Mark 7 - Lexham English Bible (LEB)

Human Traditions and God’s Commandments

7 And the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered to him. ² And they saw that some of his disciples were eating their^[a] bread with unclean—that is, unwashed—hands. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands ritually,^[b] thus^[c] holding fast to the traditions of the elders. ⁴ And when they come^[d] from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions^[e] which they have received and^[f] hold fast to—for example,^[g] the washing of cups and pitchers and bronze kettles and dining couches.)^{[h] 5} And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their^[i] bread with unclean hands?” ⁶ So he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their^[j] lips,
but their heart is far, far away from me.
⁷ And they worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’^[k]

⁸ Abandoning the commandment of God, you hold fast to the tradition of men.”

⁹ And he said to them, “You splendidly ignore the commandment of God so that you can keep^[l] your tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’^[m] and, ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must certainly die^[n].’^{[o] 11} But you say, ‘If a man says to his^[p] father or to his^[q] mother, “Whatever benefit you would have received^[r] from me is corban”^[s] (that is, a gift to God), ¹² you no longer permit him to do anything for his^[t] father or his^[u] mother, ¹³ thus^[v] making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down, and you do many similar things such as this.”

Defilement from Within

¹⁴ And summoning the crowd again, he said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ There is nothing outside of a person that is able to defile him by^[w] going into him. But the things that go out of a person are the things that defile a person.”^{[x] 17} And when he entered into the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸ And he said to them, “So are you also without understanding? Do you not understand that everything that is outside that goes into a person is not able to defile him? ¹⁹ For it does not enter into his heart but into his^[y] stomach, and goes out into the latrine”—thus^[z] declaring all foods clean. ²⁰ And he said, “What comes out of a person, that defiles a person. ²¹ For from within, from the heart of people, come evil plans, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, ²² adulteries, acts of greed, malicious deeds, deceit, licentiousness, envy,^[aa] abusive speech, pride, foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

A Syrophoenician Woman’s Great Faith

²⁴ And from there he set out and^[ab] went to the region of Tyre. And when he^[ac] entered into a house, he wanted no one to know, and yet he was not able to escape notice. ²⁵ But immediately a woman whose young daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit, when she^[ad] heard about him, came and^[ae] fell down at his feet, ²⁶ Now the woman was a Greek—a Syrophoenician by nationality—and she was asking him that he would expel the demon from her daughter. ²⁷ And he said to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it^[af] to the dogs!” ²⁸ But she answered and said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹ And he said to her, “Because of this statement, go! The demon has gone out of your daughter.” ³⁰ And when she^[ag] went to her home, she found the child lying on the bed and the demon gone.

A Man Deaf and Unable to Speak Healed

³¹ And again he went away from the region of Tyre and^[ah] came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the Decapolis. ³² And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they were imploring him that he would place his^[ai] hand on him. ³³ And he took him away from the crowd by himself and^[aj] put his fingers into his ears, and after^[ak] spitting, he touched his tongue. ³⁴ And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”). ³⁵ And^[al] his ears were opened and his difficulty in speaking was removed^[am] and he began to speak normally. ³⁶ And he ordered them that they should say nothing, but as much as he ordered them not to, they proclaimed it^[an] even more instead. ³⁷ And they were amazed beyond all measure, saying, “He has done all things well! He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”

Footnotes

1. Mark 7:2 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
2. Mark 7:3 Literally “with the fist”; although the exact meaning of the phrase is uncertain, there is general agreement it has to do with the ritual or ceremonial nature of the handwashing
3. Mark 7:3 Here “thus” is supplied as a component of the participle (“holding fast to”) which is understood as result
4. Mark 7:4 The phrase “when they come” is not in the Greek text but is implied
5. Mark 7:4 The word “traditions” is not in the Greek text but is implied
6. Mark 7:4 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“have received”) has been translated as a finite verb
7. Mark 7:4 The phrase “for example” is not in the Greek text but is supplied as a clarification in the English translation
8. Mark 7:4 Several important manuscripts omit “and dining couches”
9. Mark 7:5 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
10. Mark 7:6 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
11. Mark 7:7 A quotation from Isa 29:13
12. Mark 7:9 Some manuscripts have “you can maintain”
13. Mark 7:10 A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16
14. Mark 7:10 Literally “let him die the death”
15. Mark 7:10 A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9
16. Mark 7:11 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
17. Mark 7:11 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
18. Mark 7:11 Literally “you would have been benefited”
19. Mark 7:11 A Hebrew term referring to something consecrated as a gift to God and thus not available for ordinary use
20. Mark 7:12 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
21. Mark 7:12 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
22. Mark 7:13 Here “thus” is supplied as a component of the participle (“making void”) which is understood as result
23. Mark 7:15 Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“going”) which is understood as means
24. Mark 7:15 Most later manuscripts add v. 16, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
25. Mark 7:19 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
26. Mark 7:19 Here “thus” is supplied as a component of the participle (“declaring”) which is understood as result
27. Mark 7:22 Literally “the evil eye”
28. Mark 7:24 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“set out”) has been translated as a finite verb
29. Mark 7:24 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“entered”) which is understood as temporal
30. Mark 7:25 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
31. Mark 7:25 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came”) has been translated as a finite verb
32. Mark 7:27 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
33. Mark 7:30 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“went”) which is understood as temporal
34. Mark 7:31 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went away”) has been translated as a finite verb
35. Mark 7:32 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
36. Mark 7:33 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“took … away”) has been translated as a finite verb
37. Mark 7:33 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“spitting”) which is understood as temporal
38. Mark 7:35 Some manuscripts have “And immediately”
39. Mark 7:35 Literally “the bond of his tongue was loosened”
40. Mark 7:36 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation