3. Maria ergo accepit libram 3. Mary therefore took a pound unguenti nardi pistici, of ointment of right pretiosi, et unxit pedes Iesu, spikenard, of great price, and et extersit pedes eius anointed the feet of Jesus, capillis suis: et domus and wiped his feet with her impleta est ex odore unguenti. hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment. 3. When we bear in mind the prominence given to Lazarus, Martha, and Mary in the preceding chapter, and find two of the three mentioned in verse 2 here, it is certain that the Mary mentioned here, in verse 3, can be no other than she who was sister to Martha and Lazarus. *Mary therefore took a pound of ointment of right spikenard.* We learn from Matthew and Mark that the ointment was contained in an alabaster box. Alabaster is a species of stone resembling marble, and derives its name from Alabastron, a town in Egypt, near which it was found in large quantities. The term “alabaster box” came in time to be applied to any box for holding perfumes. *Spikenard*, or nard, is a famous aromatic substance obtained from an eastern plant of the same name. It is said in our Rhemish Version to be *right* spikenard. The Greek adjective thus translated is πιστικῆς, which may mean _genuine_, from πίστις; or _liquid_, from πίστος (πίνω, to drink); or, as St. Augustine says, the nard may have been so called from the place in which it was obtained. St. John tells us that Mary anointed the _feet_ of our Lord, who, according to the Jewish custom, would be reclining on His left side upon a couch, with His feet stretching out behind. The first two Evangelists mention only the unction of our Lord’s head, so that St. John supplements their account. The fact that the odour of the ointment filled the house, is mentioned as a proof of its excellence. Pliny (xiii. 3) refers to such unctions among the Romans: “Vidimus etiam vestigia pedum tingi.” 4. Dixit ergo unus ex 4. Then one of his disciples, discipulis eius, Iudas Judas Iscariot, he that was Iscariotes, qui erat eum about to betray him, said: traditurus: 5. Quare hoc unguentum non 5. Why was not this ointment veniit trecentis denariis, et sold for three hundred pence, datum est egenis? and given to the poor? 4, 5. From SS. Matt. and Mark, it would seem that at least two of the disciples must have murmured, for St. Matt. says: “And the disciples seeing it, had indignation;” and St. Mark: “Now there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said: Why was this waste of the ointment made?” We may admit, then, that some of the others joined Judas in murmuring, but probably from a different motive; or, we may hold, with some commentators, that the plural is used indefinitely for the singular.