Biblical Criticism & History Forum - earlywritings.com

I am indebted to Phil Robinson for this suggestion.

Mark 14:3-9

3 While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. 4 But some were there who said to one another in anger, “Why was the ointment wasted in this way? 5 For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6 But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the good news is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

So Phil Robinson (in the facebook page of Richard Carrier):

I suggest the alabaster jar symbolizes the temple of Capitoline Jupiter, either in Rome, or in the second century, present on the Aelia Capitolina, where a temple of Jupiter Capitolina was built atop the former Jewish temple of Jehovah.

I would have a better interpretation.

The alabaster jar simbolizes the old temple of Jerusalem.

It was destroyed, too, with great dolor by the Jews (and surely by the followers of the Pillars of Jerusalem, allegorized by the 12 idiot disciples in Mark).

But Jesus says ''no problem''. The poor are the Judaizers, who entered en masse in the Pauline communities after the Fall of Jerusalem (the same reason that moved ''Mark'' to write his Gospel as reaction against their new second preaching between the gentiles, according to Tom Dykstra):

For you always have the poor with you

The mysterious woman prefigures the three women at Golgotha:

She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial.

The head of Jesus, caput in Latin (and Golgotha is the place of the Cranium), anointed by the oil of the alabaster jar, represents the new Temple replacing the old Temple.

The disciples are rebels against the cruel fate (that required the destruction of the old temple) and they are also rebels against the pauline emphasis on the crucifixion as the end of the privilege of only the poor (Pillars).

...and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish

Giuseppe wrote:So Phil Robinson (in the facebook page of Richard Carrier):

I suggest the alabaster jar symbolizes the temple of Capitoline Jupiter, either in Rome, or in the second century, present on the Aelia Capitolina, where a temple of Jupiter Capitolina was built atop the former Jewish temple of Jehovah.

I would have a better interpretation.

The alabaster jar simbolizes the old temple of Jerusalem.

What's the argument for this claim?

I often asked myself whether the alabaster jar could symbolize something, but I never thought it could be a temple.

The fact that the Alabaster was used often for temples more than for palaces.


It would be interesting to know what the 300 denarii may be allegory of:

The Veils before the Most Holy Place were 40 cubits (60 feet) long, and 20 (30 feet) wide, of the thickness of the palm of the hand, and wrought in 72 squares, which were joined together; and these Veils were so heavy, that, in the exaggerated language of the time, it needed 300 priests to manipulate each. If the Veil was at all such as is described in the Talmud, it could not have been rent in twain by a mere earthquake or the fall of the lintel, although its composition in squares fastened together might explain, how the rent might be as described in the Gospel.

(my bold) https://cbumgardner.wordpress.com/2010/ ... mple-veil/

The woman may be Roma...

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Okay. But what is the argument that the alabaster jar symbolizes something? There is nothing unusual with the [wiki][/wiki] Alabastron itself. It was the common ancient vessel for perfumes and oils.

Why couldn’t it symbolize our hardened hearts or the tomb or Jerusalem or ... And why not understand it as a saltstone to perfect the offering of the woman. Or as a good type of a broken vessel which contained the love symbolized in the perfume (against Pandora's box). Or ...

Was there an argument by Phil Robinson?

How'za 'bout a Transvalued Story from Alexander Jannaeus and the soon to be Queen Salome?

We will see what Phil Robinson will say.

I read this:

Now with all my ability I have provided for the house of my God the gold for the things of gold, and the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, onyx stones and inlaid stones, stones of antimony and stones of various colors, and all kinds of precious stones and alabaster in abundance

1 Chron. 29:2

The breaking of the jar and release of the precious ointment works well as a literary prefiguring of the death of Jesus himself and the precious significance or results of his death.

(If we want significance for the 300 figure -- a reasonable expectation given Mark's symbolism elsewhere -- then we may have it beside the contrasting 30 pieces of silver.)

Jesus's value is 300 denarii for the mysterious woman (Roma?).

Jesus's value is 30 pieces of silver for his traitor Judas.

Are these the same value?

I would like assume that the former price overcomes the latter price, so to make the point that for Judas the physical temple is more precious than the spiritual temple. Differently for the Romans (as opposed to Judeans).

Giuseppe wrote:Jesus's value is 300 denarii for the mysterious woman (Roma?).

Jesus's value is 30 pieces of silver for his traitor Judas.

Are these the same value?

I would like assume that the former price overcomes the latter price, so to make the point that for Judas the physical temple is more precious than the spiritual temple. Differently for the Romans (as opposed to Judeans).

Given the importance of gematria generally and parables and symbolism in Mark I would not be surprised if there is significance in the multiple of 3 -- but it also appears that the details of that significance are by now long lost to us.