NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible | Page 160
Matthew 26:15 | 1753
Glass vessels possibly used to store perfume or ointments, AD 66 – 74.
© Baker Publishing Group and Dr. James C. Martin, taken at the Masada Museum
26:6 k Mt 21:17
26:11 l Dt 15:11
26:12 m Jn 19:40
26:14 n ver 25, 47;
Mt 10:4
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
26:6-13pp — Mk 14:3-9
26:6-13Ref — Lk 7:37,38; Jn 12:1-8
6 While Jesus was in Bethany k in the home of Simon the Leper, 7 a woman came to him
with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was
reclining at the table.
8 When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This
perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”
10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done
a beautiful thing to me. 11 The poor you will always have with you, a l but you will not al
ways have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for
burial. m 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what
she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
26:14-16pp — Mk 14:10,11; Lk 22:3-6
14 Then one of the Twelve — the one called Judas Iscariot n — went to the chief priests
15 and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver him over to you?” So they counted
a 11 See Deut. 15:11.
26:1 – 5 More specifically than in his earlier
three passion predictions (see notes on
16:21 – 28; 17:22 – 23; 20:17 – 19), Jesus now
specifies the very day of his betrayal.
26:3 Caiaphas. Joseph Caiaphas was high
priest in Israel from AD 18 to 36. He would
have presided over the Sanhedrin (v. 59), the
highest Jewish court in the land. In 1990 a
first-century tomb with an ornate ossuary (a
limestone chest containing the bones of the
dead) with his name inscribed on it was dis-
covered near Jerusalem (see photo, p. 1919); it
quite possibly is the very box used to rebury
his bones (see note on 8:21).
26:4 – 5 arrest Jesus secretly . . . during the
festival. As it turns out, the best opportunity
to arrest Jesus comes during the festival of
Passover. Despite the crowds, the authorities
are able to arrest him somewhat secretly un-
der the cloak of night (vv. 47 – 56).
26:6 – 13 Jesus’ anointing at Bethany is sand-
wiched between the two parts of the plot to
arrest Jesus, showing that there is a connec-
tion between the two (see note on vv. 1 – 75).
John 12:1 – 8 gives the precise chronological
placement of this event; Matthew (following
Mark 14:3 – 9) places it here to create a the-
matic grouping of passages.
26:6 Bethany. See note on 21:17. Simon the
Leper. See Mark 14:3. Presumably he was now
healed, perhaps even by Jesus himself.
26:7 an alabaster jar of very expensive per-
fume. Recalls Luke 7:37, but virtually all of
the remaining details of that anointing, in-
cluding its setting, differ from this account.
It is most likely a separate event. reclining.
Refers to the posture of resting one elbow
on a cushion next to a low-slung ta ble,
stretching one’s legs out perpendicular to it,
and eating with the free hand. It was stan-
dard posture for formal banquets.
26:8 – 9 John 12:4 – 6 specifies that Judas
Iscariot was the primary objector and that
his motive was insincere because he was a
greedy thief.
26:11 – 12 Jesus alludes to Deut 15:11, which
goes on to remind the Israelites that they
may help the poor and needy at any time
(and are expected to do so). Jesus’ words
thus offer no excuse for neglecting the poor
but allow for the one-time expenditure of
the money often used to perfume a body for
burial in a way that allows Jesus to appreciate
the gesture before he dies.
26:13 Jesus prophesies that this event will be
regularly retold in the preaching of the gos-
pel. Its inclusion in the Gospels forms a large
part of the fulfillment of that prophecy.
26:14 – 16 The motive for Judas seeking to be-
tray his master (“hand him over,” v. 16) probably