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Mark — Chapter 7

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1 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.

2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.

3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.

4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.

5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?

6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:

11 And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;

12 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

13 And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:

14 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

15 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

16 And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable.

17 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;

18 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?

19 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.

20 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

21 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

22 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

23 And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.

24 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:

25 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.

26 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.

27 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.

28 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.

29 And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

30 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.

31 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.

32 And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;

33 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.

34 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.

35 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;

36 And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

Abrahamic Catechism

Bible Study

Mark — Chapter 7

✦ Talmud

• The dispute about handwashing (netilat yadayim) before eating is a central Talmudic topic, with the sages in Chullin 106a establishing it as a rabbinic obligation and tracing its origin to Solomon's decree. The Talmud in Eruvin 21b records Rabbi Akiva's extreme devotion to this practice, preferring to die of thirst rather than eat with unwashed hands while in Roman captivity. Jesus's challenge is not to washing itself but to the elevation of human tradition over divine commandment.

• Jesus's quotation of Isaiah 29:13 — "This people honors me with their lips but their hearts are far from me" — matches the Talmudic self-critique found in the very passage about types of Pharisees in Sotah 22b. The Talmud in Berakhot 17a records a prayer: "Master of the Universe, it is revealed before You that our will is to do Your will, and what prevents us? The yeast in the dough (the evil inclination)." The Talmud acknowledges the gap between external observance and inner reality that Jesus identifies.

• The declaration that "nothing outside a person can defile him" challenges the Talmudic purity system's external categories while amplifying its internal dimension. Yoma 39a teaches that sin defiles a person from within, and the Talmud in Sotah 3a states "a person does not sin unless a spirit of folly (ruach shtut) enters him." The priority of internal over external purity is present within the Talmudic system itself, and Jesus's teaching intensifies an existing rabbinic trajectory.

• The healing of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter, where Jesus initially says "let the children be fed first," engages the Talmudic concept of kedushah (holiness) ordering who receives first — in Horayot 12b-13a, the sages establish a priority order for charitable distribution. The Talmud in Gittin 61a, however, commands sustaining gentile poor alongside Jewish poor "for the ways of peace" (mipnei darkhei shalom). Jesus's ultimate response to the woman's faith moves from the priority principle to the peace principle.

• The healing of the deaf-mute using spittle and the word "Ephphatha" (be opened) echoes the Talmudic healing practices in Shabbat 108b, where saliva from a firstborn was believed to have curative properties. The Talmud in Sanhedrin 101a discusses permissible and impermissible healing incantations, distinguishing between those that invoke God's name and those that invoke other powers. Jesus's method — physical action combined with authoritative speech — falls within the category of legitimate healing the Talmud recognizes.

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