John 12:1

1 Six days before Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead, was living.

John 12:1 Meaning and Commentary

John 12:1

Then Jesus, six days before the passover
Or "before the six days of the passover"; not as designing the days of that feast, for they were seven; but as reckoning so many days back from it, that is, before the sixth day from the ensuing passover: if there were six complete days between this and the passover, as this way of speaking seems to imply; then this must be the day before the Jewish sabbath, and this is more likely, than that Christ should travel on the sabbath day: but if this was the sixth day before it, it was their sabbath day, and so at the going out of it in the evening, a supper was made for him, which with the Jews on that night, was a plentiful one; for they remembered the sabbath in its going out, as well as in its coming in ^F5, and this was to prevent grief at the going out of it: so some days before the passover, the lamb was separated from the flock, and kept up till the fourteenth day, ( Exodus 12:3 Exodus 12:6 ) particularly it may be observed, that seven days before the day of atonement, the high priest was separated from his own house, and had to the chamber Palhedrin ^F6; and much such a space of time there was, between the day of the great atonement by Christ, and his unction by Mary; which is said to be against the day of his burial, which being the same day with his sufferings, was the great day of atonement: at this time Jesus

came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead;
the last clause is left out in the Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions:

whom he raised from the dead;
that is, "Jesus", as the Alexandrian copy, the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions express; and the Ethiopic version adds, "in Bethany". This was the town of Lazarus; here he lived, and here he died, and here he was raised from the dead; and here he continued and dwelt, after his resurrection; and hither Christ came to see him, and the rest of the family, though he knew he exposed himself to danger in so doing.

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 Maimon. Hilchot Sabbat. c. 29. sect. 1. 11, 12, 29.
F6 Misn. Yoma, c. 1. sect. 1.

John 12:1 In-Context

1 Six days before Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead, was living.

2 Lazarus and his sisters invited Jesus to dinner at their home. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those sitting at the table with them.

3 Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils, anointed and massaged Jesus' feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house.

4 Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, even then getting ready to betray him, said,

5 "Why wasn't this oil sold and the money given to the poor? It would have easily brought three hundred silver pieces."