For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
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.
- BSB Now in holding to the tradition of the elders, the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat until they wash their hands ceremonially.
- 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 1:14And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
- Mark 7:13Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
- Col 2:21–23(Touch not; taste not; handle not;
- Col 2:8Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
- Mark 7:5Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
- 1 Pet 1:18Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
- Matt 15:2–6Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
- Mark 7:7–10Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.