Background on The Jar and Nard
Some interesting background on the jar and nard from a company which makes it.
We are abba anointing oil co. We have offices and production facilities both in Jerusalem as well as Houston, Tx. (our main office). We produce a variety of biblical oils such as Frankincense & Myrrh, Rose of Sharon, Lily of the Valley and most recently Spikenard.
Spikenard is sometimes referred to as "Nard" in the botanical reference books. We have conducted extensive studies on Spikenard for the last three years and in-depth studies of the types of containers with which oil was carried during ancient times. Fragrant oil in ancient times was carried in what was called an "alabastron" a conical shaped container.
In the case of Matthew's account is "alabastron" or alabaster container had a seal at the top as would any other expensive material of the day. The "jar" or container had a lid which was closed by a seal. Sometimes the seal had a small piece of cloth (such as linen or cotton) over the opening of the jar, then the lid was placed on and next came the seal.
Sometimes the seal was covered with wax and twine so that the lid would stay on firm, thus allowing the integrity of its contents to remain in tact. We believe it was the seal which was broken so that the precious perfume could be poured out. The breaking of the seal was a traditional method of opening a vessel during ancient times in the perfume industry. This type oil was processed from a root plant Nard. The Nard was found in the country which is now called India. Alabaster then, as well as now only is produced in a few countries in the world, Italy, Greece, Egypt, India and China. Since the Spikenard perfumed oil was produced in ancient India it is reasonable to assume that the alabaster container possibly came from the same country.
There is no historical data relating to oils ever being contained in a "box". All of the scholars that we have consulted agree that the term "box" should have been "jar" or something similar. Think about this, if you broke a box and attempted to anoint someone, it stands to reason that you would have fragments of the broken box in the oil and would most likely cut the person with the sharp edges of the broken pieces. Again, there is no historical evidence of any "box breaking". However, we have scriptural references of pouring out of oil such as on Aaron's' beard.
Another tradition in ancient times was to anoint the forehead of a guest that has come to a persons home. This was done as a general custom of welcome as well as to give the person who might have traveled some distance a nice smell. The fragrant smell would cover the not so fragrant smell of the person from the journey.
It was also the custom to wash the feet a a guest, remember that back then most of the roads and paths were dirt and would have been very dusty. The symbol of washing feet or in the case of Matthew's account, anointing the feet was a very humbling experience. It was an extremely costly gesture to anoint with the Spikenard someone's feet as opposed to use this as a perfume.
We hope we have been able to shed some light on this matter which we think has been misunderstood.
Blessings to you in the name of Yeshua Messiah.
Rodger & Greer Kenworthy
abba anointing oil co.
