Mark 14:3

Mark 14:3. While he was in Bethany. Indefinite as in Matthew's account.

Ointment. John: ‘a pound,' etc.

Spikenard, or ‘nard pistic.' ‘Nard' means an oriental gum, but the Greek word ‘pistic' is akin to the word meaning ‘faithful,' and probably refers to the purity of the precious gum. But others understand it as meaning ‘drinkable,' i.e., liquid; some think that the adjective refers to the place from which it came.

Very costly. See Mark 14:5; comp. John 12:5.

She brake the box. Crushing the neck of the cruse with the hand. See notes on Matthew. Mark alone gives this detail.