Mark 7
7
The Traditions of the Elders
Matt. 15:1-20
1 Now the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered to Him, after they had come from Jerusalem, 2 and saw that some of His disciples were eating their* bread with defiled hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their* hands, adhering to the traditions of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions which they have received and adhered to, including* the washing* of cups and pitchers and copper vessels and dining couches.)* 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes questioned Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with defiled hands?” 6 And He* said to them,
“Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honours Me with their lips,*
but their heart is distant, far away from Me;
7 and they worship Me to no purpose, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’
8 Leaving the commandment of God, you adhere to the tradition of men.” *
9 He was also saying to them, “You expertly nullify the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honour your father and your mother,’ and, ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man says to his * father or to his * mother, “Whatever help you have received from me is Corban” (that is, a gift consecrated to God), 12 you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, 13 invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down, and you do many such things.” *
14 And calling the crowd again to Himself, He began to say to them, “Listen to Me, everyone, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside the man * that is able to defile him by going into him, but the things that go out of the man * are what defile the man.” *
17 And when He went into the house, away from the crowd, His disciples began to ask Him about the parable. 18 Then He said to them, “So are you also without understanding? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside is not able to defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and goes out into the latrine?” (Thus declaring all foods ceremonially clean.) 20 And He was saying, “What comes out of the man—that defiles the man. 21 For from within, from the heart of the men, * come the evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, 22 adulteries, acts of greed, acts of wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, * slander, arrogance, foolishness. * 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile the man.”
The Faith of the Syrophoenician Woman
Matt. 15:21-28
24 Now from there He got up and went away to the region of Tyre.* And when He entered a house, He was willing that no one should know,* yet He was not able to escape notice. 25 But immediately, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, when she heard about Him, came and fell down at His feet.
26 Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast out the demon from her daughter. 27 And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not right * to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28 But she responded and said to Him, “Lord,* even the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.” 29 And He said to her, “On account of this utterance, go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30 And when she went away to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, with the demon having gone out.
The Healing of a Deaf and Mute Man
31 Then again He departed from the region of Tyre and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to Him a man who was deaf and struggled to articulate words, and they were begging Him that He would lay His hand on him. 33 And He took him away from the crowd in private and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven,* He sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (that is, “Be opened!”). 35 And his ears were opened and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began to speak accurately. 36 And He strictly charged them that they should tell no one. But the more He strictly charged them, the more extensively they persisted in proclaiming it. 37 And they were struck with amazement beyond all measure, saying, “He has done everything well! He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak!”
Notes
2 Greek the bread. So also v. 5
3 Greek the hands
4 The word including is supplied to the text on a contextual basis for the purpose of clarification
4 Greek washings
4 Some ancient manuscripts omit and dining couches
6 Some manuscripts insert answered at this point, hence the reading: He answered [ and ] said
6 Greek with lips
11 Greek the . Here, the Greek definite article functions pronominally, corresponding contextually to the English possessive his. Used twice in this verse, so also v. 12
13 Greek and you do many such things like these
15 Or person, as the term is generically understood. Used thrice in this verse. So also vv. 18, 20(twice), 23
15 Some ancient manuscripts include a verse 16, which reads: If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear
21 Or people, as the term is generically understood
22 Greek an evil eye
21-22 Some ancient manuscripts present the order in this form: evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual immoralities, murders, thefts, acts of greed, acts of wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, arrogance, foolishness
24 Some ancient manuscripts insert and Sidon, as a way of harmonising the reading with a parallel in Matt. 15:21
24 Greek He was willing no one to know
27 Or good
28 Some ancient manuscripts insert Yes before the name Lord, in order to harmonise the reading with a parallel in Matt. 15:27
34 Greek the heaven
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
