New Testament · Gospel

John 12:3

The Hour Has Come

Then Mary took about a pint of expensive perfume, made of pure nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. John 12:3 · Berean Standard Bible
What It Means

John 12:3, in plain English

Mary takes about a pint of pure, expensive nard perfume, pours it on Jesus' feet, and wipes them with her hair. The whole house fills with the fragrance.

Why it's here

This perfume was worth a year's wages. Mary doesn't hold anything back. She pours out everything she has in an act of pure love and worship.

Who's speaking

The narrator describes Mary's extravagant act of devotion to Jesus.

Where it sits in the story

The fragrance fills every room. Mary has done something the world would call wasteful and Jesus calls beautiful. This is what love looks like when it stops calculating and starts giving.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

Mary anoints Jesus' feet with a 'litra' (Roman pound, approximately 12 ounces) of 'nardou pistikēs' (pure nard)—an extravagantly expensive aromatic imported from the Himalayas—and wipes His feet with her hair.

Language and setting

Pure nard (spikenard) was among the most expensive perfumes in the ancient world. The quantity—a full Roman pound—and the intimate act of wiping with unbound hair represent extraordinary devotion bordering on scandal in ancient Near Eastern culture.

Voice

The narrator describes Mary's lavish, intimate act of anointing Jesus' feet with costly perfume.

Significance

Mary performs an act of worship so extravagant it fills the entire house with fragrance: a year's wages poured on Jesus' feet, wiped with her hair—an act of abandon that Jesus will interpret as preparation for His burial.

In context

John 12:1–5

1Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, the hometown of Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.

2So they hosted a dinner for Jesus there. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with Him.

3Then Mary took about a pint of expensive perfume, made of pure nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

4But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was going to betray Him, asked,

5“Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?”

Read all of John 12 — Mary anoints Jesus' feet with costly perfume, the crowds wave palm branches, and Jesus announces that his hour has finally arrived.

Understand every verse, not just this one

This page covers one. BibleKey does all 31,102 — tap any verse for its meaning, any word for its Hebrew or Greek root, and keep reading without leaving the chapter.

Get BibleKey

Understand every verse.

Not just the famous ones. BibleKey is free on iPhone and iPad.

Download on the App Store

Free on iPhone & iPad