Mark 7:9

Mar 7:9-13. And he said, Full well — Καλως, fairly, wholly; ye reject, &c. — Or, reading the word separately, Finely done! How praiseworthy is your conduct! A strong irony. Ye reject the commandment of God that ye may keep your own tradition — The words, your own, are emphatical, distinguishing the commandments of men, the corrupt traditions of the Pharisees, from the commandments of God. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother — “Lest the charge, which our Lord brought against the Pharisees, should be thought without foundation, because it contained an imputation of such gross profaneness, he supported it by an instance of an atrocious kind. God, saith he, has commanded children to honour their parents, that is, among other things, to maintain them when reduced to poverty, as the word honour signifies, 1Ti 5:17, promising life to such as do so, and threatening death against those that do otherwise. Nevertheless, ye Pharisees, presumptuously making light of the divine commandment, affirm that it is a more sacred duty to enrich the temple than to nourish one’s parents, though they be in the utmost necessity; pretending that what is offered to the great Parent is better bestowed than that which is given for the support of our parents on earth; as if the interest of God were different from that of his creatures. Nay, ye impiously teach that a man may lawfully suffer his parents to starve, if he can say to them, It is corban, (a gifts) &c., by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me — That is, that which should have succoured you, is given to the temple. Thus ye hypocrites have, by your frivolous traditions, made void the commandment of God, though of immutable and eternal obligation; and disguised with the cloak of piety the most horrid and unnatural action that a man can easily be guilty of.” — See Macknight, and the note on Mat 15:4-6.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7:9-13 Next, Jesus provides an instance where the Pharisees’ traditions contradicted God’s law and allowed them to sidestep its requirements.

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

Mar 7:9. Καλῶς ἀθετεῖτε, full well ye reject) הטיב, for which the LXX. have κακῶς, i.e. it is well said, when it is so said [It is a true saying that ye, etc.] Just as a true picture of a conflagration is well done. And also they had supposed they were doing well in doing so.—ἵνα, in order that) This is a true accusation against them, although the hypocrites did not think that this was their own intention.

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

9. καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς. The insertion of this introductory formula confirms the impression that Mar 7:8 and Mar 7:9 come from two different sources. Syr-Sin. omits the words.

Καλῶς. See on Joh 4:17 and 2Co 11:4. The irony is stronger here. This was the beautiful result of their putting a fence about the Law; their fence had shut off the Law so completely that the sight of it was lost.

ἀθετεῖτε. See on Mar 6:26; as applied to such words as ἐντολή, νόμος, διαθήκη, it means not merely violating, but treating as null and void (Heb 10:28; Gal 3:15). The oral tradition had supplanted the written Law—everywhere by engrossing men’s attention, and in some cases by contravening its spirit. D.C.G. art. “Tradition.”

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.

True Religion, which is clean contrary to superstition, consisteth in spiritual worship: and all enemies of true Religion, although they seem to have taken deep root, shall be plucked up.

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

Verse 9. Full well] καλωσ , -a strong irony. How noble is your conduct! From conscientious attachment to your own traditions ye have annihilated the commandments of God!

That ye may keep] But στησητε, that ye may establish, is the reading of D, three others, Syriac, all the Itala, with Cyprian, Jerome, and Zeno. Griesbach thinks it should be received instead of the other. God's law was nothing to these men, in comparison of their own: hear a case in point. "Rabba said, How foolish are most men! They observe the precepts of the Divine law, and neglect the statutes of the rabbins!" Maccoth, fol. 22.

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

(9) Full well ye reject.—The adverb is peculiar to St. Mark, and has in it the ring of a scathing and indignant irony. The word “reject” is hardly formal enough, the Greek conveying the idea, as in Gal_3:15, Heb_7:18, of “rescinding” or “repealing.” This the Pharisees practically did when they added traditions which pretended to be interpretations, but were in reality at variance with it.

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

And he said unto them,.... He continued his discourse, saying,

full well, or "fairly",

ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition: these words may be considered, as spoken ironically, thus; as pious and excellently good men, you in a very fair and handsome manner, reject and make void the commandments and laws of God; and it is very fit it should be so, in order to preserve your own traditions, that nothing may be wanting to keep up the honour of them, and a due regard to them. The Arabic version reads the words by way of interrogation, "is it fit that you should omit the commandments of God, and keep your own statutes?" and so the Ethiopic, "do ye rightly make void the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own commandment?" Which makes them come nearer to the passage in Matthew; See Gill on Mat 15:3.

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

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

Ver. 9. Full well ye reject] q.d. It is finely done of you, is it not? καλως. Sane, Bene. Ironice; ye are wise men therewhile. This was check to their masterships. Sapientes sapienter in infernum descendent, saith a father. The world’s wizards have not wit enough to escape hell.

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.

Well do you. Christ here speaks by the figure called irony. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Here the word kalwv is repeated. Full well (kalwv) do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition. It is as though our Lord said, "Your traditions are not instituted by God, or by his servants the prophets, but they are modern inventions, which you desire to defend, not out of love or reverence for them, but because you are the successors of those who invented them, and arrogate to yourselves the power of adding to them and making similar new traditions.

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

The attack of Christ:

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

v. 10. For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father and mother, let him die the death.

v. 11. But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free.

v. 12. And ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or his mother;

v. 13. making the Word of God of none effect through your tradition which ye have delivered; and many such like things do ye.

Having defended Himself successfully and silenced His detractors, the Lord now assumes the offensive. He employs pointed sarcasm: It is a fine way in which you frustrate the commandment of God that your tradition may be upheld! The Pharisees not only placed the precepts of tradition on the same level with those of God, but by their peculiar emphasis upon them actually set the latter aside. An example of this irreverent and blasphemous method: setting aside the Fourth Commandment for the sake of a probable sacrifice. God’s Law is clear on the relation of children to parents, Exo 20:12; Deu 5:16, also regarding the punishment of those that disregard the rights of the parents, Exo 21:17; Lev 20:9. He had placed the service to parents next to that of Himself. But the Pharisees took advantage of the fact that God had sanctioned free-will offerings or sacrifices. They taught: If a man says to his father or his mother, Corban, that is, a free-will gift, let that be what you would have from me for your benefit or help. The final understanding of the expression came to be: if a son or daughter took the money, the goods, the earnings, the means, with which he could and should assist his poor and needy parents, and dedicated it to God as a sacrifice or free-will offering for the Temple, he did well. The Pharisees held the mere making of such a vow, the mere use of the expression Corban, for a service done to God, which could very well take precedence of the service due to parents. In doing so, they set aside even the plain truth of the Old Testament, Pro 28:24. The result of such teaching soon became evident: The honor due to parents was forgotten, the fact that they were God’s substitutes was disregarded. Thus they literally set at naught the Word of God, and such instances could be multiplied. That was Christ’s attack, one that showed the real relation of values.

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

9.] καλῶς—ironical: see ref.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. καλῶς ἀθετεῖτε1—well do you set aside. καλῶς is used here ironically, like our word bravely.

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