Luke 7:37

And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, AND, BEHOLD, A WOMAN IN THE CITY (WHAT CITY IS NOT KNOWN: IT MAY HAVE BEEN CAPERNAUM), WHICH WAS A SINNER - who had led a profligate life. But there is no ground whatever for the prevalent notion that this woman was Mary Magdalene (see the note at ); nor do we know what her name was. It may have been concealed from motives of delicacy; but indeed the names of very few women are given in the Gospels. WHEN SHE KNEW THAT JESUS SAT AT MEAT IN THE PHARISEE'S HOUSE, BROUGHT AN ALABASTER BOX OF OINTMENT - a perfume-vessel, in some cases very costly, as we know from . If the ointment, as Alford suggests, had been an access...

37._A woman who was a sinner _The words stand literally as I have translated them,( ἥτις ἧν ἁμαζτωλὸς.) _Erasmus _has chosen to take the pluperfect tense, _who Had Been a sinner, _(241) lest any one should suppose that at that time she still _was a sinner _But by so doing, he departed from the natural meaning; for Luke intended to express the place which the woman held in society, and the opinion universally entertained respecting her. Though her sudden conversion had rendered her a different person in the sight of God from what she had previously been, yet among men the disgrace attaching to her former life had not yet been effaced. She was, therefore, in the general estimation of men _a sinner, _that is, a woman of wicked and infamous life; and this led _Simon _to conclude, though erroneously, that Christ had not the Spirit of discernment, since he

36-50 None can truly perceive how precious Christ is, and the glory of the gospel, except the broken-hearted. But while they feel they cannot enough express self-abhorrence on account of sin, and admiration of his mercy, the self-sufficient will be disgusted, because the gospel encourages such repenting sinners. The Pharisee, instead of rejoicing in the tokens of the woman's repentance, confined his thoughts to her former bad character. But without free forgiveness none of us can escape the wrath to come; this our gracious Saviour has purchased with his blood, that he may freely bestow it on every one that believes in him. Christ, by a parable, forced Simon to acknowledge that the greater sinner this woman had been, the greater love she ought to show to Him when her sins were pardoned. Learn here, that sin is a debt; and all are sinners, are debtors to Almighty God. Some sinners are gre...

Verse 37. _A WOMAN - WHICH WAS A SINNER_] Many suppose that this woman had been a _notorious public prostitute_; but this is taking the subject by the very _worst_ handle. My own opinion is, that she had been a _mere heathen_ who dwelt in this city, (probably Capernaum,) who, through the ministry of Christ, had been before this converted to God, and came now to give this public testimony of her gratitude to her gracious deliverer from the darkness and guilt of sin. I am inclined to think that the original word, αμαρτωλος, is used for _heathen_ or _Gentile_ in several places of the sacred writings. I am fully persuaded that this is its meaning in Matthew 9:10; Matthew 9:13; Matthew 11:19; a...

IN THE CITY - What city is meant is unknown. Some have supposed it was Nain; some Capernaum; some Magdala; and some Jerusalem. WHICH WAS A SINNER - Who was depraved or wicked. This woman, it seems, was known to be a sinner - perhaps an abandoned woman or a prostitute. It is certain that she had much to be forgiven, and she had probably passed her life in crime. There is no evidence that this was the woman commonly called Mary Magdalene. AN ALABASTER-BOX ... - See the notes at Mark 14:3....

EXPOSITION LUKE 7:1 The _servant _(_or slave_)_ of the centurion of Capernaum is healed._ LUKE 7:1 NOW WHEN HE HAD ENDED ALL HIS SAYINGS. This clearly refers to the sermon on the mount. That great discourse evidently occupied a position of its own in the public ministry of the Lord. Its great length, its definite announcement of the kind of reign he was inaugurating over the hearts of men, its stern rebuke of the dominant religious teaching of the day, its grave prophetic onlooks,—all marked it out as the great manifesto of the new Master, and as such it seems to have been generally received. HE ENTERED INTO CAPERNAUM. The residence of Jesus, as we have before pointed out, during the greater part of hi

AND BEHOLD, A WOMAN IN THE CITY,.... Not Mary Magdalene, spoken of in Luke 8:2 under another character; and is a different person, who had not been taken notice of by the evangelist before; nor Mary the sister of Lazarus, who is said to anoint the feet of Christ, and wipe them with her hair, John 12:3. The character given of this woman, does not seem so well to agree with her; at least, the fact here recorded, cannot be the same with that; for this was in Galilee, and that in Bethany; this in the house of Simon the Pharisee, that in the house of Lazarus; this was some time before Christ's death, and after this he went a circuit through every city and village, that was but six days before his death, and after which he never went from those parts; nor is this account the same with the history, recorded in...

Luke 7:18. _And the disciples of John shewed him of all these things._ John was in prison, and, possibly, troubled in spirit. Luke 7:19. _And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus saying, art thou he that should come? or look we for another?_ Did John doubt, then? Perhaps not. It may be that he saw that his disciples doubted, and that he wished their fears to be removed. It is possible, however, that he did himself have doubts. It is no unusual thing for the bravest hearts to be subject to fits of doubt. Elijah, you remember sat under a juniper tree in the wilderness, «and he requested for himself that he might die,» though he was the man who never was to die. And John, the Elijah of the Christian dispensation, though a man of iron, was but a man, so he se

SINNER That is, in the sense of unchaste....

CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The Centurion's Servant Healed. (Luke 7:1 .)_ 2. The Widow's Son Raised from the Dead. (Luke 7:11) 3. John's Questions and the Answer. (Luke 7:18) 4. The Testimony Concerning John. (Luke 7:24) 5. The Unreasonableness of Unbelief. (Luke 7:30 .) 6. The Woman With the Alabaster Box. (Luke 7:36) 7. The Parable of the Two Debtors. (Luke 7:41 .)...