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Mark 7:1-5
New Catholic Bible
Mark 7:1-5
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 7
Traditions That Falsify the Law of God.[a] 1 When the Pharisees, along with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around Jesus, 2 they noted that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 For the Pharisees, and in fact all Jews, do not eat without thoroughly washing their hands, thereby observing the tradition of the elders. 4 And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without first washing. In addition, there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and jugs and bronze kettles and tables.[b]
5 Therefore, the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but eat with unclean hands?”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Mark 7:1 Jesus reproaches the teachers, who insist upon “traditions” that they themselves have sometimes invented, with a legalism that allows them to have a good conscience, even as they disregard the essential demands of the Law (Ex 20:12; 21:17; Lev 20:9; Isa 29:13). See also note on Mt 15:2ff.
- Mark 7:4 Moses had prescribed a few ablutions for priests when they prepared for service at the altar (Ex 30:17-21). However, Rabbinic tradition had gone beyond the spirit of this prescription and arbitrarily extended it. Jesus condemns this Pharisaic formalism and censures his opponents who out of love for their traditions had nullified the more important commandments of the Law. His disciples—like the great majority of the common people—paid little attention to these prescriptions of the Pharisees. And tables: found only in some early manucripts.
