Mar 7:1-23 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Mark 7:1-23: 7:1-23 This account has no direct connection with what precedes it. It assumes only a context such as “Once in the ministry of Jesus.” After setting the scene (7:1-4 ), Mark introduces the Pharisees’ question (7:5 ), followed by Jesus’ response (7:6-23 ). The first part of Jesus’ response (7:6-13 ) centers around two Old Testament passages and a twofold attack on the Pharisees’ traditions (7:6-8 , 9-13 ). In the second part (7:14-23 ), Jesus teaches about what does and does not truly defile. 7:1 Readers already know that the Pharisees and teachers of religious law were hostile to Jesus (see 2:16 , 24 ; 3:6 , 22 ).

Summary for Mark 7:1-23: 7:1-23 ^a This account has no direct connection with what precedes it. It assumes only a context such as “Once in the ministry of Jesus.” After setting the scene (7:1-4 ^b), Mark introduces the Pharisees’ question (7:5 ^c), followed by Jesus’ response (7:6-23 ^d). The first part of Jesus’ response (7:6-13 ^e) centers around two Old Testament passages and a twofold attack on the Pharisees’ traditions (7:6-8 ^f, 9-13 ^g). In the second part (7:14-23 ^h), Jesus teaches about what does and does not truly defile. 7:1 ⁱ Readers already know that the Pharisees and teachers of religious law were hostile to Jesus (see 2:16 ^j, 24 ^k; 3:6 ^l, 22 ^m).
Summary for Mark 7:2-4: 7:2-4 ⁿ Mark explains the Pharisaic practices of ritual cleansing for his non-Jewish (Gentile) readers. The ancient traditions (literally the traditions of the elders) were as yet unwritten accounts that the Pharisees believed had been given to Moses on Mount Sinai along with the written law. They were written down around AD 200 in the Mishnah, one of the key sources for understanding ancient Judaism.
7:5 ^o Since the Pharisees believed that their oral traditions were given to Moses as part of God’s divine revelation, they asked Jesus why his disciples did not keep them. After all, teachers were responsible for the behavior of their disciples (see 2:24 ^p).
Summary for Mark 7:6-8: 7:6-8 ^q Jesus first responds by quoting Isa 29:13 ^r (Greek version), which deals with the farce of equating man-made ideas with God’s commands. It describes well the situation in which the Pharisees had substituted their human tradition for God’s law.
Summary for Mark 7:9-13: 7:9-13 ^s Next, Jesus provides an instance where the Pharisees’ traditions contradicted God’s law and allowed them to sidestep its requirements.
Summary for Mark 7:11-12: 7:11-12 ^t But you say: The contrast with God’s law is emphatic—their tradition repudiated God’s command for people to honor their parents by providing for their needs.

• ‘For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you’: The tradition said that people could sidestep their obligation to support their parents by dedicating some of their resources to God, thus disregarding and dishonoring their needy parents.
7:13 ^u The result of such traditions was to cancel the word of God.

• only one example among many others: It was not an isolated instance; see, e.g., Isa 1:10-20 ^v; 58:1-14 ^w.
Summary for Mark 7:14-23: 7:14-23 ^x Jesus’ second argument against the Pharisees was a proverb that Jesus told the crowd. Later, in the privacy of a home, Jesus explained it to his disciples (7:17-23 ^y). It concerns moral distinctions about eating. Eating affects the digestive system, but moral issues involve the heart. The heart is a metaphor for the seat of moral decision making. How a person eats (with clean or unclean hands) or what a person eats (clean or unclean food) affects only the digestive tract, so it has no bearing on the moral issues of the soul. To help his later readers understand the implications of Jesus’ teaching, Mark adds the interpretive comment By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes. In the apostolic church, Peter and Paul were instrumental in bringing this implication to light (see Acts 10:1–11:18 ^z; Rom 14:14 ^aa; 1 Cor 8:8 ^ab; Gal 2:11-21 ^ac).
Summary for Mark 7:20-22: 7:20-22 ^ad These verses summarize thirteen things that truly defile a person. These actions and vices all come from the heart.