In John 11:2 why did John reference Mary anointing Jesus’ feet before this occurred in chapter 12?

Question

In John 11:2 why did John reference Mary anointing Jesus’ feet before this occurred in chapter 12?

It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. (John 11:2, ESV)

John obviously expected his readers to already be familiar with this account before reading later about the account. Either 1) the readers were familiar with this account because the Synoptic Gospels were already written, or 2) this account was already widely known through oral tradition. Is there other evidence within the Gospel of John that would more clearly indicate that the Synoptic Gospels were already written.

Answer 1

i was under the impression she did it twice, Lk 7:44; Jn 12:3 (cf 21:6; Lk 5:6). Once when she'd first received Christ; and at the end when she, unlike all the others, received His word that He'd die. Regardless of Lk 7, i'm convinced John wrote His Good News in the AD 90s, though that may be irrelevant--when what this woman has done shall also be told as a memorial of her Mt 26; Mk 14. Like any writer, John's under zero obligation to write things like a video recorder or chronologically in every sense, Jn 3:24. He's welcome to interplay with his readers, 20:30-31; 1:13-14. (Though I've also always understood John's, the last, to be very chronological.)

Answer 2

I am not as acquainted with the ESV, but in the KJV in John 11:2 it reads, "(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)" In the KJV, the parenthesis indicates clarification the translator(s) are including to help the reader while italics mean the italicized word(s) were not in the original text but is/are being provided, again, to help the reader. Perhaps because there were several major players in the New Testament who were followers of Jesus, including his own mother, who were named Mary they felt it was helpful to insert that line in that spot to help keep things straight. In addition, chronology seems to often take a back seat in much of scripture. As to why this is, I do not know! A number of publishers have gone as far as to rearrange the books to make them more chronological in fact.