In pouring … she is translated “What she did was to pour” by Good News Translation. But both renderings result in rather difficult sentence constructions for English speakers. Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch translates the verse as follows: “She poured this perfume on my body in order to prepare it for burial.” Another possible translation is “When she poured this perfume on my body she was preparing it (or, me) for burial.” Jesus is not saying the woman knew he was going to die and be buried. But he had already spoken of his death to his disciples in verse 2, and quite naturally he applies what the woman does to that concern.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .