[AL-ATHRAM]

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

'In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful,

1) Anointing Jesus’s body with spikenard:-

Ø (Mark 14: 1 After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. 2- But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. 3- And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. 4- And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? 5- For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her).

Ø (Mathew) mentioned this incident in (26: 6-9) and also Luke (7: 36 – 39 “And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat…..“) and (John 12: 1-6).

The discrepancy between the Bibles:

Place of incident:

a) In the house of Simon the leper (Mark & Mathew).

b) In Pharisee’s house (Luke).

c) In the house of brothers Lazarus, Mary and Martha (John).

Who is the woman?

a) Unknown (Mark & Mathew).

b) Sinner woman (Luke).

c) Believing woman i.e. Mary the sister of Lazarus (John).

What did she do?

a) She anointed Jesus’s head with spikenard. (Mark & Mathew).

b) She anointed his legs with pure nard (Luke & John).

Reaction of onlookers:

a) They had indignation for wasting anointment (Mark).

b) The disciples were indignant (Mathew).

c) Pharisee wondered whether Jesus knows who and what sort of woman touching him, (Luke).

d) Judas Iscariot was indignant for wasting (John)


2) Preparing Last Supper:-

Ø Mark: 14 (12 And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 13 And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, 14 and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” 16 And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover. 17 And when it was evening, he came with the twelve.)

Ø Matthew : 26: (17 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?” 18 He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’” 19 And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.

Here we observe the following:-

There is difference between (Mathew) and (Mark) regarding the story of preparing for supper:

1) Mark: He sent two disciples to prepare the supper.


2) Matthew: He made all disciples prepare the supper.


3) The writer of the verse No. (Mark 14:17 when it was evening, he came with the twelve) knows nothing about the journey of the two disciples mentioned in the verse No. (14:13). Should he knows the content of such verse (14:17), he would surely have written (He came with the Ten), instead of (the twelve) i.e. verse (14:17) should be read as the following: (And when it was evening, he came with the ten).



Cont ….