Exegesis:
kai idou ‘and behold,’ cf. on 1.20.
The syntactic structure is as follows: gunē ‘a woman’ is the subject of all verbal forms (except, of course, katakeitai ‘he reclined’); it is followed by a relative clause (hētis ēn … hamartōlos) which serves to introduce the woman, and a participial clause (epignousa, etc.) which denotes something which prepares for what is coming. Then comes the chain of events in the house of the Pharisee in two participial phrases (komisasa and stasa; the present participle klaiousa goes with stasa, see below), preparing the way for the four verbal clauses (ērxato brechein, exemassen, katephilei and ēleiphen), which describe the main events.
gunē hētis ēn en tē polei hamartōlos ‘a woman who was a sinner in the town,’ or ‘a woman who was in the town, a sinner.’ Both interpretations are possible but the former appears to be slightly preferable on stylistic grounds. The relative pronoun hētis is best understood as fully equivalent to the simple hē. en tē polei refers to the town where the Pharisee lived, as shown by the article. hamartōlos is here best understood as ‘a prostitute.’ For the general meaning cf. on 5.8.
kai epignousa hoti katakeitai ‘and having found out that he reclined….’ kai, probably a Hebraism, is omitted by all translations. For epignousa cf. on 1.4. Here it means ‘to learn,’ ‘to find out.’ For katakeitai cf. on 5.25.
komisasa alabastron murou lit. ‘having brought an alabaster flask of ointment,’ describes the first of a series of acts which the woman does upon finding out where Jesus is.
komizō ‘to bring.’ Here it almost means ‘to come with’ (cf. Brouwer, Willibrord).
alabastron murou ‘an alabaster flask of ointment.’
(V. 38) kai stasa opisō para tous podas autou klaiousa lit. ‘and having taken her place behind him at his feet weeping.’ The guests used to recline supporting themselves by their left arm, their feet turned slightly backward. opisō is specified by para tous podas autou. For the meaning of para. klaiousa qualifies not only stasa but also the following verbs. The woman’s tears are explained as tears of repentance (Klostermann) or of gratitude (Grundmann), preferably the latter, see below.
ērxato brechein ‘(she) began to wet,’ cf. on 4.21. Here ērxato suggests that now the main act begins after the preparatory acts.
brechō here and v. 44 ‘to wet,’ in 17.29 ‘to rain’ in a figurative sense.
tais thrixin tēs kephalēs autēs ‘with the hair of her head,’ i.e. ‘with her own hair’ (cf. The Four Gospels – a New Translation), implying that she had let down her hair for that purpose.
exemassen (also v. 44) ‘she wiped,’ ‘she dried,’ with shift to the imperfect which suggests duration.
katephilei tous podas autou ‘she kissed his feet,’ also in the imperfect. The kissing of the feet was an act of reverence.
kataphileō ‘to kiss,’ in Luke the general word, as phileō is in Mk. 14.44.
ēleiphen tō murō ‘she anointed (them) with the ointment.’ This is what she had come for.
Translation:
Some changes in the syntactic pattern may be necessary or preferable, e.g. ‘now there was a woman who was a sinner in the city. As soon as she learned that Jesus was … in the Ph.’s house she came with … flask, and took her stand behind him at his feet, weeping. Thereupon she wetted his feet…, wiped them…, kissed them, and anointed them….’
A woman of the city, who was a sinner, or, ‘a woman who lived as (or, was known as) a sinner in the city.’ Sinner cf. on 5.30, but here in the sense of ‘prostitute’; hence such, more or less outspoken, expressions as, ‘woman leading an immoral/improper life’ (cf. New English Bible, Tae’ 1933), ‘a woman they always make jokes about’ (Tboli); and cf. on “harlot” in 15.30.
Learned, or, ‘came to know,’ ‘found out,’ ‘discovered’ (Sranan Tongo, lit. ‘came see’), or simply, ‘heard’ (Kituba, Shona, Marathi, Tboli, some Indonesian languages).
Brought. Renderings such as ‘came with,’ ‘came carrying,’ ‘came and carried’ have also the advantage of making a better transition to the subsequent events.
Alabaster flask. Some versions, preserving the borrowing, have, ‘jar made of stone called alabaster,’ others have, ‘jar of (white) stone’ (Javanese, Tae’), or simply, ‘small-jar’ (Bahasa Indonesia), ‘small bottle’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘bottle’ (Medumba), ‘container’ (Shona 1966). Such less specific renderings are usually preferable to a borrowing or a long descriptive phrase.
Of, or, ‘full of,’ ‘filled with,’ ‘containing.’
Ointment, or, ‘sweet smelling oil/ointment’; Tboli describes the concept, ‘expensive coconut oil, very beautiful odour.’ What is in focus is the ointment rather than the container, cf. New English Bible‘s “brought oil of myrrh in a small flask”.
(V. 38) When a new sentence is started here a transitional phrase may be required, cf. e.g. ‘on her arrival’ (Shona 1966), ‘when she arrived there’ (Tboli), ‘having entered (the house).’
Standing behind him at his feet. Where kateklithē (v. 36) and katakeitai (v. 37) ‘he reclined’ have been rendered generically (cf. on v. 36) the words ‘behind him’ may better be omitted (unless the translator thinks the matter worth an explanatory note); hence ‘she took her place at (or, near) his feet,’ ‘she knelt down at his feet, or, close to him.’ Tboli uses a specific verb, indicating the (standing or sitting) attitude of a person who is so ashamed he can’t hold up his head.
Weeping, or, ‘while she wept,’ ‘and wept,’ i.e. in silence, as a private expression of emotion.
If the acts described in the following clauses are uncommon in the receptor culture or even offensive, a note stating that in the New Testament culture the woman’s behaviour was expressive of grateful love will be advisable.
She began to wet his feet with her tears refers to an unintended consequence of the woman’s weeping, as is brought out by, ‘her tears dropped down, dropping on Jesus’ feet’ (Tboli), ‘her tears wetted his feet’ (Javanese), ‘His feet (became) wet from trickle of her tears’ (Balinese). It may be preferable then to subordinate the clause to what follows, ‘as her tears were falling on his feet, she wiped them….’ Tear, in Trukese, Pohnpeian, some Indonesian languages literally, ‘water of the eye.’
Wiped them with the hair of her head, or, ‘used her (own) hair to wipe them off’ (cf. Batak Toba). Some languages (e.g. Javanese) have distinctive terms for ‘hair-on-the-head’ and ‘hair-on-the-body.’
Kissed. To avoid sexual associations one may say here, ‘showed her reverence by kissing.’ For to kiss see on 15.20, but some of the renderings mentioned there will not fit this context. Then one may say something like, ‘touched (lovingly),’ ‘caressed.’ An interesting cultural equivalent can be used in Medumba, i.e. ‘massaged his feet,’ as people do to show reverence to a chief, especially when imploring his protection or forgiveness.
Anointed them with the ointment, or, ‘rubbed/poured/put the ointment on them.’
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.