Mark 7:1

Geneva Bible

Then gathered vnto him the Pharises, and certaine of the Scribes which came from Hierusalem.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
Some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem and gathered around Jesus.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And ye pharises came togedder vnto him and dyvers of ye scribes which came from Ierusalem.

International Standard Version
The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus.him">[fn]Matthew 15:1;">[xr]

New American Standard Bible
The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered to Him after they came from Jerusalem,

New Century Version
When some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem, they gathered around Jesus.

Update Bible Version
And there are gathered together to him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem,

Webster's Bible Translation
Then came together to him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, who came from Jerusalem.

Amplified Bible
Now the Pharisees and some of the scribes came from Jerusalem and gathered around Him,

English Standard Version
Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem,

World English Bible
Then the Pharisees, and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Then come together to him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes, who came from Jerusalem.

Weymouth's New Testament
Then the Pharisees, with certain Scribes who had come from Jerusalem, came to Him in a body.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the Farisees and summe of the scribis camen fro Jerusalem togidir to hym.

English Revised Version
And there are gathered together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which had come from Jerusalem,

Berean Standard Bible
Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus,

Contemporary English Version
Some Pharisees and several teachers of the Law of Moses from Jerusalem came and gathered around Jesus.

American Standard Version
And there are gathered together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem,

Bible in Basic English
And there came together to him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem,

Complete Jewish Bible
The P'rushim and some of the Torah-teachers who had come from Yerushalayim gathered together with Yeshua

Darby Translation
And the Pharisees and some of the scribes, coming from Jerusalem, are gathered together to him,

Etheridge Translation
AND there gathered to him Pharishee and Sophree, who had come from Urishlem;

Murdock Translation
And there gathered about him Pharisees and Scribes, who had come from Jerusalem.

King James Version (1611)
Then came together vnto him the Pharises, and certain of the Scribes, which came from Hierusalem.

New Living Translation
One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus.

New Life Bible
The proud religious law-keepers and some of the teachers of the Law had come from Jerusalem. They gathered around Jesus.

New Revised Standard
Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him,

George Lamsa Translation
THEN there gathered unto him Pharisees and scribes, who had come from Jerusalem.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the Pharisees and certain of the Scribes who have come from Jerusalem gather themselves together unto him;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And there assembled together unto him the Pharisees and some of the scribes, coming from Jerusalem.

Revised Standard Version
Now when the Pharisees gathered together to him, with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem,

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the pharisees came together vnto hym, & certayne of the scribes which came from Hierusalem.

Good News Translation
Some Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus.

Christian Standard Bible®
The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him.

Hebrew Names Version
Then the Perushim, and some of the Sofrim gathered together to him, having come from Yerushalayim.

King James Version
Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.

Lexham English Bible
And the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered to him.

Literal Translation
And the Pharisees were assembled to Him, also some of the scribes, coming from Jerusalem.

Young's Literal Translation
And gathered together unto him are the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, having come from Jerusalem,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And there came vnto him the Pharises, and certayne of the scrybes, that were come from Ierusale.

Mace New Testament (1729)
The Pharisees, and certain Scribes from Jerusalem, came in a body to Jesus;

THE MESSAGE
The Pharisees, along with some religion scholars who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around him. They noticed that some of his disciples weren't being careful with ritual washings before meals. The Pharisees—Jews in general, in fact—would never eat a meal without going through the motions of a ritual hand-washing, with an especially vigorous scrubbing if they had just come from the market (to say nothing of the scourings they'd give jugs and pots and pans).

New English Translation
Now the Pharisees and some of the experts in the law who came from Jerusalem gathered around him.

New King James Version
Matthew 15:1-20">[xr] Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Now some of the head honchos of the church, and some religious experts who were from Jerusalem, gathered around Jesus.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem,

Legacy Standard Bible
And the Pharisees and some of the scribes *gathered around Him when they had come from Jerusalem,

Contextual Overview

¹ Then gathered vnto him the Pharises, and certaine of the Scribes which came from Hierusalem. ² And when they sawe some of his disciples eate meate with common hands, (that is to say, vnwashen) they complained. ³ (For the Pharises, and all the Iewes, except they wash their hands oft, eate not, holding the tradition of the Elders. ⁴ And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eate not: and many other things there be, which they haue taken vpon them to obserue, as the washing of cups, and pots, and of brasen vessels, and of beds.) ⁵ Then asked him the Pharises and Scribes, Why walke not thy disciples according to the tradition of the Elders, but eate meate with vnwashen hands? ⁶ Then hee answered and sayd vnto them, Surely Esay hath prophecied well of you, hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth mee with lippes, but their heart is farre away from me. ⁷ But they worship me in vaine, teaching for doctrines the commandements of men. ⁸ For ye lay the commaundement of God apart, and obserue the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and of cups, and many other such like things ye doe. ⁹ And he sayd vnto them, Well, ye reiect the commandement of God, that ye may obserue your owne tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses sayd, Honour thy father and thy mother: and Whosoeuer shall speake euill of father or mother, let him die the death.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

The Pharisees: Mark 3:22, Matthew 15:1, Luke 5:17, Luke 11:53, Luke 11:54

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 4:2 - General Ezra 7:11 - a scribe Mark 8:11 - Pharisees

Cross-References

Genesis 6:9
These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a iust and vpright man in his time: and Noah walked with God.

Genesis 7:1
And the Lord said vnto Noah, Enter thou and all thine house into the Arke: for thee haue I seene righteous before me in this age.

Genesis 7:4
For seuen dayes hence I will cause it raine vpon the earth fourtie dayes and fourtie nightes, and all the substance that I haue made, will I destroy from off the earth.

Genesis 7:5
Noah therefore did according vnto all that the Lord commanded him.

Genesis 7:6
And Noah was sixe hundreth yeeres olde, when the flood of waters was vpon the earth.

Genesis 7:7
So Noah entred and his sonnes, and his wife, & his sonnes wiues with him into the Arke, because of the waters of the flood.

Genesis 7:8
Of the cleane beastes, and of the vncleane beastes, and of the foules, and of all that creepeth vpon the earth,

Genesis 7:9
There came two and two vnto Noah into the Arke, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.

Genesis 7:10
And so after seuen dayes the waters of the flood were vpon the earth.

Genesis 7:11
In the sixe hundreth yeere of Noahs life in the second moneth, the seuetenth day of the moneth, in the same day were all the fountaines of the great deepe broken vp, and the windowes of heauen were opened,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then came together unto him the Pharisees,.... Having heard of his miracles, and that he was come into the land of Gennesaret; they consulted with one another, and came together to Jesus, to watch and observe what was said and done by him, and take what advantage they could against him. These were not of that country, but were of Jerusalem, as were their companions the Scribes:

and certain of the Scribes, which were of Jerusalem; for the fame of Christ had reached the metropolis of the nation; and these men being the more artful and cunning of the whole sect, either came of themselves, or were sent by the sanhedrim, to make their observations upon his doctrine and conduct; :-.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See this passage explained in the notes at Matthew 15:1-20.

Mark 7:1

Came from Jerusalem - Probably to observe his conduct, and to find matter of accusation against him.

Mark 7:2

Defiled hands - The hands were considered defiled or polluted unless they were washed previous to every meal.

Mark 7:3

Except they wash their hands oft - Our word “oft” means frequently, often. The Greek wore translated oft has been rendered various ways. Some have said that it means “up to the wrist” - unless they wash their hands up to the wrist. Others have said up to the elbow.” There is evidence that the Pharisees had some such foolish rule as this about washing, and it is likely that they practiced it faithfully. But the Greek Word πυγμή pugmē - means properly the “fist,” and the meaning here is, “Unless they wash their hands (rubbing them) with the fist” - that is, not merely dipping the finger or hands in water as a sign of ablution, but rubbing the hands together as a ball or fist, in the usual Oriental manner when water is poured over them. Hence, the phrase comes to mean “diligently, carefully, sedulously.” - Robinson, Lexicon. The idea is, unless they pay the utmost attention to it, and do it carefully and according to rule.

The tradition - What had been handed down; not what was delivered “by writing” in the law of Moses, but what had been communicated from father to son as being proper and binding.

The elders - The ancients; not the old men “then living,” but those who had lived formerly.

Mark 7:4

Market - This word means either the place where provisions were sold, or the place where men were convened for any purpose. Here it probably means the former.

Except they wash - In the original, “Except they baptize.” In this place it does not mean to immerse the whole body, but only the hands. There is no evidence that the Jews washed their “whole bodies” every time they came from market. It is probable that they often washed with the use of a very small quantity of water.

The washing of cups - In the Greek, “the baptism of cups.”

Cups - drinking vessels. Those used at their meals.

Pots - Measures of “liquids.” Vessels made of wood, used to hold wine, vinegar, etc.

brazen vessels - Vessels made of brass, used in cooking or otherwise. These, if much polluted, were commonly passed through the fire: if slightly polluted they were washed. Earthen vessels, if defiled, were usually broken.

Tables - This word means, in the original, “beds or couches.” It refers not to the “tables” on which they ate, but to the “couches” on which they reclined at their meals. See the notes at Matthew 23:6. These were supposed to be defiled when any unclean or polluted person had reclined on them, and they deemed it necessary to purify them with water. The word “baptism” is here used - in the original, “the baptism of tables;” but, since it cannot be supposed that “couches” were entirely “immersed” in water, the word “baptism” here must denote some other application of water, by sprinkling or otherwise, and shows that the term is used in the sense of washing in any way. If the word is used here, as is clear it is, to denote anything except entire immersion, it may be elsewhere, and baptism is lawfully performed, therefore, without immersing the whole body in water.

Mark 7:7

For doctrines - For commands of God binding on the conscience. Imposing “your” traditions as equal in authority to the laws of God.

Mark 7:8

Laying aside - Rejecting, or making, it give place to traditions; considering the traditions as superior in authority to the divine law. This was the uniform doctrine of the Pharisees. See the notes at Matthew 15:1-9.

The tradition of men - What has been handed down by human beings, or what rests solely on their authority.

Mark 7:9

Full well - These words are capable of different interpretations. Some read them as a question: “Do ye do well in rejecting?” etc. Others suppose they mean “skillfully, cunningly.” “You show great cunning or art, in laying aside God’s commands and substituting in their place those of men.” Others suppose them to be ironical. “How nobly you act! From conscientious attachment to your traditions you have made void the law of God;” meaning to intimate by it that they had acted wickedly and basely.

Mark 7:17

The parable - The “obscure” and difficult remarks which he had made in Mark 7:15. The word “parable,” here, means “obscure” and “difficult saying.” They could not understand it. They had probably imbibed many of the popular notions of the Pharisees, and they could not understand why a man was not defiled by external things. It was, moreover, a doctrine of the law that men were ceremonially polluted by contact with dead bodies, etc., and they could not understand how it could be otherwise.

Mark 7:18

Cannot defile him - Cannot render his “soul” polluted; cannot make him a “sinner” so as to need this purifying as a “religious” observance.

Mark 7:19

Entereth not into his heart - Does not reach or affect the “mind,” the “soul,” and consequently cannot pollute it. Even if it should affect the “body,” yet it cannot the “soul,” and consequently cannot need to be cleansed by a religious ordinance. The notions of the Pharisees, therefore, are not founded in reason, but are mere “superstition.”

The draught - The sink, the vault. “Purging all meats.” The word “purging,” here, means to purify, to cleanse. What is thrown out of the body is the innutritious part of the food taken into the stomach, and leaving only that which is proper for the support of life; and it cannot, therefore, defile the soul.

All meals - All food; all that is taken into the body to support life. The meaning is, that the economy or process by which life is supported “purifies” or “renders nutritious” all kinds of food. The unwholesome or innutritious parts are separated, and the wholesome only are taken into the system. This agrees with all that has since been discovered of the process of digestion and of the support of life. The food taken into the stomach is by the gastric juice converted into a thick pulp called chyme. The nutritious part of this is conveyed into small vessels, and changed into a milky substance called “chyle.” This is poured by the thoracic duct into the left subclavian vein and mingles with the blood, and conveys nutriment and support to all parts of the system. The useless parts of the food are thrown off.

Mark 7:20

Hat which cometh out of the man - His words; the expression of his thoughts and feelings; his conduct, as the development of inward malice, anger, covetousness, lust, etc.

Defileth the man - Makes him really polluted or offensive in the sight of God. This renders the soul corrupt and abominable in his sight. See Matthew 15:18-20.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER VII.

The Pharisees find fault with the disciples for eating with

unwashen hands, 1-5.

Christ exposes their hypocrisy, and shows that they had made

the word of God of no effect by their traditions, 6-13.

He shows what things defile men, 14-16;

and teaches his disciples in private, that the sin of the heart

alone, leading to vicious practices, defiles the man, 17-23.

The account of the Syrophoenician woman, 24-30.

He heals a man who was dumb, and had an impediment in his

speech, 31-37.

NOTES ON CHAP. VII.

Verse Mark 7:1. Came from Jerusalem. — Probably for the express purpose of disputing with Christ, that they might entangle him in his talk. Malice and envy are never idle - they incessantly hunt the person they intend to make their prey.