Charles Ellicott Commentary Mark 14:3

"And while he was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster cruse of ointment of pure nard very costly; [and] she brake the cruse, and poured it over his head." — Mark 14:3 (ASV)

And being in Bethany.—See Notes on Matthew 26:6-13.

Ointment of spikenard.—The Greek word translated this way is, as the various renderings in the margin show, of uncertain meaning. It is used by Saint John (John 12:3) in his account of the same events.

She brake the box.—As in the “breaking through” the roof in Mark 2:4, this vivid detail that brings the manner of the act distinctly before our eyes is found in Saint Mark only. The Greek word implies not so much the breaking of the neck of the costly jar or flask, but rather crushing it entirely with both her hands.