Mark 7:2

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

and, observing certain of his disciples, that, with defiled hands, that is unwashed, they are eating bread, - -

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
They saw that some of his followers ate food with hands that were not clean, meaning that they did not wash their hands in a special way.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And whe they sawe certayne of his disciples eate breed wt comen hondes (that is to saye wt vnwesshen hondes) they coplayned.

International Standard Version
They noticed that some of his disciples were eatingeating bread">[fn] with unclean hands, that is, without washing them.

New American Standard Bible
and saw that some of His disciples were eating their bread with unholy hands, that is, unwashed.

New Century Version
They saw that some of Jesus' followers ate food with hands that were not clean, that is, they hadn't washed them.

Update Bible Version
and had seen that some of his disciples ate their bread with defiled, that is, unwashed, hands.

Webster's Bible Translation
And when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled (that is to say with unwashed) hands, they found fault.

Amplified Bible
and they had seen that some of His disciples ate their bread with [ceremonially] impure hands, that is, unwashed [and defiled according to Jewish religious ritual].

English Standard Version
they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.

World English Bible
Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is, unwashed, hands, they found fault.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, unwashen hands.

Weymouth's New Testament
They had noticed that some of His disciples were eating their food with `unclean' (that is to say, unwashed) hands.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And whanne thei hadden seen summe of hise disciplis ete breed with vnwaisschen hoondis, thei blameden.

English Revised Version
and had seen that some of his disciples ate their bread with defiled, that is, unwashen, hands.

Berean Standard Bible
and they saw some of His disciples eating with hands that were defiled-that is, unwashed.

Contemporary English Version
They noticed that some of his disciples ate without first washing their hands.

American Standard Version
and had seen that some of his disciples ate their bread with defiled, that is, unwashen, hands.

Bible in Basic English
And had seen that some of his disciples took their bread with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.

Complete Jewish Bible
and saw that some of his talmidim ate with ritually unclean hands, that is, without doing n'tilat-yadayim.

Darby Translation
and seeing some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, unwashed, hands,

Etheridge Translation
and they saw some of his disciples eating bread with their hands not washed; and they complained.

Murdock Translation
And they saw some of his disciples eating bread, with their hands unwashed; and they censured it.

King James Version (1611)
And when they saw some of his disciples eate bread with defiled (that is to say, with vnwashen) hands, they found fault.

New Living Translation
They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating.

New Life Bible
They had seen some of His followers eat bread without washing their hands.

New Revised Standard
they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And when they sawe some of his disciples eate meate with common hands, (that is to say, vnwashen) they complained.

George Lamsa Translation
And they saw some of his disciples eating bread with their hands unwashed; and they reproached them.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And when they had seen some of his disciples eat bread with common, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.

Revised Standard Version
they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And whe they sawe some of his disciples eate bread with common [that is to say, with vnwasshen] hands, they founde fault.

Good News Translation
They noticed that some of his disciples were eating their food with hands that were ritually unclean—that is, they had not washed them in the way the Pharisees said people should.

Christian Standard Bible®
They observed that some of his disciples were eating bread with unclean—that is, unwashed—hands.

Hebrew Names Version
Now when they saw some of his talmidim eating bread with defiled, that is, unwashed, hands, they found fault.

King James Version
And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.

Lexham English Bible
And they saw that some of his disciples were eating their bread with unclean—that is, unwashed—hands.

Literal Translation
And seeing some of His disciples eating bread with unclean, that is unwashed hands, they found fault.

Young's Literal Translation
and having seen certain of his disciples with defiled hands -- that is, unwashed -- eating bread, they found fault;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And wha they sawe certayne of his disciples eate bred with comon (that is, with vnwashen) handes, they complayned.

Mace New Testament (1729)
when observing that some of his disciples were eating with profane hands, that is, without having wash'd them, they found fault.

New English Translation
And they saw that some of Jesus' disciples ate their bread with unclean hands, that is, unwashed.

New King James Version
Now when [fn] they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.

Simplified Cowboy Version
They saw that some of the cowboys were eating before they had washed their hands

New American Standard Bible (1995)
and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with impure hands, that is, unwashed.

Legacy Standard Bible
and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with defiled hands, that is, unwashed.

Contextual Overview

¹ And the Pharisees and certain of the Scribes who have come from Jerusalem gather themselves together unto him; ² and, observing certain of his disciples, that, with defiled hands, that is unwashed, they are eating bread, - - ³ For, the Pharisees, and all the Jews, unless with care they wash their hands, eat not, holding fast the tradition of the elders; ⁴ and coming from market, unless they sprinkle themselves, they eat not, - and, many other things, there are, which they have accepted to hold fast - immersions of cups and measures and copper vessels - - ⁵ and so the Pharisees and the Scribes, question, him - For what cause do thy disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but, with defiled hands, eat bread? ⁶ But, he, said unto them - Well, prophesied Isaiah concerning you, ye hypocrites, as it is written - This people, with the lips do honour me, while, their heart, far off, holdeth from me, - ⁷ But, in vain, do they pay devotions unto me, teaching for teachings, the commandments of men; ⁸ Having, dismissed, the commandment, of God, ye, hold fast, the tradition, of men. ⁹ And he was saying to them - Well, do ye set aside the commandment of God, that, your own tradition, ye may observe; ¹⁰ For, Moses, said - Honour thy father and thy mother, and - He that revileth father or mother, let him, surely die, -

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

defiled: or, common, Acts 10:14, Acts 10:15, Acts 10:28

they found: Daniel 6:4, Daniel 6:5, Matthew 7:3-5, Matthew 23:23-25

Reciprocal: Leviticus 11:8 - they are unclean Job 17:9 - clean Job 31:14 - when he Isaiah 29:13 - their fear Matthew 15:2 - transgress Mark 8:11 - Pharisees Luke 11:38 - he marvelled John 2:6 - after John 3:25 - about Acts 11:8 - common

Cross-References

Genesis 7:1
And Yahweh said to Noah, Enter thou and all thy house, into the ark, - for, thee, have I seen righteous before me, in this generation.

Genesis 7:8
Of the beasts that were clean, and of the beasts that were not clean, - and of the birds, and everything that creepeth on the ground,

Genesis 7:11
In the six hundredth year, the year of the life of Noah. in the second month on the seventeenth day of the month on this day, were burst open all the fountains of the great roaring deep, and the windows of the heavens, were set open.

Genesis 7:15
So they entered in unto Noah, into the ark, - two and two of all flesh, wherein was the spirit of life.

Genesis 7:19
Yea the waters, prevailed very greatly, on the earth, - so that all the high mountains became covered, that were under all the heavens:

Genesis 7:21
And all flesh ceased to breathe that moved on the earth, of birds and of tame-beasts and of wild-beasts, and of all the swarming things that swarm on the earth, - land all mankind.

Genesis 8:20
And Noah builded an altar to Yahweh, - and took of all the clean beasts and of all the clean birds, and caused ascending Sacrifices to go up on the altar.

Leviticus 10:10
That ye may make a difference, between the sacred and the common, - and between the unclean and the clean;

Ezekiel 44:23
And my people, shall they instruct, between the holy and the common, - And between the unclean and the clean, shall they cause them to distinguish.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And when they saw some of his disciples,.... An opportunity soon offered of giving them an handle against him: for observing some of his disciples to sit down to meat, they took notice that they

eat bread with defiled (that is to say, with unwashen) hands, and

they found fault; with them, and charged them with the breach of the traditions of the elders, and took an occasion from hence of quarrelling with Christ. The Jews use the same phrase the evangelist here does, and interpret it in just the same manner: so, speaking of things eaten, בידים מסואבות, "with defiled hands"; that is, says the commentator i, it is all one as if it was said, בלא נטילת ידים, "without washing of hands"; which was esteemed a very great crime, and especially if done in a contemptuous way: for they say k,

"he that despiseth washing of hands, shall be rooted out of the world; for in it is the secret of the decalogue:''

and particularly to eat with unwashed hands, was unpardonable in a disciple of a wise man; for they looked upon this to be the characteristic of one of the vulgar people, a common and illiterate man: for they ask l,

"who is one of the people of the earth, or a plebeian? he that does not eat his common food with purity.''

By this also they distinguished a Jew from a Gentile; if he washed his hands, and blessed, he was known to be an Israelite, but if not, a Gentile m; :-.

i Bartenora in Misn. Cholin, c. 2. sect. 5. k Zoharin Numb fol. 100. 3. l T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 61. 1. m Bevaidbar Rabba, fol. 228. 4.

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

Verse Mark 7:2. They found fault. — This is wanting in ABEHLV, nineteen others, and several versions: Mill and Bengel approve the omission, and Griesbach rejects the word. If the 3d and 4th verses be read in a parenthesis, the 2d and 5th verses will appear to be properly connected, without the above clause.