7And the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered to him. ²And they saw that some of his disciples were eating their^a bread with unclean—that is, unwashed—hands. ³(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands ritually,^b thus^* holding fast to the traditions of the elders. ⁴And when they come^c from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions^* which they have received and^* hold fast to—for example,^d the washing of cups and pitchers and bronze kettles and dining couches.)^e ⁵And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their^f bread with unclean hands?” ⁶So he said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their^g lips,

but their heart is far, far away from me.

⁷And they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’^h

⁸Abandoning the commandment of God, you hold fast to the tradition of men.”

⁹And he said to them, “You splendidly ignore the commandment of God so that you can keepⁱ your tradition. ¹⁰For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’^j and, ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must certainly die^k.’^l ¹¹But you say, ‘If a man says to his^m father or to hisⁿ mother, “Whatever benefit you would have received^o from me is corban”^p (that is, a gift to God), ¹²you no longer permit him to do anything for his^q father or his^r mother, ¹³thus^* making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down, and you do many similar things such as this.”

Defilement from Within

¹⁴And summoning the crowd again, he said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵There is nothing outside of a person that is able to defile him by^* going into him. But the things that go out of a person are the things that defile a person.”^s ¹⁷And when he entered into the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸And he said to them, “So are you also without understanding? Do you not understand that everything that is outside that goes into a person is not able to defile him? ¹⁹For it does not enter into his heart but into his^t stomach, and goes out into the latrine”—thus^* declaring all foods clean. ²⁰And he said, “What comes out of a person, that defiles a person. ²¹For from within, from the heart of people, come evil plans, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, ²²adulteries, acts of greed, malicious deeds, deceit, licentiousness, envy,^u abusive speech, pride, foolishness. ²³All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

Read in Logos

Footnotes

aLiterally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
bLiterally “with the fist”; although the exact meaning of the phrase is uncertain, there is general agreement it has to do with the ritual or ceremonial nature of the handwashing
*Here “thus” is supplied as a component of the participle (“holding fast to”) which is understood as result
cThe phrase “when they come” is not in the Greek text but is implied
*The word “traditions” is not in the Greek text but is implied
*Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“have received”) has been translated as a finite verb
dThe phrase “for example” is not in the Greek text but is supplied as a clarification in the English translation
eSeveral important manuscripts omit “and dining couches”
fLiterally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
gLiterally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
hA quotation from Isa 29:13
iSome manuscripts have “you can maintain”
jA quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16
kLiterally “let him die the death”
lA quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9
mLiterally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
nLiterally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
oLiterally “you would have been benefited”
pA Hebrew term referring to something consecrated as a gift to God and thus not available for ordinary use
qLiterally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
rLiterally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
*Here “thus” is supplied as a component of the participle (“making void”) which is understood as result
*Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“going”) which is understood as means
sMost later manuscripts add v. 16, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
tLiterally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
*Here “thus” is supplied as a component of the participle (“declaring”) which is understood as result
uLiterally “the evil eye”