Now in holding to the tradition of the elders, the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat until they wash their hands ceremonially.
Parallel translations
- WEB (For the Pharisees and all the Jews, don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders.
- KJV For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
- NKJV For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.
- NASB (For the Pharisees and all the other Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thereby holding firmly to the tradition of the elders;
- NLT (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions.
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
Mark explains the Pharisees' ceremonial washing customs for his readers. It clarifies that the dispute concerned man-made tradition.
Overview
Writing for a largely Gentile audience, Mark pauses to explain the Jewish practice of ritual washing rooted in the tradition of the elders. These traditions, developed over generations, were treated as binding alongside Scripture. The explanation highlights that the issue was human regulation, not the law of God itself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Gal 1:14I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
- Mark 7:13Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”
- Col 2:21–23“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”?
- Col 2:8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.
- Mark 7:5So the Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus: “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with defiled hands.”
- 1 Pet 1:18For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
- Matt 15:2–6“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat.”
- Mark 7:7–10They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 7:3 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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