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.
Mark 7
The Voice
7 Then the Pharisees returned to talk with Jesus, and with them came some of the scribes and scholars from Jerusalem.
Scribes and Scholars (seeing the disciples eating): 2 Your disciples are eating bread with defiled, unwashed hands.
3 Now you need to know that the Pharisees, and all Jews for that matter, held the tradition of their ancestors that hands must be washed before eating to avoid being ritually unclean. 4 Likewise, they washed when they returned from the market and followed similar purity teachings as well, from the washing of their food to the washing of their bowls, cups, and kettles.
Scribes and Pharisees: 5 Why don’t Your disciples follow the traditions passed down to us? Why do they eat their bread with defiled hands?
Jesus: 6 Isaiah prophesied wisely about your religious pretensions when he wrote,
These people honor Me with words off their lips;
meanwhile their hearts are far from Me.
7 Their worship is empty, void of true devotion.
They teach a human commandment, memorized and practiced by rote.[a]
8 When you cling blindly to your own traditions [such as washing utensils and cups],[b] you completely miss God’s command. 9 Then, indeed, you have perfected setting aside God’s commands for the sake of your tradition. 10 Moses gave you God’s commandment: “Honor your father and your mother.”[c] And also, “If you curse your father or your mother, you will be put to death.”[d] 11 But you say to your aged parents, “I’ve decided that the support you were expecting from me will now be the holy offering set aside for God.” 12 After that he is not allowed to do anything for his parents. 13 Do you think God wants you to honor your traditions that you have passed down? This is only one of many places where you are blind. 14 (to the crowd that had gathered) Listen, all of you, to this teaching. I want you to understand. 15 There is nothing outside someone that can corrupt him. Only the things that come out of a person can corrupt him. [16 All who have ears to hear, let them listen.][e]
17 When they had come in from the road, His disciples asked Him what He meant by this teaching.
Jesus: 18 Do you mean you don’t understand this one either? Whatever goes into people from outside can’t defile them 19 because it doesn’t go into their hearts. Outside things go through their guts and back out, thus making all foods pure.[f] 20 No, it’s what comes from within that corrupts. 21-22 It’s what grows out of the hearts of people that leads to corruption: evil thoughts, immoral sex, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wicked acts, treachery, sensuality, jealousy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All of these come from within, and these are the sins that truly corrupt a person.
Although Mark specifically states that Jesus is overriding the Old Testament dietary laws and declaring all foods pure, it will be a long time before the disciples are willing to act on that message. One of the biggest controversies in the early church will be the question of dietary restrictions and how the Old Testament laws ought to be observed by Jewish and non-Jewish Christian believers. However, Jesus makes it clear in this passage that His main concern has nothing to do with what people eat. Instead, He is concerned about the hearts of His followers.
24 From there Jesus and His followers traveled to the region of Tyre [and Sidon][g] on the Mediterranean coast. He hoped to slip unnoticed into a house, but people discovered His presence. 25 Shortly after He arrived, a woman whose daughter was filled with an unclean spirit heard that He was there, so she came directly to Him and prostrated herself at His feet.
26 The woman was not a Jew, but a Syrophoenician (a Greek) by birth. All the same, she came to Jesus and begged Him to cast the unclean spirit out of her daughter.
Jesus (shaking His head): 27 I must feed the children first. It would do no good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.
Syrophoenician Woman: 28 Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table may eat of the children’s crumbs.
Jesus (smiling and nodding): 29 This is a wise saying. Go back home. Your daughter is free of the spirit that troubled her.
30 And when she returned to her house, she discovered that it was as Jesus had told her. Her daughter lay on her bed, in her right mind, whole and healthy.
Although Jesus at first answers the Greek woman harshly, He ultimately responds to her request. By healing her daughter, He demonstrates that God’s loving presence has come to all people and not just to Jews. It’s one of the first glimpses in this Gospel of the truth that will become clearer later—the truth that, through Jesus, God is making all people, and not just one chosen nation, clean and whole.
31 Jesus traveled on His way through Tyre and Sidon, eventually returning to the region of the Sea of Galilee. From there He pressed on to the area of the Ten Cities.[h] 32 Among the sick who were brought to Him was a man who was deaf and could barely speak at all, and those who brought him begged Jesus to lay His hands on the man. 33 Jesus took him aside from the crowd, alone, and touched his ears with His fingers. Then after spitting on His fingers, Jesus touched the man’s tongue. 34 Looking heavenward to God, Jesus sighed and commanded,
Jesus: Open up[i] and let this man speak.
35 [Immediately][j] the man could hear, his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly. 36 Jesus ordered those who had witnessed this to tell no one; but the more He insisted, the more zealously people spread the word.
People (astonished): 37 He does everything so well! He even returns sound to the deaf and mute.
Footnotes
- 7:6–7 Isaiah 29:13
- 7:8 Some of the earliest manuscripts omit this portion.
- 7:10 Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16
- 7:10 Exodus 21:17; Leviticus 20:9
- 7:16 Some manuscripts omit verse 16.
- 7:19 The earliest texts say “Jesus declared all foods pure.”
- 7:24 Some manuscripts omit this portion.
- 7:31 Literally, the Decapolis
- 7:34 Aramaic, Ephphatha
- 7:35 Some of the earliest manuscripts omit this word.
Markos 7
Orthodox Jewish Bible
7 And, when they had come down from Yerushalayim, the Perushim and some of the Sofrim come together around Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach,
2 And they had observed that some of his talmidim were eating their lechem with yadayim temeiot, that is, hands ritually unclean.
3 [For the Perushim, and indeed this was the Jewish minhag, do not eat without doing netilat yadayim (ritual of the washing of the hands) and also observing the Masoret HaZekenim (the Torah Shebal peh, Oral Torah, see Ga 1:14).
4 And when they come from [the] marketplace, unless they do so, they do not eat. And there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the tevilah of cups and pitchers and copper pots.
5 And the Perushim and the Sofrim question Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, Why do your talmidim not follow the halakhah according to the Masoret HaZekenim, but eat their lechem with yadayim temeiot?
6 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said to them, Yeshayah rightly gave a dvar nevuah of you tzevuim, as it has been written, HAAM HAZEH BISFATAV KIBDUNI VLIBO RIKHAK MIMENI VATEHI YIRATAM OTI MITZVAT ANASHIM MELUMMADAH (This people with [their] lips honor me, but their heart is removed far away from me.
7 And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the mitzvot of men.) [YESHAYAH 29:13]
8 Abandoning the mitzvat Hashem, you are holding to the Masoret HaBnei Adam.
9 And he was saying to them, You have a fine knack for setting aside the mitzvat Hashem in order that your own Masorot might stand undisturbed.
10 For Moshe [Rabbeinu] said, KABED ES AVICHA VES IMMECHA (Honor your father and your mother), and, The one reviling AVIV VIMMO MOT YUMAT (father or mother let him be put to death. [SHEMOT 20:12, DEVARIM 5:16, SHEMOT 21:17, VAYIKRA 20:9]
11 But you say, If a man says to his Abba or to his Em, whatever by me you might have benefited is Korban [that is, the taitsh (translation) of korban is an offering to Hashem],
12 Then no longer do you permit him to do anything for his Abba or his Em.
13 You nullify and make void the dvar Hashem by means of your Masoret you received. And you do many similar things.
14 And having summoned again the multitude, he was saying to them, Give ear to me and have binah (understanding).
15 There is nothing outside of a ben Adam (human being) entering into him which is able to make him tameh, but it is the things coming out from the ben Adam that make him tameh.
16 He who has oznayim to hear, let him hear.
17 And when he left the multitude and entered a bais, his talmidim were asking him [about] the mashal.
18 And he says to them, Are you so lacking in binah also? Do you not have binah that it is not what is outside and entering into the ben Adam that is able to make him tameh (unclean)?
19 Because it does not enter into his lev, but into his stomach and goes out into the latrine, making all the okhel tohar [T.N. See Ro 14:14-23].
20 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was saying, It is the thing proceeding out of the ben Adam that makes him tameh.
21 For from within the lev of the ben Adam comes evil cravings and machshavot: then zenunim (fornications), gneyvot (thefts), retzichot (murders),
22 Niufim (adulteries), chamdanut (greediness), rishah (wickedness), nechalim (scheming deceitfulness), zimmah (lewdness, sensuality), an ayin horo or roah ayin (an envious evil eye), lashon hora, gaavah (pride), and ivvelet (foolishness).
23 All these evil things proceed from within and make the ben Adam tameh.
24 And from there he got up and departed to the district of Tzor and Tzidon. And having entered into a bais he wanted no one to know, [yet] he was not able to escape notice.
25 But, after hearing about him, ofen ort, an isha, whose yaldah was having a ruach temeiah, came and fell down at his feet.
26 Now the woman was a Yevanit (Greek), by birth a Syrophoenician, and she was asking him to cast the shed out of her bat (daughter).
27 And he was saying to her, Rishonah allow the banim to be satisfied, for it is not tov to take the lechem of the yeladim and throw it to kelevim (dogs).
28 But she replied, saying, Ken, Adoni, but even the kelevim under the shulchan eat from the crumbs of the yeladim.
29 And he said to her, Because of this answer, go your way, the shed has gone out from the bat of you.
30 And having departed to her bais, she found the yaldah lying on the bed, the shed having gone out.
31 When he returned from the region of Tzor, and then went through Tzidon to Lake Kinneret within the region of the Decapolis,
32 They bring to him [a man who was] cheresh illem (deaf and mute) and they entreated him to lay hands on him.
33 And he took him aside from the multitude by himself and put his fingers into his ears, and spat, and with that touched the tongue of the mute man;
34 And, looking up to Shomayim with a deep sigh, he says to him, Ephphatha, (which means, Be opened!).
35 Ofen ort his ears were opened, and the impediment of his lashon (tongue) was loosed and he was speaking properly.
36 And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach was directing them not to tell anyone. But as much as he ordered them, they were proclaiming [it] all the more.
37 And they were all astonished beyond all measure, saying, He has done all things tov meod (very well), and he makes even the chereshim (deaf people) to hear and the illemim (mute) to speak. [YESHAYAH 35:5,6]
Mark 7
King James Version
7 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.
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.
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.
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.
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