... Like the woman in Luke, Mary anoints Jesus’ feet, but there are no tears, no kisses. There is no need here for extravagant contrast. She simply anoints his feet and wipes them with her hair. This action more nearly resembles the example from Sipre on Deuteronomy 33:24 where a female slave washes her master’s feet in oil, yet the intimacy of Jesus and Mary’s relationship suggests something more. One possibility is that the narrator is evoking images from the Song of Songs (see Winsor). Two phrases, in particular, resonate with the scene described in John: In Song of Solomon 1:12, the king (a title of affection for the beloved) is said to be reclining on his couch, while the woman’s nard gives forth its fragrance (12:2–3), and in Song of Solomon 7:5b–c, the king says of the woman, ‘the curls of your hair are like purple, the king is bound in your tresses’ (12:3a; see Winsor: 21–22). “King” is among the images John uses for Jesus (1:49; 12:13, 15; 18:33–19:22; compare 6:15) while Mary is described as one whom Jesus loves. In evoking these images from the Song of Songs, the narrator describes Mary’s intimate relationship with Jesus, her beloved, who, like the king in the Song of Songs, is caught in her tresses. The erotic overtones signal the depth of this relationship between the lover and the beloved ...