Charles Ellicott Commentary Mark 7:4

"and [when they come] from the market-place, except they bathe themselves, they eat not; and many other things there are, which they have received to hold, washings of cups, and pots, and brasen vessels.)" — Mark 7:4 (ASV)

Except they wash.—The Greek verb differs from that in the previous verse and implies the washing or immersion (the verb from which our word “baptize” is derived) of the whole body, while the former refers to washing only a part. The idea on which the practice rested was not one of cleanliness or health, but of arrogant exclusiveness, focusing on the thought of ceremonial purity. They might have come, in the crowd of the market, into passing contact with a Gentile, and his touch was as defiling as if it had been that of a corpse. So, too, the washing of cups and similar items was because they might have been touched by heathen, and therefore impure, lips.

Washing.—Literally, baptism; but the form of the word is masculine, while that used for the sacramental rite is neuter. The masculine form occurs again, probably in the same sense, meaning ablutions generally, in Hebrews 6:2.

Pots.—The Greek word (xestes) may be noted as a corrupt form of sextarius, and therefore taking its place among the Latin words used by Saint Mark. (See Introduction.)

Tables.—Better, couches—that is, the low, wide benches placed near the tables, on which the guests reclined instead of sitting. These also had to be scrupulously washed because it was possible that a heathen might have lain on them. The word is, perhaps, used in the same sense in Mark 4:21.