Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Mark 7
Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary
Mark 7
Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary
Mark 7
"And there are gathered together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem," — Mark 7:1 (ASV)
Another delegation of fact-finding theologians came down from Jerusalem (cf. 3:22) to investigate the Galilean activities of Jesus. They discovered that Jesus’ disciples did not wash their hands before eating. Their question was one of ceremonial purity versus ceremonial defilement, an important topic to devout Jews.
"and had seen that some of his disciples ate their bread with defiled, that is, unwashen, hands." — Mark 7:2 (ASV)
Another delegation of fact-finding theologians came down from Jerusalem (cf. 3:22) to investigate the Galilean activities of Jesus. They discovered that Jesus’ disciples did not wash their hands before eating. Their question was one of ceremonial purity versus ceremonial defilement, an important topic to devout Jews.
"(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands diligently, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders;" — Mark 7:3 (ASV)
Mark felt it necessary to explain to his Gentile readers the Jewish custom of ceremonial handwashing, a custom based on the “tradition [GK 4142] of the elders,” a great mass of oral tradition that had arisen about the law. Its purpose was to regulate a person’s life completely, and it was passed on from one generation to the next one as binding regulations. Mark gives an example of the custom. After being in the marketplace and coming into contact with Gentiles or even nonobservant Jews, the Pharisees would wash themselves to ensure their ritual cleanness.
"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)
Mark felt it necessary to explain to his Gentile readers the Jewish custom of ceremonial handwashing, a custom based on the “tradition [GK 4142] of the elders,” a great mass of oral tradition that had arisen about the law. Its purpose was to regulate a person’s life completely, and it was passed on from one generation to the next one as binding regulations. Mark gives an example of the custom. After being in the marketplace and coming into contact with Gentiles or even nonobservant Jews, the Pharisees would wash themselves to ensure their ritual cleanness.
"And the Pharisees and the scribes ask him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with defiled hands?" — Mark 7:5 (ASV)
To the question of why his disciples acted as they did, Jesus answered by quoting Isa 29:13, preceded by his own comment: “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites.” A “hypocrite” (GK 5695) is someone whose worship is merely outward and not from the heart. Jesus did not mean that Isaiah had in mind the Pharisees and the teachers of the law when he originally wrote these words but that Isaiah’s denunciation of the religious leaders of his day fitted those of Jesus’ day. Their outward appearance of piety was a lie, because it was not accompanied by a life of total commitment to God. Jesus went on to equate neglect of true holiness with submission to rabbinic traditions made by humans.
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