Mark7chapter 7

This chapter contains the clearest proof of who Mark was writing for. He stops the narrative to explain that the Pharisees and all the Jews wash their hands before eating, and that they wash cups and pots and vessels — an explanation no Jewish reader would need. Stone step-down baths for such purification have been excavated all over first-century Judea.

The custom at issue was tradition rather than the written Law: a ritual pouring of water over the hands, part of the body of practice the Pharisees held was handed down alongside Moses.

The counter-example Jesus gives is a real legal device. Declaring property korban — dedicated to God — put it beyond ordinary use, including the support a son owed his aged parents. Mark translates the word for his readers. A first-century burial box found near Jerusalem carries the same term, showing it was in common use, and the vow's binding force is exactly what made it usable as a dodge.

The journey then goes north-west into Phoenician territory and afterwards south-east through the Decapolis — a long loop entirely outside Jewish land. The woman is identified as Syrophoenician, a Gentile by birth, and Mark keeps the Aramaic command over the deaf man's ears, ephphatha, and translates it.