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John 12:1
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The Anointing at Bethany

1 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, awhere Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.  
2 aThere they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  
3 Then aMary took a pound of very costly oil of bspikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.  
4 But one of His disciples, aJudas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said,  
5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for1 three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”  
6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and ahad the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.  
7 But Jesus said, “Let her alone;1 she has kept this for the day of My burial.  
8 For athe poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always.”  

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, awhom He had raised from the dead.  
10 aBut the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also,  
Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
<< John 11:57   John 12:2 >>


John 12:1

Jesus therefore (Ihsouv oun). Here oun is not causal, but simply copulative and transitional, "and so" (Bernard), as often in John (John 1:22, etc.).

Six days before the passover (pro ec hmerwn tou pasxa). This idiom, transposition of pro, is like the Latin use of ante, but it occurs in the old Doric, in the inscriptions and the papyri. See Amos 1:1 for it also (cf. Moulton, Proleg., pp. 100ff.; Robertson, Grammar, pp. 621f.). If the crucifixion was on Friday, as seems certain from both John and the Synoptics, then six days before would be the Jewish Sabbath preceding or more probably the Friday afternoon before, since Jesus would most likely arrive before the Sabbath. Probably we are to put together in one scene for the atmosphere John 11:55-57; John 12:1, John 12:9-11.

Came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus raised from the dead (htlen eiv Bhqanian, opou hn Lazaros, on hgeiren ek nekrwn Ihsouv). Each phrase explains the preceding. There is no reason for thinking this a gloss as Bernard does. It was a place of danger now after that great miracle and the consequent rage of the Sanhedrin (John 12:9-11). The crowd of eager spectators to see both Lazarus and Jesus would only intensify this rage.




Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing John 12:1:

Matthew 26:6
Luke 9:51
Luke 10:38
John 5:1
John 11:2
John 11:5
John 11:18
John 12:1
John 12:2
John 12:2
John 12:9
John 12:17
2 Corinthians 12:2
Revelation 14:20

 

<< John 11:57   John 12:2 >>

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