You did not anoint My head with oil, but she has anointed My feet with perfume.
Parallel translations
- WEB You didn’t anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
- KJV My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
- NKJV You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil.
- NASB You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.
- NLT You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Simon did not anoint Jesus' head with oil, but the woman anointed His feet with ointment. Her costly devotion shames the host's omission.
Overview
Anointing the head with oil was a gesture of honor that Simon neglected, yet the woman poured costly ointment on Jesus' feet. Her humility and lavish love stand in sharp relief against Simon's indifference. The threefold contrast prepares Jesus' verdict that her many sins, being forgiven, have produced great love.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 23:5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
- Eccl 9:8Let your garments always be white, and never spare the oil for your head.
- Matt 6:17But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
- 2 Sam 14:2So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.
- Ruth 3:3Therefore wash yourself, put on perfume, and wear your best clothes. Go down to the threshing floor, but do not let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.
- Ps 104:15wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil that makes his face to shine, and bread that sustains his heart.
- Dan 10:3I ate no rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I did not anoint myself with oil until the three weeks were completed.
- Amos 6:6You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
- Mic 6:15You will sow but not reap; you will press olives but not anoint yourselves with oil; you will tread grapes but not drink the wine.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 7:46 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.