Luke 7:37

And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
behold	ἰδοὺ idou	G2400	used as imperative lo! · interjection
woman	γυνὴ gunē	G1135	a woman · noun — nominative singular feminine
in	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
city	πόλει polei	G4172	a town (properly · noun — dative singular feminine
which	ἥτις hētis	G3748	which some · relative pronoun — nominative singular feminine
was	ἦν ēn	G2258	I (thou
sinner	ἁμαρτωλός. hamartōlos	G268	sinful · adjective — nominative singular feminine
knew	ἐπιγνοῦσα epignousa	G1921	to know upon some mark · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative singular feminine
that	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
meat	ἀνακεῖμαι anakeîmai	G345	to recline (as a corpse or at a meal)
in	ἐν en	G1722	"in · preposition
Pharisee’s	Φαρισαίου, Pharisaiou	G5330	a separatist · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
house	οἰκίᾳ oikia	G3614	properly · noun — dative singular feminine
brought	κομίσασα komisasa	G2865	properly · verb — aorist active participle, nominative singular feminine
box	ἀλάβαστρον alabastron	G211	properly · noun — accusative singular neuter
ointment	μύρου murou	G3464	"myrrh" · noun — genitive singular neuter

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Mark 14:3-9 And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard…
Matthew 26:6-13 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
Matthew 21:31 Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publi…
Luke 5:30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?
Luke 7:37-39 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box…
Luke 5:32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful t…
John 12:1-8 Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 7:36–end

When and where this passage of story happened does not appear; this evangelist does not observe order of time in his narrative so much as the other evangelists do; but it comes in here, upon occasion of Christ's being reproached as a friend to publicans and sinners, to show that it was only for their good, and to bring them to repentance, that he conversed with them; and that those whom he admitted hear him were reformed, or in a hopeful way to be so. Who this woman was that here testified so great an affection to Christ does not appear; it is commonly said to be Mary Magdalene, but I find no ground in scripture for it: she is described (Luk 8:2 and Mar 16:9) to be one out of whom Christ had…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 7:37

CHRIST'S FEET WASHED WITH TEARS. (Luk 7:36-50) a sinner--one who had led a profligate life. Note.--There is no ground whatever for the popular notion that this woman was Mary Magdalene, nor do we know what her name was. (See on Luk 8:2.) an alabaster box of ointment--a perfume vessel, in some cases very costly (Joh 12:5). "The ointment has here a peculiar interest, as the offering by a penitent of what had been an accessory in her unhallowed work of sin" [ALFORD].

Adam Clarke on Luke 7:37

A woman - which was a sinner - Many suppose that this woman had been a notorious public prostitute; but this is taking the subject by the very worst handle. My own opinion is, that she had been a mere heathen who dwelt in this city, (probably Capernaum), who, through the ministry of Christ, had been before this converted to God, and came now to give this public testimony of her gratitude to her gracious deliverer from the darkness and guilt of sin. I am inclined to think that the original word, ἁμαρτωλος, is used for heathen or Gentile in several places of the sacred writings. I am fully persuaded that this is its meaning in Mat 9:10, Mat 9:11, Mat 9:13; Mat 11:19; and Mat 26:45. The Son of…

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John Gill

The Church Fathers

Alabaster is a kind of white marble tinged with various colours, which is generally used for vessels holding ointment, because it is said to be the best sort for preserving the ointment sweet.
— Bede ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

A woman of corrupt life, but testifying her faithful affection, comes to Christ, as having power to release her from every fault, and to grant her pardon for the crimes she had committed. For it follows, And behold a woman in the city, which was a sinner, brought an alabaster box of ointment.
— Cyril of Alexandria ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

(Hom. 6. in Matt.) Thus the harlot became then more honourable than the virgins. For no sooner was she inflamed with penitence, than she burst forth in love for Christ. And these things indeed which have been spoken of were done outwardly, but those which her mind pondered within itself, were much more fervent. God alone beheld them.
— John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Alabaster — Occurs only in the New Testament in connection with the box of “ointment of spikenard very precious,” with the contents of which a woman anointed the head of Jesus as he sat at supper in the house of…
Eating — The ancient Hebrews would not eat with the Egyptians (Gen. 43:32). In the time of our Lord they would not eat with Samaritans (John 4:9), and were astonished that he ate with publicans and sinners…
Magdalene — A surname derived from Magdala, the place of her nativity, given to one of the Marys of the Gospels to distinguish her from the other Marys (Matt. 27:56, 61; 28:1, etc.). A mistaken notion has…
Mary Magdalene — Different explanations have been given of this name; but the most natural is that she came from the town of Magdala. She appears before us for the first time in (Luke 8:2) among the women who…
Meals — Are at the present day “eaten from a round table little higher than a stool, guests sitting cross-legged on mats or small carpets in a circle, and dipping their fingers into one large dish heaped…
Simon — The abbreviated form of Simeon. (1.) One of the twelve apostles, called the Canaanite (Matt. 10:4; Mark 3:18). This word “Canaanite” does not mean a native of Canaan, but is derived from the Syriac…
Alabaster · Vessels ma — Vessels ma
Anointing · Of Jesus, as a token of love — Of Jesus, as a token of love
Beds · Used for: Reclining on at meals — Used for: Reclining on at meals
Box · Ma — Ma
Eating · Reclining on couches — Reclining on couches
Entertainments

Luke 7:37

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 7:36–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 7:37

Adam Clarke on Luke 7:37

John Gill

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Luke 7:37

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Luke 7:36–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Luke 7:37

Adam Clarke on Luke 7:37

John Gill

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Luke 7:36–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Luke 7:37