Bible Dictionary
Box
A box was a small flask or cruse used to hold costly perfume or ointment. In the Gospel accounts, the alabaster container of ointment was broken open when a woman anointed Jesus.
Definition
A box was a small flask, cruet, or alabaster vessel used to contain costly ointment or perfume. The biblical container was a small vessel made from alabaster, a white stone valued for ornamentation and suitable for precious ointments.
Biblical Usage
A woman brought an alabaster cruse of ointment and broke it open to anoint Jesus. In the account, breaking the cruse means breaking its seal rather than smashing the vessel itself.
Historical Background
The Hebrew term can mean a flask or vial, while the Greek term refers to an alabaster cruse. Perfume boxes are also mentioned among the ornaments associated with women.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
For holding oil or perfumery (Mark 14:3). It was of the form of a flask or bottle. The Hebrew word (pak) used for it is more appropriately rendered “vial” in 1 Sam. 10:1, and should also be so rendered in 2 Kings 9:1, where alone else it occurs.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>The passages in which this word occurs are 2Ki 9:1,3 (Hebrew pakh, "cruet," "flask," the Revised Version (British and American) vial) and the synoptic passages Mt 26:7 the King James Version; Mr 14:3 the King James Version; Lu 7:37 the King James Version (Greek alabastron). "Perfume-boxes" are mentioned in Isa 3:20; in the New Testament passages the Revised Version (British and American) renders "alabaster cruse." "Alabaster" was a white stone much used in ornamentation; and out of it small vessels we re made for holding precious ointment. "She brake the cruse" (Mr 14:3), i.e. the seal, not the vessel.</p><p>In Isa 41:19 and Isa 60:13, "box" is found in connection with "tree," as "box-tree" (which see).</p>