Matthew 26:13
Told in memory of her
- The gospel’s word εὐαγγέλιον euangelion · gospel
Original
Translations
Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.
Truly I say to you, wherever this good news may be proclaimed in the whole world, what this [one] did will also be spoken of—for a memorial of her.”
내가 진실로 너희에게 이르노니 온 천하에 어디서든지 이 복음이 전파되는 곳에는 이 여자의 행한 일도 말하여 저를 기념하리라 하시니라
진실로 내가 너희에게 이르노니, 온 세상 어디든지 이 복음이 선포되는 곳에서는 사람들이 이 일 곧 이 여자가 행한 일도 말하여 그녀를 기념하리라, 하시니라.
Commentaries
Matthew Henry on Matt 26:6-13 as a whole
The pouring ointment upon the head of Christ was a token of the highest respect. Where there is true love in the heart to Jesus Christ, nothing will be thought too good to bestow upon him. …
Read the whole commentary →Church Fathers Matt 26:13
Rabanus: That is, To whatsoever place throughout the whole world the Church shall be propagated, there this also that she hath done shall be told. That also that is added signifies, that as Judas by his reproof of her has earned evil character of treachery, so has she also…
Read the whole commentary →Wesley Matt 26:13
This Gospel - That is, this part of the Gospel history.
Read the whole commentary →
Note
A few days before His death, Jesus speaks of the gospel going into all the world, and He does it while defending a woman who has just poured perfume on His head. Wherever the gospel goes, He says, her deed will go with it.
Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.
Matthew 26:13Jesus has said, "the Passover is two days away, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified" (Matthew 26:2), and the chief priests are plotting His death. At Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, a woman comes and pours very costly perfume on His head. The disciples are indignant: "Why this waste?" (Matthew 26:8). Jesus answers that she has done a beautiful deed, and gives its meaning: "By pouring this perfume on Me, she has prepared My body for burial" (Matthew 26:12). This verse closes His answer, and at once Judas goes to the chief priests and agrees to hand Him over for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14–15). Devotion and betrayal stand side by side. Matthew and Mark leave her unnamed. John tells of an anointing at Bethany and names the woman Mary (John 12:3); many interpreters take it to be the same event.
The noun is the subject of an aorist passive subjunctive, kēruchthē, in a clause that sets no limit: "wherever" (hopou ean) it is preached, in the whole world (kosmos). And when Jesus says "this gospel," it cannot be separated from what He has just said about His burial. Her perfume points to His grave, so the gospel He speaks of already has a death at its centre. "In memory of her" renders eis , "for a memorial," the word used when Cornelius is told that his prayers and alms "have ascended as a memorial offering before God" (Acts 10:4). What she did is remembered among people, and before God.
The KJV is close to the Greek order: "there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her." The LSV likewise keeps "for a memorial of her" and calls the gospel "this good news." The BSB says the same thing in plainer English: her deed "will also be told in memory of her." All three keep the passive: the verse does not name who will tell it, only that it will be told wherever the gospel goes.
In the Catena, Chrysostom asks his hearers to look at the saying fulfilled: "How many victories of kings and captains have passed into oblivion" Chrysostom, while the deed of a woman in a leper's house, done before twelve men, is spoken of everywhere. Jerome marks the foreknowledge in the words: about to die within two days, Jesus knows that His gospel will be preached throughout the world. Wesley glosses "this gospel" as "this part of the Gospel history" Wesley: read so, the gospel here is also the story of what was done. Matthew Henry adds a short sentence: "This prophecy is fulfilled" Matthew Henry.
Reading this verse is itself one of the places where the promise is kept. The gospel tells what Christ did, and it carries with it, without losing one, the love that was shown Him.