And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is unwashed, hands, they found fault.
- BSB and they saw some of His disciples eating with hands that were defiled—that is, unwashed.
- NKJV Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.
- NASB and saw that some of His disciples were eating their bread with unholy hands, that is, unwashed.
- NLT They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The leaders criticized Jesus' disciples for eating with ceremonially unwashed hands. The complaint concerned ritual tradition, not hygiene.
Overview
The Pharisees objected that the disciples ate without the ceremonial hand-washing prescribed by their tradition. This was not about cleanliness but ritual purity invented by the elders. Their fault-finding reveals hearts more concerned with external rules than with the inward righteousness God requires.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Acts 10:28And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
- Rom 14:14I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
- Matt 7:3–5And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
- Dan 6:4–5Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.
- Acts 10:14–15But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
- Matt 23:23–25Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
- Acts 11:8But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 7:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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