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Mark 7

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Debate Over Tradition and Defilement 1–13

1
Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. ​
2
And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.
3
For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. ​
4
And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.
5
Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
6
He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. ​
7
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8
For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. ​
9
And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
10
For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:
11
But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. ​
12
And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
13
Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. ​

What Truly Defiles a Person 14–23

14
And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: ​
15
There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. ​
16
If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
17
And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. ​
18
And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;
19
Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? ​
20
And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
21
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, ​
22
Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23
All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

The Syrophoenician Woman's Faith 24–30

24
And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. ​
25
For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:
26
The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. ​
27
But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. ​
28
And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. ​
29
And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. ​
30
And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

Healing the Deaf and Mute Man 31–37

31
And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. ​
32
And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.
33
And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; ​
34
And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. ​
35
And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.
36
And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; ​
37
And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Mark 7

Verse 1

the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem — Scribes who ‘came down from Jerusalem’ had already charged him with having Beelzebub (Mark 3:22). Here the Pharisees and scribes ask him why his disciples do not walk ‘according to the tradition of the elders’ (v.5), and he answers from Isaiah and from Moses (vv.6, 10).

Verse 3

holding the tradition of the elders — Paradosis is what is handed down. It was not part of the law of Moses: Jesus calls it ‘the tradition of men’ (v.8) and ‘your own tradition’ (v.9). ‘Oft’ renders pygme, literally ‘with the fist’. Verses 3–4 explain the custom to the reader, listing cups, pots, brasen vessels and tables.

Verse 6

Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites — Hypokrites is a stage actor playing a part. The quotation is Isa 29:13: ‘this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me’. The same verse supplies v.7, ‘teaching for doctrines the commandments of men’.

Verse 8

the washing of pots and cups — ‘Washing’ is baptismos, found only here (vv.4, 8) and in Heb 6:2 (‘baptisms’) and 9:10, where ‘divers washings’ are ‘carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation’. Against ‘the commandment of God’ Jesus sets ‘the tradition of men’, which they hold in its place.

Verse 11

It is Corban — Qorban is the Hebrew word for an offering, as in Lev 1:2, ‘bring an offering unto the LORD’; Mark glosses it ‘a gift’. A man who declared his goods Corban could say they were no longer to be used for his parents, ‘he shall be free’, so that ‘Honour thy father and thy mother’ (v.10; Ex 20:12) went unkept (v.12).

Verse 13

Making the word of God of none effect — Akyroo, to make void, to strip of authority; it occurs only here, in Matt 15:6, and in Gal 3:17, where the law ‘cannot disannul’ the covenant. The instrument is ‘your tradition, which ye have delivered’: paradidomi, the verb behind paradosis in vv.3, 8, 9.

Verse 14

Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand — He turns from the Pharisees to ‘all the people’ and asks for hearing and for syniemi, putting the matter together in the mind. The pair is the one Mark 4:12 says is missing in those outside, ‘hearing they may hear, and not understand’; v.16 adds, ‘If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.’

Verse 15

nothing from without a man… can defile him — ‘Defile’ is koinoo, to make common, from the same root as ‘defiled’ (koinos) in v.2. Leviticus 11:47 had set ‘a difference between the unclean and the clean’ among beasts; here the source of defilement is placed in what comes out of the man (vv.20–23). Peter later hears, ‘What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common’ (Acts 10:15).

Verse 17

concerning the parable — The ‘parable’ is the saying of v.15, spoken to the people. As after the sower (Mark 4:10, 34), the disciples ask in private, in the house, and are answered, ‘Are ye so without understanding also?’ (v.18). Matthew names Peter as the one who asked (Matt 15:15).

Verse 19

purging all meats — In the KJV the participle belongs to the draught, which carries away what is eaten. Katharizo, to cleanse, is the verb of the leper’s ‘Be thou clean’ (Mark 1:41) and of ‘What God hath cleansed’ (Acts 10:15); Paul states that ‘every creature of God is good’ (1 Tim 4:4) and ‘nothing unclean of itself’ (Rom 14:14).

Verse 21

out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts — Thirteen evils are named in vv.21–22, beginning with dialogismos, inward reasonings, and ending with ‘foolishness’. ‘Evil’ there is kakos; a second word, poneros, stands in ‘an evil eye’ and ‘all these evil things’ (v.23). It agrees with Gen 6:5, ‘every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually’.

Verse 24

the borders of Tyre and Sidon — Phoenician cities on the coast north of Galilee. A great multitude ‘about Tyre and Sidon’ had already come to him (Mark 3:8), and he had said their cities would have repented (Matt 11:21–22). ‘Could not be hid’ is lanthano, the verb of the woman ‘not hid’ after touching him (Luke 8:47).

Verse 26

a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation — ‘Greek’ here means a Gentile, as in ‘to the Jew first, and also to the Greek’ (Rom 1:16). ‘Syrophenician’ (Syrophoinikissa) occurs only here; Matthew calls her ‘a woman of Canaan’ (Matt 15:22). Her request is for her ‘young daughter’ (v.25), who had an unclean spirit.

Verse 27

Let the children first be filled — ‘First’ agrees with Christ as ‘a minister of the circumcision’ (Rom 15:8) and with Matt 15:24; the Gentiles follow, ‘that… might glorify God for his mercy’ (Rom 15:9). ‘Filled’ is chortazo, the verb of the loaves in 6:42 and 8:8. ‘Dogs’ is kynarion, little dogs, used only here and in Matt 15:26–27.

Verse 28

the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs — She takes up his own word kynarion, little dogs, and answers from within the picture. ‘Crumbs’ (psichion, a morsel) is the word of the rich man’s table (Luke 16:21). She calls him ‘Lord’; in Matt 15:22 she adds ‘thou Son of David’, and in Matt 15:28 he answers, ‘O woman, great is thy faith’.

Verse 29

For this saying — ‘Saying’ is logos, ‘word’, the noun of ‘the word of God’ in v.13; it is her word that he answers. ‘Is gone out’ is a perfect tense, a thing already done, and she finds it so on reaching home (v.30). He heals at a distance, as for the centurion: ‘Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done’ (Matt 8:13).

Verse 31

the midst of the coasts of Decapolis — Decapolis means ‘ten cities’. It is the district where the man from Gadara, told to tell his friends what the Lord had done, ‘began to publish in Decapolis’ (Mark 5:19–20), and from which multitudes had followed him (Matt 4:25). He comes to the sea of Galilee by way of it.

Verse 33

put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue — The man ‘was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech’ (v.32), and the two organs are touched. ‘Spit’ is ptyo, used only here, at Bethsaida (Mark 8:23) and for the man born blind (John 9:6). He is taken ‘aside from the multitude’, as at Bethsaida, out of the town (8:23).

Verse 34

Ephphatha, that is, Be opened — Aramaic, which Mark translates, as with ‘Talitha cumi’ (5:41). ‘Be opened’ is dianoigo, to open thoroughly, the verb of the Scriptures and the understanding in Luke 24:32, 45. ‘Sighed’ is stenazo, the verb of ‘groan within ourselves’ (Rom 8:23); ‘looking up to heaven’ is as at the loaves (6:41).

Verse 36

they published it — ‘Charged’ is diastello, to enjoin, the verb of 5:43 and 9:9, where silence is likewise asked. ‘Published’ is kerysso, the usual word for preaching, used of the cleansed leper who, told to ‘say nothing to any man’, ‘began to publish it much’ (1:44–45), and of the man in Decapolis (5:20).

Verse 37

he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak — ‘Beyond measure’ is hyperperissos, found only here. The words answer Isa 35:5–6, ‘the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped… the tongue of the dumb sing’, and the list Jesus gave John’s disciples, ‘the deaf hear’ (Matt 11:5). ‘Dumb’ is alalos, without speech, as also in 9:17, 25.