John Gill Commentary John 12

Then Jesus, six days before the passover
Or "before the six days of the passover"; not as designing the days of that feast, for they were seven; but as reckoning so many days back from it, that is, before the sixth day from the ensuing passover: if there were six complete days between this and the passover, as this way of speaking seems to imply; then this must be the day before the Jewish sabbath, and this is more likely, than that Christ should travel on the sabbath day: but if this was the sixth day before it, it was their sabbath day, and so at the going out of it in the evening, a supper was made for him, which with the Jews on that night, was a plentiful one; for they remembered the sabbath in its going out, as well as in its coming in ^F5 , and this was to prevent grief at the going out of it.

So some days before the passover, the lamb was separated from the flock, and kept up till the fourteenth day, (Exodus 12:3Exodus 12:6) particularly it may be observed, that seven days before the day of atonement, the high priest was separated from his own house, and had to the chamber Palhedrin ^F6 ; and much such a space of time there was, between the day of the great atonement by Christ, and his unction by Mary; which is said to be against the day of his burial, which being the same day with his sufferings, was the great day of atonement: at this time Jesus

came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead ;
the last clause is left out in the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions:

whom he raised from the dead ;
that is, "Jesus", as the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions express; and the Ethiopic version adds, "in Bethany". This was the town of Lazarus; here he lived, and here he died, and here he was raised from the dead; and here he continued and dwelt, after his resurrection; and hither Christ came to see him, and the rest of the family, though he knew he exposed himself to danger in so doing.

FOOTNOTES:

• F5: Maimon. Hilchot Sabbat. c. 29. sect. 1. 11, 12, 29.
• F6: Misn. Yoma, c. 1. sect. 1.

There they made him a supper
At Bethany, in the house of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary; by whose order, and at whose charge it was prepared for him; and not in the house of Simon the leper, which was four days after this, (Matthew 26:2Matthew 26:6) .

And Martha served ;
who was always a busy, active, and stirring woman; and this she did, to testify her love to Christ, and great respect for him; otherwise, as she was a person of substance, she had servants enough to wait at table:

but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him ;
and ate, and drank, and conversed; by which it appeared, that he was really risen from the dead, and was in a good state of health.

Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard very costly ,
&c.] Worth three hundred pence, according to Judas's estimation of it. This Mary was the other sister of Lazarus; (See Gill on Matthew 26:7), (See Gill on Mark 14:3), concerning the nature and value of this ointment:

and anointed the feet of Jesus ;
as he lay upon the bed or couch, at supper:

and wiped his feet with her hair; (See Gill on Luke 7:38).

And the house was filled with the odour of the ointment ;
see (Song of Solomon 1:3Song of Solomon 1:12) ; ointment of spikenard was very odoriferous: this may be an emblem of the sweet savour of Christ, in the ministration of the Gospel, throughout the whole world.

Then says one of his disciples
Who had no true love for his master, was an hypocrite, and a covetous person:

Judas Iscariot ;
so called, to distinguish him from another Judas, an apostle; (See Gill on Matthew 10:4).

Simon's [son] ;
this is omitted in the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions; (See Gill on John 13:2);

which should betray him ;
and so he did; this was pre-determined by God, foretold in prophecy, and foreknown by Christ; and is observed here, to show the temper and character of the man.

Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence
Meaning Roman pence, one of which is, of the value of our money, seven pence halfpenny; so that three hundred pence amount to nine pounds seven shillings and six pence:

and given to the poor ?
this was his pretence, and with which he covered himself; his uneasiness was, because it was not sold, and the money put into his hands, as appears by what follows.