Verse Lens · Concise explanation

Matthew 26:12 Explained in Context

Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.

Selected verse

Verse 12. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.

King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions

Quick Meaning

Interprets the ointment as advance preparation for burial.

Read It With

  • Matthew 26:6–26:13

Matthew 26:12 interprets the ointment as advance preparation for burial; within Matthew 26:6–26:13, it contributes to this controlling movement: At Simon the leper's house in Bethany a woman pours costly ointment on Jesus' head, disciples call it waste, Jesus defends the beautiful act as burial preparation, and promises her deed will be remembered.

Why This Verse Appears Here

Interprets the ointment as advance preparation for burial. This precise contribution belongs inside “A woman anoints Jesus for burial” because At Simon the leper's house in Bethany a woman pours costly ointment on Jesus' head, disciples call it waste, Jesus defends the beautiful act as burial preparation, and promises her deed will be remembered.

What Remains True

Because Matthew 26:12 interprets the ointment as advance preparation for burial, faithful readers should preserve this verse's exact role, first setting, affected people, and the complete movement of Matthew 26:6–26:13 before naming an enduring conclusion.

How It Can Shape Life

  • For Matthew 26:12, first state this verse-specific contribution—interprets the ointment as advance preparation for burial; then explain it inside Matthew 26:6–26:13; preserve the source-controlled uncertainty—The Synoptics narrate related anointings differently; Matthew leaves the woman unnamed and her act can be honored without turning care for the poor into a dismissed concern.; and refuse this misuse: This story does not silence financial accountability, pit worship against the poor, erase the woman's agency, or justify luxury in leaders' names.

Continue in Context

The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.

Read Matthew 26:6–26:13 — A woman anoints Jesus for burial
Sources used for this Verse Lens

How certain is this explanation? strong

These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and thought-unit coverage.

Exact location: Matthew 26:6–26:13, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus

Open source ↗

Greek textual evidence

The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition

Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos

Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010

Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control without treating one edition as a complete apparatus.

Exact location: SBLGNT official text file data/sblgnt/text/Matt.txt, Matthew 26:6–26:13

Open the Matthew Greek text file ↗

Lexical and grammatical evidence

STEP Bible Data

Tyndale House Cambridge

Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026

Supports: Morphology and lexical cross-check for the expressions actually discussed in this thought unit.

Exact location: STEP Bible Data TAGNT rows for Matthew 26:6–26:13

Open source ↗

open translation and translator notes

NET Bible: Matthew with Translators' and Textual Notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, 2005-2026 online edition

Supports: Verse-attached textual, translation, language, historical, Jewish-background, and Synoptic notes for this unit.

Exact location: NET Bible Matthew PDF, printed pp. 1808-1867, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to 26:6–26:13

Open source ↗
Open the complete thought-unit research record
Open a verse without taking it out of context.

Try Matthew 28:18-20, Gospel according to Matthew 28:18-20, or Gospel of Matthew 28:18-20.

Choose book, chapter, and verse