Simon the Pharisee

Biblical Account

Simon the Pharisee appears only in Luke 7:36-50. The text introduces him as "one of the Pharisees," and his name is revealed when Jesus addresses him as "Simon" (Luke 7:40). The Pharisees were a Jewish group that emphasized strict observance of the Law. Because Simon was a common name at the time, several people in the New Testament bear it.

Simon invited Jesus to a meal at his house. A woman known in the town as "a sinner" came in carrying an alabaster box of ointment. She wet Jesus' feet with her tears, wiped them with the hair of her head, kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Simon thought to himself that if Jesus "were a prophet," he would have known what manner of woman she was (Luke 7:39).

Jesus then told Simon a story about two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty, and the creditor forgave them both. When Jesus asked which of the two would love him more, Simon answered that it was the one who had been forgiven more. Jesus contrasted the woman's actions with Simon's failure to give his guest water for his feet, a kiss, or oil for his head. He then said, "Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much" (Luke 7:47). He told the woman, "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace" (Luke 7:50). Scripture does not record what became of Simon afterward.

Significance within Scripture

The account contrasts a person who considers himself righteous with a person who is aware of her own sin. In doing so, it illustrates the relationship between being forgiven and love. The Gospel of Luke records several occasions on which Jesus dined at the house of a Pharisee (Luke 11:37; 14:1), and this scene is one of them.

Interpretation and Debate

• Relationship to Simon the leper: Matthew 26, Mark 14, and John 12 recount a woman anointing Jesus with ointment at Bethany. Matthew and Mark place the event in the house of "Simon the leper." Some hold that the two Simons are the same man and that the two accounts describe the same event. Other views, however, are widespread. The event in Luke took place during Jesus' ministry in Galilee, whereas the event in the other Gospels took place shortly before the Passion, and the objection raised also differs. For these reasons, many commentators regard them as separate events involving different people.
• Identity of the woman: The text does not name the woman. Western church tradition is said to have long identified her with Mary Magdalene or with Mary of Bethany. Protestant and Catholic scholarship today generally holds that the text alone provides no basis for identifying her with either.
• Meaning of Luke 7:47: Interpretations differ on the phrase "for she loved much." It can be read as presenting love as the ground of forgiveness or as evidence that forgiveness had already been received. Protestant commentators generally adopt the latter reading, citing the parable of the two debtors and the words "thy faith" in verse 50; on this view, love is the result of forgiveness.
• Simon's attitude: Opinions also differ as to whether Simon's failure to provide water for washing and the other courtesies was a deliberate breach of etiquette or simply an absence of special hospitality.

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, this passage is commonly treated under the theme that "those who are forgiven much love much." Such sermons contrast the judgmental Simon with the woman who repented and devoted herself to Jesus. The passage is also frequently cited together with Mark's account of the woman who "brake the box." For this reason, some have stressed the need to read the two passages with attention to their differences.