^Luke 7:39 indicates that the sinful woman was living 'in the town/city' (Greek: ἐν τῇ πόλει, en têi pólei[1]) Jesus was staying in; the precending narrative of the Raising of the son of the widow of Nain (7:11–17) locates Jesus in Nain.[2] Luke 7:11–17 labels Nain a polis three times, in verses 7:11 and 7:12.[3] On the other hand, the unnamed place where Mary and Martha live in Luke 10:38–42 is labelled a 'village' (Greek: κώμη, kómè) in verse 10:38.[4] Luke therefore linguistically connects the sinful woman to a city/town, and distinguishes the unnamed home of Mary and Martha as a village.[2]
^Due to the parallels with John 11–12, this unnamed village is often identified with the Judean village of Bethany.[5] Esler & Piper however distinguish the two villages, based on the Galilean context of the chapter in Luke.[2]: 49 Meyer's NT Commentary notes that "Jesus cannot yet be in Bethany (see Luke 13:22, Luke 17:11), where Martha and Mary dwelt (John 11:1; John 12:1 f.), and hence it is to be supposed that Luke, because he was unacquainted with the more detailed circumstances of the persons concerned, transposed this incident, which must have occurred in Bethany, and that on an earlier festal journey, not merely to the last journey, but also to some other village, and that a village of Galilee."[5]
