John 11:2

2 (Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was to anoint the Lord with perfume and wipe His feet ^[a] with her hair.)

John 11:2 Meaning and Commentary

John 11:2

It was [that] Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment,
&c.] Not the woman in ( Luke 7:37 ) , as some have thought, whose name is not mentioned, and which history is not related by John at all: but Mary in ( John 12:3 ) , who is both mentioned by name, and along with Lazarus her brother, and with whom all the circumstances of the affair suit; and though the fact was not yet done, yet John writing many years after it was done, and when it was well known, proleptically, and in a parenthesis, takes notice of it here:

and wiped his feet with her hair;
instead of a napkin, after she had anointed them with oil; (See Gill on Luke 7:37), (See Gill on John 12:3).

Whose brother Lazarus was sick;
this is observed, to show how well they were all acquainted with Christ, and affected to him.

John 11:2 In-Context

1 At this time a man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

2 (Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was to anoint the Lord with perfume and wipe His feet with her hair.)

3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.”

4 When Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally was the one having anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and having wiped His feet; see John 12:3.