The him refers to Jesus, not to Simon, although Simon was the last person referred to in the Revised Standard Version text.

Came up to will have to be “went up to” in many languages.

Alabaster flask translates a Greek noun which has as its first meaning “alabaster” (a soft stone of creamy color), and as a secondary meaning “container made of alabaster.” The stone itself was imported from Egypt, and thousands of small alabaster perfume flasks have been excavated by archaeologists in Palestine. Most translators render this as “a small container made of a stone called alabaster.” They may even describe the container as “a container for oil (or, ointment).”

Very expensive translates a different adjective from that used by Mark (14.3), which there probably has the meaning “genuine” or “pure.” Moreover, Mark identifies the perfume in more detail, indicating the substance from which it was made (“nard”).

The Greek word translated ointment may also be rendered “perfume” (Good News Translation); it is used again in verse 12, though nowhere else in the Gospel. If neither of these terms is well known, translators may have “oil that smells good (or, sweet)” or “oil to make the skin smell good.” That which is called ointment today is more like a cream than oil, and it cannot be poured. Good News Translation‘s “expensive perfume” means an expensive kind of perfume.

As he sat at table (Good News Translation “While Jesus was eating”) may need to be stated earlier in the narrative, as in Good News Bible. If this suggestion is adopted, one may then translate verses 6 and 7 as “In the meanwhile Jesus had gone to the village of Bethany and was eating a meal in the house of Simon….” Other translators will want to keep the verses separate and say “Jesus had gone to the village of Bethany and was at the house of Simon who had had a serious skin disease. While he was at the table eating….”

For modern readers it may seem strange that the woman would apparently burst into Simon’s home without any invitation. But as one commentator has suggested, the gesture of the woman would not be extraordinary in a Jewish home of that time; it could have been dictated by love, joy, or recognition, although neither Mark nor Matthew say anything about the sentiments which provoke the action. What the woman did was important, not why she did it.

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 .