He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain your own tradition.
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
- KJV And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
- NKJV He said to them, “ All too wellyou reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
- NASB He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.
- NLT Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.
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
Jesus said they cleverly set aside God's commandment to keep their tradition. He exposes their hypocrisy as deliberate, not accidental.
Overview
With pointed irony, Jesus accused the leaders of skillfully nullifying God's law in order to preserve their own customs. Their tradition did not merely supplement Scripture but actively displaced it. The charge prepares for the concrete example of Corban that follows, where tradition is shown to overturn a clear command of God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Isa 29:13Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.
- Gal 2:21I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness comes through the law, Christ died for nothing.
- Jer 44:16–17“As for the word you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you!
- Isa 24:5The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.
- Matt 15:3–6Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?
- Ps 119:126It is time for the LORD to act, for they have broken Your law.
- Rom 3:31Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! Instead, we uphold the law.
- Mark 7:3Now in holding to the tradition of the elders, the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat until they wash their hands ceremonially.
- Mark 7:13Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”
- 2 Kgs 16:10–16Then King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria. On seeing the altar in Damascus, King Ahaz sent Uriah the priest a model of the altar and complete plans for its construction.
- 2 Th 2:4He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
- Dan 7:25He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for a time, and times, and half a time.
- Dan 11:36Then the king will do as he pleases and will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and he will speak monstrous things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must be accomplished.
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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 7:9 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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