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Mark 7:3
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Defilement Comes from Within

1 Then athe Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem.  
2 Now1 when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with aunwashed hands, they found fault.  
3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands1 in a special way, holding the atradition of the elders.  
4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.
5 aThen the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”  
6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you ahypocrites, as it is written:
b‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me. 
7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men —the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”  
9 He said to them, “All too well ayou reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.  
10 For Moses said, a‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, b‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’  
11 But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, a“Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God),  
12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother,
13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
14 aWhen He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and bunderstand:  
15 There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that adefile a man.  
Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
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Mark 7:3

Except they wash their hands - ͅ , the hand to the wrist - Unless they wash the hand up to the wrist, eat not. Several translations are given of this word; that above is from Dr. Lightfoot, who quotes a tradition from the rabbins, stating that the hands were to be thus washed. This sort of washing was, and still continues to be, an act of religion in the eastern countries. It is particularly commanded in the Koran, Surat v. ver. 7, "O believers, when ye wish to pray, wash your faces, and your hands up to the elbows - and your feet up to the ankles." Which custom it is likely Mohammed borrowed from the Jews. The Jewish doctrine is this: "If a man neglect the washing, he shall be eradicated from this world." But instead of ͅ , the fist or hand, the Codex Bezae has ͅ , frequently: and several of the Itala have words of the same signification. Bathing is an indispensable prerequisite to the first meal of the day among the Hindoos; and washing the hands and the feet is equally so before the evening meal. Ward' s Customs.




Other Adam Clarke entries containing Mark 7:3:

Luke 11:38

 

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