Mark 7
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 7
The Tradition of the Elders.[a] 1 Now when the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him,(A) 2 they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. 3 (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands,[b] keeping the tradition of the elders. 4 And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles [and beds].) 5 So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders[c] but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?” 6 He responded, “Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:(B)
‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me;
7 In vain do they worship me,
    teaching as doctrines human precepts.’
8 You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.” 9 He went on to say, “How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother shall die.’(C) 11 Yet you say, ‘If a person says to father or mother, “Any support you might have had from me is qorban”’[d] (meaning, dedicated to God), 12 you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. 13 You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things.” 14 (D)He summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. 15 Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” [16 ][e]
17 [f](E)When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, 19 [g](F)since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 “But what comes out of a person, that is what defiles. 21 (G)From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. 23 All these evils come from within and they defile.”
The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith. 24 (H)From that place he went off to the district of Tyre.[h] He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice. 25 Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.(I) 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first.[i] For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” 28 She replied and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” 29 Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.
The Healing of a Deaf Man. 31 (J)Again he left the district of Tyre and went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, into the district of the Decapolis. 32 And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; 34 then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”) 35 And [immediately] the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly. 36 [j]He ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. 37 They were exceedingly astonished and they said, “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and [the] mute speak.”(K)
Footnotes
- 7:1–23 See note on Mt 15:1–20. Against the Pharisees’ narrow, legalistic, and external practices of piety in matters of purification (Mk 7:2–5), external worship (Mk 7:6–7), and observance of commandments, Jesus sets in opposition the true moral intent of the divine law (Mk 7:8–13). But he goes beyond contrasting the law and Pharisaic interpretation of it. The parable of Mk 7:14–15 in effect sets aside the law itself in respect to clean and unclean food. He thereby opens the way for unity between Jew and Gentile in the kingdom of God, intimated by Jesus’ departure for pagan territory beyond Galilee. For similar contrast see Mk 2:1–3:6; 3:20–35; 6:1–6.
- 7:3 Carefully washing their hands: refers to ritual purification.
- 7:5 Tradition of the elders: the body of detailed, unwritten, human laws regarded by the scribes and Pharisees to have the same binding force as that of the Mosaic law; cf. Gal 1:14.
- 7:11 Qorban: a formula for a gift to God, dedicating the offering to the temple, so that the giver might continue to use it for himself but not give it to others, even needy parents.
- 7:16 Mk 7:16, “Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear,” is omitted because it is lacking in some of the best Greek manuscripts and was probably transferred here by scribes from Mk 4:9, 23.
- 7:17 Away from the crowd…the parable: in this context of privacy the term parable refers to something hidden, about to be revealed to the disciples; cf. Mk 4:10–11, 34. Jesus sets the Mosaic food laws in the context of the kingdom of God where they are abrogated, and he declares moral defilement the only cause of uncleanness.
- 7:19 (Thus he declared all foods clean): if this bold declaration goes back to Jesus, its force was not realized among Jewish Christians in the early church; cf. Acts 10:1–11:18.
- 7:24–37 The withdrawal of Jesus to the district of Tyre may have been for a respite (Mk 7:24), but he soon moved onward to Sidon and, by way of the Sea of Galilee, to the Decapolis. These districts provided a Gentile setting for the extension of his ministry of healing because the people there acknowledged his power (Mk 7:29, 37). The actions attributed to Jesus (Mk 7:33–35) were also used by healers of the time.
- 7:27–28 The figure of a household in which children at table are fed first and then their leftover food is given to the dogs under the table is used effectively to acknowledge the prior claim of the Jews to the ministry of Jesus; however, Jesus accedes to the Gentile woman’s plea for the cure of her afflicted daughter because of her faith.
- 7:36 The more they proclaimed it: the same verb proclaim attributed here to the crowd in relation to the miracles of Jesus is elsewhere used in Mark for the preaching of the gospel on the part of Jesus, of his disciples, and of the Christian community (Mk 1:14; 13:10; 14:9). Implied in the action of the crowd is a recognition of the salvific mission of Jesus; see note on Mt 11:5–6.
馬可福音 7
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
傳統與誡命
7 有法利賽人和一些律法教師從耶路撒冷來見耶穌。 2 他們看到祂的門徒有些吃飯前沒有照禮儀洗手。 3 因為法利賽人和所有的猶太人都拘守古人的傳統,總是先照禮儀洗手之後才吃飯; 4 從市場回來也要先潔淨自己,然後才吃飯。他們還拘守許多其他規矩,如洗杯、罐、銅器等。
5 他們質問耶穌:「為什麼你的門徒違背祖先的傳統,竟用不潔淨的手吃飯呢?」
6 耶穌回答說:「以賽亞先知針對你們這些偽君子所說的預言一點不錯,正如聖經上說,
『這些人嘴上尊崇我,
心卻遠離我。
7 他們的教導無非是人的規條,
他們敬拜我也是枉然。』
8 你們只知拘守人的傳統,卻無視上帝的誡命。」 9 耶穌又對他們說:「你們為了拘守自己的傳統,竟巧妙地廢除了上帝的誡命。 10 摩西說,『要孝敬父母』,又說,『咒罵父母的,必被處死。』 11 你們卻認為人若對父母說,『我把供養你們的錢財已經全部奉獻給上帝了』, 12 他就可以不奉養父母。 13 你們就是這樣為了拘守傳統而廢除上帝的道,類似的情形還有很多。」
內心的污穢
14 耶穌又召集眾人,教導他們說:「我的話,你們要聽明白, 15 從外面進去的不會使人污穢,只有從人裡面發出來的才會使人污穢。 16 有耳可聽的,都應當聽!」
17 耶穌離開眾人,進了屋子,門徒問祂這比喻的意思。 18 耶穌說:「你們也不明白嗎?你們不知道嗎?從外面進去的,不會使人污穢, 19 因為不能進入他的心,只能進他的腸胃,最後會排出來,也就是說所有的食物都是潔淨的。 20 從人裡面發出來的才使人污穢, 21 因為從裡面,就是從人的心裡能夠生出惡念、苟合、偷盜、謀殺、 22 通姦、貪婪、邪惡、詭詐、放蕩、嫉妒、毀謗、驕傲、狂妄。 23 這一切惡事都是從裡面生出來的,能使人污穢。」
外族婦人的信心
24 耶穌從那裡啟程去泰爾和西頓地區。祂進了一戶人家,原本不想讓人知道,卻無法避開人們的注意。 25-26 當時有一個婦人的小女兒被污鬼附身,她聽見耶穌的事,就來俯伏在祂腳前,懇求祂趕出她女兒身上的鬼。這婦人是希臘人,來自敘利亞的腓尼基。
27 耶穌對她說:「要先讓兒女們吃飽,因為把兒女的食物丟給狗吃不合適。」
28 婦人說:「主啊,你說的對,但桌子下的狗也吃孩子們掉下來的碎渣呀!」
29 耶穌說:「因為你這句話,你回去吧,鬼已經離開你的女兒了。」
30 她回到家裡,見女兒躺在床上,鬼已經離開了。
醫治聾啞的人
31 耶穌離開泰爾地區,經過西頓,來到低加坡里地區的加利利湖。 32 有人帶著一個又聾又啞的人來見耶穌,懇求祂把手按在這個人身上。 33 耶穌就帶他離開眾人走到一邊,用指頭伸進他的耳朵,又吐唾沫抹他的舌頭, 34 望天長歎,對他說:「以法大!」意思是「開了吧!」 35 他的耳朵立刻開了,舌頭靈活了,說話也清楚了。 36 耶穌吩咐他們不要將這事告訴人。可是耶穌越是這樣吩咐,他們越是極力宣揚, 37 聽見的人都十分驚奇,說:「祂做的事好極了,甚至叫聾子聽見,啞巴說話!」
Mark 7
New International Version
That Which Defiles(A)
7 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus 2 and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled,(B) that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.(C) 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.[a])(D)
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders(E) instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”
6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’[b](F)
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”(G)
9 And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe[c] your own traditions!(H) 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[d](I) and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[e](J) 11 But you say(K) that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)— 12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God(L) by your tradition(M) that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”
14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16] [f]
17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him(N) about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods(O) clean.)(P)
20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed,(Q) malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Jesus Honors a Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith(R)
24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.[g](S) He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an impure spirit(T) came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 “First let the children eat all they want,” he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
28 “Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.”
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf and Mute Man(U)
31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre(V) and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee(W) and into the region of the Decapolis.[h](X) 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk,(Y) and they begged Jesus to place his hand on(Z) him.
33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit(AA) and touched the man’s tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven(AB) and with a deep sigh(AC) said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means “Be opened!”). 35 At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.(AD)
36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone.(AE) But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Footnotes
- Mark 7:4 Some early manuscripts pitchers, kettles and dining couches
- Mark 7:7 Isaiah 29:13
- Mark 7:9 Some manuscripts set up
- Mark 7:10 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
- Mark 7:10 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9
- Mark 7:16 Some manuscripts include here the words of 4:23.
- Mark 7:24 Many early manuscripts Tyre and Sidon
- Mark 7:31 That is, the Ten Cities
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