Mark 7:6

7:6-8 Jesus first responds by quoting Isa 29:13 (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.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 7:6. Ὑποκριτῶν, hypocrites) Indeed, we may derive from this passage a definition of hypocrisy. These Pharisees were a sample of hypocrites in general.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 7:6-13 . The reply of Jesus . It consists of a prophetic citation and a countercharge, given by Mt. in an inverted order. Commentators, according to their bias, differ as to which of the two versions is secondary.

Mar 7:6 . καλῶς : twice used in Mk. (Mar 7:9 ), here = appositely, in Mar 7:9 ironically = bravely, finely. The citation from Isaiah is given in identical terms in the two accounts.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Hypocrisy is always joined with superstition.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 6. Honoureth me] με τιμα - but the Codex Bezae, and three copies of the Itala, have με αγαπα, loveth me: - the AEthiopic has both readings.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(6) Well hath Esaias prophesied.—Strictly, well did Esaias prophesy.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. Well hath Esaias] Rather, Well, or full well did Esaias prophesy of you. “Well” is said in irony. This expression recurs in Mar_7:9, “full well ye reject” = “finely do ye set at naught and obliterate.”

This people honoureth me] The words are found in Isa_29:13.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He answered and said unto them,.... Matthew postpones the following citation and application of the prophecy of Isaiah, to the account of the command of God being broken by the tradition of Corban; which Mark makes the answer of Christ to begin with:

well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites; which in Matthew is read, "ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you", Mat 15:7; to the same sense as here: for the prophecy of Isaiah not only described the hypocrites of his time, but had respect chiefly to the Jews in succeeding ages, in the times of Christ, and both before and after; when they would, as they did, greatly degenerate, and lost the power and spirituality of religion, and had only the form of it; left the word of God for the traditions of men, and were given up to great stupidity, and to judicial blindness: hence the Apostle Paul refers to a passage in the same chapter, Isa 29:10, and applies it to the Jews in his time, Rom 11:8; See Gill on Mat 15:7, saying,

as it is written in Isa 29:13,

this people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In the Prophet Isaiah more is said than is here cited; and so in Matthew more is produced, and the whole is there expressed thus: "this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me", Mat 15:8, they presented their bodies before the Lord in the synagogues, or in the temple, and prayed to him with an air of devotion and fervency, and offered up their praises to him, for their external privileges and blessings; but, alas! this was all lip labour; there was no lifting up their hearts, with their hands, unto God; these were not united to fear his name, but were distracted in his worship, and carried away from him to other objects; See Gill on Mat 15:8.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

Ver. 6. {See Trapp on "Mat 15:2"} {See Trapp on "Mat 15:3"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. Esaias prophesied — Matthew (Mat_15:6-8) gives these words in a different and more appropriate order. The quotation from the prophet naturally follows as a confirmation of the description which our Lord himself gives to the Pharisees to their face. It may be added that Mark shows himself not the mere copyist of Matthew, from the fact that he does not here, as sometimes, simply add some heightening expressions; but he adds words spoken by Jesus, and with all the divine style of the Great Teacher, which are given by no other evangelist.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 6, 7. Our Lord quotes against them a prophecy of Isaiah, (Isa_29:13) This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. The prophet here gives the cause of the blindness of the Jews, because they honored God with their lips, while their heart was far from him; and their worship of him (for that is the meaning of "their fear") was the commandment of men, which they had been taught; that is, they worshipped God, not according to that spiritual worship which he had commanded, but after the traditions of men and of their own scribes, partly futile, partly perverse, and contrary to God"s Law. So he says, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you. The word is kalwv , "excellently beautifully did he prophesy concerning you (twn upokritwn), the hypocrites." Not that the prophet had the hypocrites of our Saviour"s time in his mind when he uttered these words, but that the Spirit of God which was within him enabled him to describe accurately the character of those who seven centuries afterwards would be doing the same things as their forefathers. And observe how they were punished. For as they gave a lip-service only to God, praising him with their mouth indeed, but giving their heart to vanity and the world; so God on his part would give them the words only the shell, so to speak, the letter which killeth; but take away from them the kernel the spirit and the life, so that they might not lay hold of it nor taste it.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isaiah xxix, 13.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The Lord’s answer:

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

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

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

In cases of weakness and lack of understanding the Lord was always willing to employ a great deal of patience, but in the case of the Pharisees, where utter hardness of heart was united with supercilious haughtiness and unwillingness to be taught, Jesus used the weapons of invective and sarcasm, and sometimes of bitter denunciation. He applies a double prophecy of Isaiah to them. With their lips they honored the Lord, endless prayers with babbling repetition were their strong suit, but their heart was altogether away, at a great distance from Him. They were proud of their outward observance of the precepts of both the Law and of the tradition of the elders, believing that this was true service of God. But vain is such worship, the Lord informs them, since they teach and insist upon the doctrines of men. In accordance with this prophecy, Jesus fitly calls them hypocrites, actors of a kind, that go through the routine of their part, say their prayers, and make the appropriate gestures by rote, but who seldom or never can reach the spontaneous expression of one that speaks and acts out of the fullness of his heart. Like them, all people that place the commandments of men on the same level with God’s holy Law and for the sake of their precepts change and even set aside the eternal Word of God, are hypocrites, whose heart is far from God, who do not give the Lord their heart, for otherwise they would have the proper relevance for the same. The rebuke of Jesus exactly strikes the sore spot: they put aside the command of God and cling to the tradition of men.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Here Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah, who had written scripture many years earlier.

with their lips

Here "lips" is a metonym for speaking. AT: "by what they say" (See: Metonymy)

but their heart is far from me

Here "heart" refers to a person's thoughts or emotions. This is a way of saying the people are not truly devoted to God. AT: "but they do not really love me" (See: Metonymy and Idiom)

Empty worship they offer me

"They offer me useless worship" or "They worship me in vain"

translationWords

Isaiah

prophet

hypocrite

honor

worship

doctrine

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

6. [1417][1418][1419][1420] 33 omit ἀποκριθείς. See on Mar 10:5.

[1417] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[1418] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[1419] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mar 1:1 to Mar 10:15; Mar 10:30 to Mar 15:1; Mar 15:20 to Mar 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

[1420] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.

6. Καλῶς ἐπροφήτευσεν. “With beautiful appropriateness Isaiah prophesied.” Cf. Mar 12:28; Mar 12:32; Luk 20:39; and esp. Act 28:25. Everywhere in N.T., including Jud 1:14, and almost everywhere in LXX., ἐπροφ. is to be preferred to προεφ. There is no simple verb φητεύω. But in other verbs late writers sometimes put the augment before the preposition. Blass, § 15, 17.

ὑποκριτῶν. This word, so freq. in Mt., occurs here only in Mk, and here it is omitted in Syr-Sin. In Job 34:30; Job 36:13 it means the godless man and = παράνομος (Job 17:8, Job 20:5). It is not found in Jn.

ὡς γέγραπται. See on Mar 1:2. Mt. agrees with Mk in this quotation from Isa 29:13, and both abbreviate the LXX., omitting ἐγγίζει and ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6. καλῶς—well; i.e., in this case, truly. τῶν ὑποκριτῶν—the hypocrites. This is the only passage in Mk. in which this word occurs. It means properly a play-actor, and hence a person who is playing a part in life, whose real character is not represented by what men see. This secondary meaning belongs to Biblical Greek.

Omit ἀποκριθεὶς, answering, at the beginning of this verse, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. א BL Δ 33, 102, Memph. Pesh. Omit ὅτι before καλῶς, Tisch. (Treg.) WH. א BL Δ 33, 102, most mss. Lat. Vet. Vulg. Pesh. ἐπροφήτευσεν, instead of προεφήτευσεν, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. א B* DL Δ 1, 13, 33, 124, 346.

ὡς γέγραπται ὅτι ὁ λαὸς οὗτος—literally, as it has been written, that this people.

Insert ὅτι before ὁ λαὸς, Tisch. WH. א BL Pesh.

This quotation is from Isa 29:13, and conforms for the most part to the LXX., which reads Ἐγγίζει μοι ὁ λαὸς οὗτος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν ταῖς χείλεσιν αὐτοῦ τιμῶσί με, ἡ δὲ καρδία αὐτῶν πόρῥω ἀπέχει ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ; μάτην δὲ σέβονταί με διδάσκοντες ἐντάλματα ἀνθρώπων κ. διδασκαλίας—This people draws near to me with its mouth, and with their lips they honor me, but their heart is far from me. But in vain they honor me, teaching commandments and teachings of men. The Heb. is translated in the RV., Forasmuch as this people draw nigh to me, and with their mouth and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which hath been taught them. The principal difference is in this last clause, which in the original charges them with fearing God only in obedience to a human commandment; while in our passage and in the LXX., it states the vanity of their worship, owing to their substitution of human commands for the Divine law. It is this misquoted part which makes the point of the quotation, and it is the misquotation which makes it available.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Well [καλως] . Finely, beautifully. Ironical.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.