Luke 7:37

A woman who [η τ ι ς]. Of that class which was, etc.

A sinner. Wyc., a sinneress. Her presence there is explained by the Oriental custom of strangers passing in and out of a house during a meal to see and converse with the guests. Trench cites a description of a dinner at a consul's house in Damietta. "Many came in and took their places on the side - seats, uninvited and yet unchallenged. They spoke to those at table on business or the news of the day, and our host spoke freely to them" (" Parables "). Bernard beautifully says : "Thanks to thee, most blessed sinner : thou hast shown the world a safe enough place for sinners - the feet of Jesus, which spurn none, reject none, repel none, and receive and admit all. Where alone the Pharisee vents not his haughtiness, there surely the Ethiopian changes his skin, and the leopard his spots" (cit. by Trench, " Parables ").

Sat [κ α τ α κ ε ι τ α ι]. Lit., is reclining at meat : a lively change to the present tense.

Alabaster. See on Matthew 26:7.