Topical Encyclopedia
Definition and Description:Alabaster is a fine-grained, translucent form of gypsum or calcite, often white or delicately tinted, used in ancient times for carving and crafting various objects, including containers for precious ointments and perfumes. Its smooth texture and ability to be polished made it a favored material for artisans in the ancient Near East.
Biblical References:Alabaster is mentioned in the Bible in the context of anointing and the use of precious ointments. One of the most notable references is found in the New Testament, where it is associated with an act of devotion towards Jesus Christ.
Matthew 26:7 : "a woman came to Him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on His head as He was reclining at the table."
Mark 14:3 : "While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke open the jar and poured it on His head."
Luke 7:37-38 : "When a sinful woman from that town learned that Jesus was dining there, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears and wipe them with her hair. Then she kissed His feet and anointed them with the perfume."
John 12:3 : "Then Mary took about a pint of expensive perfume, made of pure nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume."
Cultural and Historical Context:In the ancient world, alabaster was highly valued for its beauty and utility. It was commonly used to make small jars and vases, particularly for storing perfumes and ointments. The alabaster jars mentioned in the Gospels were likely sealed to preserve the fragrance and quality of the costly contents. Breaking the jar, as described in the accounts, signifies the complete and generous offering of the perfume, symbolizing total devotion and sacrifice.
Symbolism and Significance:The use of alabaster in the biblical narrative underscores themes of worship, sacrifice, and the recognition of Jesus' divine authority. The act of anointing Jesus with expensive perfume from an alabaster jar is a profound expression of love and reverence, highlighting the woman's faith and understanding of Jesus' impending death and burial. This act is often interpreted as a foreshadowing of Jesus' anointing for burial, emphasizing the sacrificial nature of His mission.
Theological Implications:The alabaster jar and its contents serve as a metaphor for the believer's offering to Christ. Just as the woman poured out her most valuable possession, Christians are called to offer their lives and resources in service to the Lord. The narrative challenges believers to consider the depth of their devotion and the willingness to give sacrificially in response to the grace and love of Jesus Christ.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Alabasterfrom the Arabical bastraton , a whitish stone or fromAlabastron , the place in Egypt where it is found. It occurs only in (Matthew 26:7;Mark 14:3;Luke 7:37) The ancients considered alabaster to be the best material in which to preserve their ointments. The Oriental alabaster (referred to in the Bible) is a translucent carbonate of lime, formed on the floors of limestone caves by the percolation of water. It is of the same material as our marbles, but differently formed. It is usually clouded or banded like agate, hence sometimes called onyx marble. Our common alabaster is different from this, being a variety of gypsum or sulphate of lime, used In its finer forms for vases, etc.; in the coarser it is ground up for plaster of Paris. The noted sculptured slabs from Nineveh are made of this material.
ATS Bible Dictionary
AlabasterA sort of stone, of fine texture, either the white gypsum, a sulphate of lime, or the onyx-alabaster, a hard carbonate of lime, having the color of the human nail, and nearly allied to marble. This material being very generally used to fabricate vessels for holding unguents and perfumed liquids, many vessels were called alabaster though made of a different substance, as gold, silver, glass, etc. InMatthew 26:6,7, we read that Mary, sister of Lazarus,John 12:3, poured as alabaster box of precious ointment on Christ's head. Mark says "she brake the box," signifying probably, that the seal upon the box, or upon the neck of the vase of bottle, which kept the perfume from evaporating, had never been removed; it was on this occasion first opened. SeeSPIKENARD.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Occurs only in the New Testament in connection with the box of "ointment of spikenard very precious," with the contents of which a woman anointed the head of Jesus as he sat at supper in the house of Simon the leper (
Matthew 26:7;
Mark 14:3;
Luke 7:37). These boxes were made from a stone found near Alabastron in Egypt, and from this circumstance the Greeks gave them the name of the city where they were made. The name was then given to the stone of which they were made; and finally to all perfume vessels, of whatever material they were formed. The woman "broke" the vessel; i.e., she broke off, as was usually done, the long and narrow neck so as to reach the contents. This stone resembles marble, but is softer in its texture, and hence very easily wrought into boxes. Mark says (
14:5) that this box of ointment was worth more than 300 pence, i.e., denarii, each of the value of sevenpence halfpenny of our money, and therefore worth about 10 pounds. But if we take the denarius as the day's wage of a labourer (
Matthew 20:2), say two shillings of our money, then the whole would be worth about 30 pounds, so costly was Mary's offering.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
n.) A variety of fine gypsum, usually white and translucent, often carved into vases or ornaments.
2. (n.) A hard, compact variety of carbonate of lime, somewhat translucent, or of banded shades of color; stalagmite. The name is used in this sense by Pliny. It is sometimes distinguished as oriental alabaster.
3. (n.) A box or vessel for holding odoriferous ointments, etc.; -- so called from the stone of which it was originally made.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
ALABASTERal'-a-bas-ter (alabastron (Matthew 26:7Mark 14:3Luke 7:37)): In modern mineralogy alabaster is crystalline gypsum or sulphate of lime. The Greek word alabastron or alabastos meant a stone casket or vase, and alabastites was used for the stone of which the casket was made. This stone was usually crystalline stalagmitic rock or carbonate of lime, now often called oriental alabaster, to distinguish it from gypsum. The word occurs in the Bible only in the three passages of the Synoptic Gospels cited above. SeeBOX.
Greek
211. alabastron -- a box ofalabaster... a box of
alabaster. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: alabastron Phonetic
Spelling: (al-ab'-as-tron) Short Definition: an
alabaster phial or bottle
...Strong's Hebrew
7893. shayish --alabaster... 7892b, 7893. shayish. 7894 .
alabaster. Transliteration: shayish Phonetic
Spelling: (shah'-yish) Short Definition:
alabaster. Word
...8337b. shesh --alabaster
...alabaster. Transliteration: shesh Short Definition: marble. Word Origin from the
same as shayish Definitionalabaster NASB Word Usagealabaster (1), marble (2)....
1858. dar -- perhaps pearl or mother-of-pearl
... Apparently from the same as drowr; properly, a pearl (from its sheen as rapidly
turned); by analogy, pearl-stone, ie Mother-of-pearl oralabaster -- X white....
923. bahat -- perhaps porphyry
... red marble. From an unused root (probably meaning to glisten); white marble or perhaps
alabaster -- red (marble). 922, 923. bahat. 924 . Strong's Numbers.
Library
TheAlabaster Box
... THEALABASTER BOX.... So she caught up heralabaster box, and without questioning herself
about the act, let her heart have its way, and poured it out on Christ....
Jesus' Feet Anointed in the House of a Pharisee.
... 37 And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner; and when she knew that he
was sitting at meat in the Pharisee's house, she brought analabaster cruse of...
Fragrant Graces
... Literally, when Christ tabled among men, when he did eat and drink with them, being
found in fashion as a man, the loving spirit broke thealabaster box of...
Jesus and the Bethany Sisters.
... Love must be the root. It was easy for Mary to bring heralabaster box, for her
heart was full of overmastering love. Service is the fruit of love....
The Transfiguration
... ordinarily transparent. The brighter the light, fed by fragrant oil within
analabaster lamp, the more thealabaster will glow. Faint...
Civ. Jesus Arrives and is Feasted at Bethany.
... to this group of his friends.] ^b 3 And while he was [there] as he sat at meat,
there came ^a unto him a woman { ^d 3 Mary} ^a having analabaster cruse of...
The Defence of Uncalculating Love
... 'Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, 7. There came unto
him a woman having analabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured...
The Cruse of Ointment
... And while He was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at meat,
there came a woman having analabaster cruse of ointment of spikenard very...
The Feast at Simon's House
... At great personal sacrifice she had purchased analabaster box of "ointment
of spikenard, very costly," with which to anoint His body....
The Box of Ointment.
... Some fragrant ointment of spikenard"contained, as we gather from the other Evangelists,
in a box ofAlabaster"had been procured by her at great cost;[22...
Thesaurus
Alabaster (6 Occurrences)... The name is used in this sense by Pliny. It is sometimes distinguished as oriental
alabaster.
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
ALABASTER.
...Alabaster-box (2 Occurrences)
Alabaster-box.Alabaster,Alabaster-box. Alameth . Multi-Version
ConcordanceAlabaster-box (2 Occurrences). Matthew...
Ointment (29 Occurrences)
... people (Exodus 30:33). The scented oils or ointments were kept in jars or vials
(not boxes) made ofalabaster. These jars are frequently...
Reclining (25 Occurrences)
... Matthew 26:7 there came to him a woman having analabaster box of ointment, very
precious, and she poured on his head as he is reclining (at meat). (YLT NIV)....
Box (13 Occurrences)
... "Perfume-boxes" are mentioned in Isaiah 3:20; in the New Testament passages the
Revised Version (British and American) renders "alabaster cruse." "Alabaster...
Jar (45 Occurrences)
... Jar (45 Occurrences). Matthew 26:7 a woman came to him having analabaster jar of
very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table....
Cruse (11 Occurrences)
... In the New Testament a small jar or vial, alabastron, "alabaster cruse" or flask,
for holding ointment; not "box" as in the King James Version (Matthew 26:7...
Sat (222 Occurrences)
... Matthew 26:7 a woman came to him having analabaster jar of very expensive ointment,
and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table....
Vial (12 Occurrences)
... Matthew 26:7 a woman came to him having analabaster jar of very expensive ointment,
and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. (See NAS)....
Expensive (6 Occurrences)
... Matthew 26:7 a woman came to him having analabaster jar of very expensive ointment,
and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. (WEB RSV NIV)....
Resources
What is an alabaster box? | GotQuestions.orgWhat does the Bible say about brokenness? | GotQuestions.orgMiscellaneous Bible Questions (All) | GotQuestions.orgAlabaster: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
Bible Dictionary •
Bible Encyclopedia •
Topical Bible •
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