death. How could it be more appropriate than that He be anointed for death than by a “sinful woman” as Mark says? An adulterous woman anointed him for His death, a harlot, it implies.
Just as He was washed before His first anointing, so He was washed now, with the tears of the adulterous woman.
In Aramaic, the word for perfume is related to the Hebrew word basam. Basam means a perfume, or sweet smelling, or aromatic. The word appears three times in Exodus 30:23. “Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,”
“Spices,” “sweet” and again, “sweet” are all from basam. YHWH told Moses to take three principle spices. If this word is applied to each of these spices, then is it possible that this perfume represents that which was used in the Tabernacle, and later the Temple. It could not be that oil exactly, because making it, except for Tabernacle or Temple use, was forbidden. What is important about this? This is the oil that was used to anoint the priests. If Y’shua is the High Priest, then He must have been anointed with this oil. This also explains why there is the difference between where He was anointed. “Then shalt thou kill the ram, and take of his blood, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron, and upon the tip of the right ear of his sons, and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about,” Ex. 29:20. This is also how they were anointed with oil. Then, if she was anointing Him as a priest, she must have anointed His right ear, His right thumb, and His right big toe.
But it says she “poured” it on His head, which is specifically forbidden in Ex. 29. The Aramaic word can mean anything from pouring out liberally, to the way the blood of the sacrifice was poured out, which is precious. Then it is probably this latter meaning, as of the blood of the sacrifice, not to pour out as if it were worthless. If it is poured out as the blood of the sacrifice, then we also see how this is like the blood used for anointing in Ex. 29.
“And His disciples saw, and it displeased them, and they said, ‘Why waste this? For it was able that this be sold for much money and it be given to the poor.’ But Y’shua knew and said this to them, ‘Why are you troubling her? The woman a good deed has done for me. For always the poor are with you. But Me, you will not always have.’” (Matt. 26:9-11) “There were some of the disciples who were offended among themselves and they said, ‘Why was the waste of this perfume? It was able to be sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money to be given to the poor.’ And they were angry with Him. But Y’shua said, ‘Leave her alone. Why are you troubling her? A good deed she has done for Me. For always the poor are with you, and whenever you desire you are able to do for them what is good. But I am not always among you.” (Mark 14:4-7) “And said Yehuda Skaryota, one of His disciples, he who was about to betray Him, ‘why was not this oil sold for three hundred denarii and be given to the poor?’ But this he said not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and the bag was with him, and whatever would fall into it, he would carry. But said Y’shua, ‘Leave her alone. For the day of my burial she has kept it. For always the poor you do have with you, but Me, you do not always have.’” (Jn. 12:4-8)
In 2 Corinthians 8:9 Sha’ul, who is called Paul, says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.”
So Y’shua took the anointing of the poor, that they might become rich. With perfect irony, the disciples say that the oil should have been sold, and the money given to the poor. But no. Y’shua took the anointing of the poor, and became poor, dying for the poor, so that they could become rich. What could be more beautiful? As it says in Matt. 5:3, “Blessed are they who are poor in spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”
What seemed like riches were rags. In Is. 64:6 it says, “For we are all become as one who is unclean, and all our righteousness are as a polluted garment: and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”
“And when that Pharisee saw, who had invited Him, he reasoned within himself and said, ‘This man, if he was a prophet, he would realize who she is, and what her reputation is, that a sinner is she, the woman who touched him.’ And answered Y’shua, and said to him, ‘Shimon, I have something to say to you.’ And he said to Him, ‘Speak, Rabbi.’ And Y’shua said to him, ‘There were two debtors to a certain creditor. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty denarii. And because they had no way to repay, both of them he forgave. Which, therefore, of them will love him more?’ Answered Shimon and said, ‘I suppose he who was forgiven the most.’ Said Y’shua to him, ‘Correctly have you judged.’ And He turned to that woman and said to Shimon, ‘Do you see this woman? Into your house I entered, water for my feet you did not supply, but this woman with her tears my feet has washed, and with her hair she dried them. You did not kiss me, but this woman, behold, from the moment when I entered, she has not ceased my feet to kiss. You with oil did not anoint my head, but this woman, with oil of incense, my feet has anointed. For this, say I to you, are forgiven her many sins, for she has loved much. But he that little is forgiven, loves little.’” (Luke 7:39-47)
Shimon said that if Y’shua knew who this woman was, He would not even let her touch Him. That is because she was unclean because of her lifestyle. What the Pharisee didn’t realize was what Is. 64:6 says, “For we are all become as one who is unclean”. Yes, because of her sin the woman was unclean, but so was Shimon. But, Y’shua was the sin sacrifice. In Leviticus 6:27 says of the sin offering, “Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place.”
So the moment she touched Him, she was clean. But Shimon was still unclean, because he did not kiss Y’shua when He came in!
Why didn’t Shimon give water to wash Y’shua’s feet with? Why didn’t he anoint Y’shua’s head? Why did he not give Him the traditional greeting of a kiss? No one can say, except that he did not so that the sinful woman would be allowed to wash Y’shua’s feet with her tears, and to anoint Him with her anointing to death. He took the anointing of sinners, and of the poor, so the sinful and the poor could become clean and rich. Amen!
Sources: Paul Younan’s Aramaic/English interlinear, Paul Younan’s Aramaic Lexicon, the Hebrew Names Version Bible, The King James Version Bible.

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