*Judas Iscariot* (Gr. Judas Iscariot, _son of Simon_: see notes on vi. 72) spoke out, asking why this ointment was not sold at 300 pence, and the price given to the poor? We discussed above on vi. 7, the value of the Roman silver penny at this time current in Palestine, from which it appears that this box of ointment was thought to be worth nearly £10 of our money. 6. Dixit autem hoc, non quia 6. Now he said this, not de egenis pertinebat ad eum, because he cared for the poor; sed quia fur erat, et loculos but because he was a thief, habens, ea quae mittebantur and having the purse, carried portabat. the things that were put therein. 6. St. John here declares the motive of Judas. It was not love for the poor, as he pretended, but because, being purse‐bearer, for our Lord and the disciples, he was always anxious to receive money, that he might have an opportunity of filching some of it for himself. Whether with our Rhemish Version we give ἐβάσταζεν the meaning of “carried,” or, as others prefer, “made away with,” at all events, it is plain from the verse, in which Judas is declared a thief, that he sometimes appropriated to his own uses money from the common purse. In his case, too, the saying was true: “Nemo repente fit turpissimus.” 7. Dixit ergo Iesus: Sinite 7. Jesus therefore said: Let illam ut in diem sepulturae her alone, that she may keep meae servet illud. it against the day of my burial. 7. There is a difference of reading in this verse. Many ancient authorities read: *She has kept it* (τετήρηκεν) *against the day of my burial*; and the meaning of this reading is plain. The more probable(80) Greek reading, however, is: “_That she might keep it_ (ἱνα ... τηρήσῃ) _against the day of My burial_.” In this reading we take our Lord’s reply to mean: Let her alone: it was not sold (Judas had asked: Why was it not sold?) in order that she might keep it against the day of My burial. Thus we would read “servaret” instead of “servet” in the Vulgate; and we take “ut” to depend not on “sinite,” but on some words such as “non veniit” (it was not sold) understood. St. John’s report of Christ’s words agrees substantially with that of St. Mark, who represents our Lord as saying: “She is come beforehand to anoint My body for the burial” (Mark xiv. 8); and both accounts, as well as that of St. Matt. (xxvi. 12), “She hath done it for My burial,” signify that our Lord’s death was so close at hand that this unction might be regarded as a preparation for His burial; and hence Mary was not to be blamed, inasmuch as such honours were usually paid to bodies before burial.