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 Luke 8:2); 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 John 12:5. If the ointment, as Alford suggests, had been an accessory to her unhallowed work of sin, the offering of it as here described has a tender interest; but there is no certainty of that.