Markchapter 7
37 verses · Mark · AD 55 to 65 · The Gospels
Jesus answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.
Introduction
Mark, The Gospels, Mark Overview.
Mark stops his story in this chapter to explain Jewish washing customs, a sign that he was writing for readers outside Judaism, most likely the believers in Rome. The chapter begins with a dispute about clean and unclean and then follows Jesus on a long circuit through Gentile lands. Listen for the difference Jesus draws between what enters a person and what comes out of the heart. Listen also for the answer of a foreign mother, and for the Aramaic word Mark keeps and translates. Read it as a chapter about who is clean before God and who may come to the table.
Context
- Who
- Gentile readers who needed Jewish washing customs spelled out, and Mark spells them out
- What
- A dispute with Pharisees and scribes over the tradition of the elders, followed by two healings among Gentiles.
- Where
- Galilee, the region of Tyre on the Phoenician coast, and the Decapolis east of the lake.
- When
- The Galilean ministry, about AD 29, as Jesus travelled beyond the borders of Galilee.
- Why
- To show that uncleanness comes from the human heart, and that the mercy of Jesus reaches beyond Israel to the Gentiles.
Historical context
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.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
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.
Significance
Mark states the conclusion in his own voice: he declared all foods clean. For a congregation of Gentile believers in Rome eating what Romans ate, that sentence settled a question that had split churches.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
And the two healings that follow both happen on Gentile soil. A church made mostly of non-Jews was being shown that its inclusion was not an afterthought bolted on later, it was there in the ministry itself, before anyone had written a letter about it.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Washed Hands and Nullified Commandments
Mark 7:1-2
who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus: The Pharisees and scribes who gathered around Jesus had come from Jerusalem, a delegation from the capital. Their complaint is that His disciples ate with defiled hands, though the law nowhere commands such washing for ordinary meals.
Mark 7:1
“Then came together unto him the Pharisees,.... Having heard of his miracles, and that he was come into the land of Gennesaret; they consulted with one another, and came together to Jesus, to watch and observe what was said and done by him, and take what advantage they could against him.”
3 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Mark 7:1
“Came from Jerusalem - Probably for the express purpose of disputing with Christ, that they might entangle him in his talk. Malice and envy are never idle - they incessantly hunt the person they intend to make their prey.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 7:1
“See this passage explained in the notes at Mat. 15:1-20. Mar 7:1 Came from Jerusalem - Probably to observe his conduct, and to find matter of accusation against him. Mar 7:2 Defiled hands - The hands were considered defiled or polluted unless they were washed previous to every meal. Mar 7:3 Except they wash their hands oft - Our word “oft” means frequently, often. The Greek wore translated oft has been rendered various ways. Some have said that it means “up to the wrist” - unless they wash their hands up to the wrist.”
Mark 7:1
“This passage contains a humbling picture of what human nature is capable of doing in religion. It is one of those Scriptures which ought to be frequently and diligently studied by all who desire the prosperity of the Church of Christ. The first thing which demands our attention in these verses, is the low and degraded condition of Jewish religion, when our Lord was upon earth . What can be more deplorable than the statement now before us? We find the principal teachers of the Jewish nation finding fault, "because our Lord's disciples ate bread with unwashed hands!"”
Jerome explains that the word translated defiled means common, the Jewish term for what all nations used. Matthew Henry supposes the disciples knew they were watched and still would not humour the Pharisees. Adam Clarke reads verses 3 and 4 as an aside.
Mark 7:2
“The disciples knew (it is probable) that the Pharisees had their eye upon them, and yet they would not humour them by a compliance with their traditions, but took their liberty as at other times, and ate bread with unwashen hands; and herein their righteousness, however it might seem to come short, did really exceed, that of the scribes and Pharisees, Matt. v. 20 .”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 7:2
“They found fault - This is wanting in ABEHLV, nineteen others, and several versions: Mill and Bengel approve the omission, and Griesbach rejects the word. If the 3d and 4th verses be read in a parenthesis, the 2d and 5th verses will appear to be properly connected, without the above clause.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 7:3-4
they wash their hands ceremonially: The washings Mark lists, of hands, cups, pitchers, kettles, and couches for dining, came from the tradition of the elders. The Pharisees held this oral teaching as binding as Scripture, though the law of Moses commands none of it.
Mark 7:3
“Except they wash their hands - πυγμῃ, 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.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and couches: John Damascene explains that Pharisee means those who are set apart, and that they followed a rigorous way of life. John Wesley notes that the Greek word for these washings can mean washing or sprinkling. Cups and vessels were washed, and couches sprinkled.
Mark 7:4
“Washing of cups and pots and brazen vessels and couches - The Greek word (baptisms) means indifferently either washing or sprinkling. The cups, pots, and vessels were washed; the couches sprinkled.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 7:4
“Pharisee is a name meaning "those who are set apart." They followed a way of life which they regarded as most perfect. They esteemed their way as superior to others. They affirmed the resurrection of the dead, the existence of angels, and holiness of life. They followed a rigorous way of life, practicing asceticism and sexual abstinence for periods of time and fasting twice a week. They ceremonially cleansed their pots and plates and cups, as did the scribes. They observed the paying of tithes, the offering of first fruits, and the recitation of many prayers.”
John Damascene · written before 749 · On Heresies 15patristic
Mark 7:4
“And when they come - This clause is added by our translators, to fill up the sense; but it was probably a part of the original: for εαν ελθωσι is the reading of the Codex Bezae, Vulgate, Armenian, and most of the Itala. The clause in my old MS. Bible is read thus: And thei turninge agein fro chepinge. The words seem essentially necessary to a proper understanding of the text; and, if not admitted on the above authority, they must be supplied in italics, as in our common translation.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The Pharisees and scribes ask why His disciples do not walk according to the tradition of the elders. Their own question names the tradition as the rule broken, and the law of God goes unmentioned.
Mark 7:5
“Then the Pharisees and Scribes asked him,.... Not the disciples, but Christ himself; for their chief view was to find fault, and quarrel with him: why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with unwashen hands? or "with common", that is, defiled "hands", as in Mar 7:2. So the words are read in Beza's most ancient copy, and in one of Stephens's copies, and in the Vulgate Latin version.”
Mark 7:6-7
Jesus answers with Isaiah: These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. The charge carries weight because it comes from Scripture they themselves accepted.
Mark 7:6
“They honour me with their lips, they pretend it is for the glory of God that they impose those things, to distinguish themselves from the heathen; but really their heart is far from God, and is governed by nothing but ambition and covetousness.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 7:6
“Honoreth me - Με τιμᾳ - but the Codex Bezae, and three copies of the Itala, have με αγαπᾳ, loveth me: - the Ethiopic has both readings.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Cross references
Mark 7:6
- QuotingIsaiah 29:13“Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.”
'This people honoureth me with their lips' ('well hath Esaias prophesied')
John Gill notes that these words continue the citation from Isaiah 29:13. Matthew Henry names the motive the Pharisees claimed: their rules set them apart from the heathen for the glory of God. Their hearts, he says, were ruled by ambition and covetousness.
Mark 7:7
“Howbeit, in vain do they worship me,.... This is the continuation of the citation out of Isaiah, as is also what follows: teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
Mark 7:8-9
You have disregarded the commandment of God: Jesus repeats the charge with a sharper edge: You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain your own tradition. The word neatly is irony, and the repetition marks how grave He judges the offense.
Mark 7:8
For the tradition of the elders themselves, which they pretended to observe from the law, was contrary to the law given by Moses. Wherefore also Esaias declares: "Thy dealers mix the wine with water," showing that the elders were in the habit of mingling a watered tradition with the simple command of God; that is, they set up a spurious law, and one contrary to the [true] law; as also the Lord made plain, when He said to them, "Why do ye transgress the commandment of God, for the sake of your tradition?"
Irenaeus · written before 202 · Against Heresies Book 4patristic
3 more voices on this verse
Mark 7:8
“For laying aside the commandment of God,.... Meaning not any particular commandment, but all the commandments of God, the whole written law; to which they preferred the oral law, or the traditions of the elders, and the decisions of their doctors. So the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read, "the commandments of God".”
Mark 7:8
“Washing of pots and cups, etc. - This whole clause is wanting in BL, five others, and the Coptic: one MS. omits this and the whole of the ninth verse. The eighth verse is not found in the parallel place of Mat 15:7-9.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 7:8
“Note, It is the mischief of impositions, that too often they who are zealous for them, have little zeal for the essential duties of religion, but can contentedly see them laid aside.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Adam Clarke notes an early reading in which they set aside God's command in order to establish their tradition. He finds it in the Syriac and the Itala, cited by Cyprian and Jerome.
Mark 7:9
“These, doubtless, they imitate and follow, who, despising God's tradition, seek after strange doctrines, and bring in teachings of human appointment, whom the Lord rebukes and reproves in His Gospel, saying, "Ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." This is a worse crime than that which the lapsed seem to have fallen into, who nevertheless, standing as penitents for their crime, beseech God with full satisfactions.”
Cyprian · written before 258 · Treatise I. On the Unity of the Churchpatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 7:9
“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.”
Mark 7:9
“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!”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 7:10-11
Jesus sets Corban, a gift devoted to God, against the fifth commandment, Honor your father and your mother. By such a vow a man could close his goods to his parents' use.
Mark 7:10
“Hence it is easy to infer, that it is the duty of children, if their parents be poor, to relieve them, according to their ability; and if those children are worthy to die, that curse their parents, much more those that starve them.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Cross references
Mark 7:10
- QuotingExodus 20:12“Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”
'Honour thy father and thy mother' (Corban dispute, 'Moses said')
- QuotingExodus 21:17“Anyone who curses his father or mother must surely be put to death.”
'Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death'
Jerome explains that honor in the fifth commandment means relieving a parent's needs, beyond empty words of respect. Theophylact of Ohrid adds that the Pharisees gained from such gifts. Matthew Henry traces a slide from making light of God's commands to making them void.
Mark 7:11
“The Lord himself discussed that commandment of the law which says: "Honor thy father and thy mother." He made it clear that it is to be interpreted not as mere words, which, while offering an empty show of honor to parents, might still leave them poor and their necessities unrelieved. Instead the honor of parents should focus on the actual provision of the necessities of life. The Lord commanded that poor parents should be supported by their children who would reimburse them back when they are old for all those benefits which they themselves received in childhood.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Letter 123, to Ageruchiapatristic
Mark 7:12-13
he is no longer permitted to do anything for his father or mother: Under Corban a son is no longer permitted to do anything for his father or mother, the parents he is commanded to honor. Jesus names the result: Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down.
Mark 7:12
“And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father, or his mother.”
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 7:12
“Christ says, "Spare the poor"; Mammon says, "Even from the naked strip off the things they have." Christ says, "Empty thyself of what thou hast"; Mammon says, "Take also what thou hast not." Seest thou the opposition, seest thou the strife? How is it that a man cannot easily obey both, but must despise one?… Christ says, "Whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple"; Mammon says, "Take the bread from the hungry." Christ says, "Cover the naked"; the other says, "Strip the naked."”
John Chrysostom · written before 407 · Homilies on Philippians 6patristic
Mark 7:12
“The condemnation of those who have knowledge yet do not put their knowledge into practice is more severe. Even sin committed in ignorance is not without risk.”
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · The Morals 4patristic
you nullify the word of God: Adam Clarke notes that a few early copies read your foolish tradition here. Cyprian applied the verse to church custom in his own day. Where a custom departs from what Christ commanded, he argued, obedience must follow the divine precept and the custom must yield.
Mark 7:13
“Your tradition - D, later Syriac in the margin, Saxon, and all the Itala but one, add τῃ μωρᾳ, by your Foolish tradition, your foolish law: - Anglo-Saxon.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Defilement Comes From Within
Mark 7:14-16
listen to Me and understand: Once again Jesus called the crowd to Him, so this teaching is public and meant for every hearer. Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him overturns the premise of ceremonial food and hand purity at a stroke.
Mark 7:14
“Teaching people to understand the dietary prescriptions of the Law not in a carnal manner, the Lord begins here to gradually reveal the meaning of the Law and says that nothing entering from outside defiles anyone, but what comes from the heart defiles.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Markpatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 7:14
“When he had called all the people - But instead of παντα, all, παλιν, again, is the reading of BDL, later Syriac in the margin, Coptic, Ethiopic, Saxon, Vulgate, all the Itala but one. Mill and Griesbach approve of this reading.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 7:14
“Note, It is not enough for the common people to hear, but they must understand what they hear. When Christ would run down the tradition of the Pharisees about washing before meat, he strikes at the opinion which was the root of it. Note, Corrupt customs are best cured by rectifying corrupt notions.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Mark 7:15
the things that come out of a man: Matthew Henry applies the saying to thoughts, affections, words and actions, which alone defile a person before God. Tertullian applies it to the tongue. A curse returned for a curse, he says, defiles the one who speaks it.
Mark 7:15
“When, then, on being cursed, I smite (with my tongue, ) how shall I be found to have followed the doctrine of the Lord, in which it has been delivered that "a man is defiled, not by the defilements of vessels, but of the things which are sent forth out of his mouth.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · Of Patiencepatristic
Mark 7:16
“If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. See Gill on Mat 11:15.”
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 7:16
“To the crowd the Lord spoke in this manner not quite clearly, which is why He also remarked: "he who has ears to hear, let him hear," that is: let him who understands, understand.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Markpatristic
Mark 7:17-19
His disciples inquired about the parable: In the house Jesus explains that food cannot defile a man, because it does not enter his heart. Mark then adds his own comment, Thus all foods are clean.
Mark 7:17
“The Lord begins by chiding them, wherefore there follows, Are ye so without understanding also? Then the Lord shows them what was hidden, saying, Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot make him common?”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 7:17
“There is nothing entering into a man from without which can defile him - Though it is very true, a man may bring guilt, which is moral defilement, upon himself by eating what hurts his health, or by excess either in meat or drink yet even here the pollution arises from the wickedness of the heart, and is just proportionable to it.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
John Gill hears some warmth in the question. Matthew 15:16 frames it as surprise that the disciples still lacked understanding after so long with him. Theophylact of Ohrid notes that Jesus first rebukes them and then explains what was hidden.
Mark 7:18
“And he saith unto them,.... With some warmth of spirit and resentment, at their stupidity: are ye so without understanding also? As well as others, and to such a degree; and "yet", as Matthew expresses it, Mat 15:16, so wretchedly stupid, and so long, and as much, as others: do ye not perceive? common sense will tell you, that whatsoever thing from, without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; See Gill on Mat 15:16.”
(Thus all foods are clean.): Adam Clarke, working from the older reading, took purging all meats to describe digestion, which keeps what nourishes and discards the rest. The Berean text takes them as Mark's comment. Origen warns against reading the food laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy only at the surface.
Mark 7:19
When we read in Leviticus and Deuteronomy of the laws about food as clean and unclean (for the transgression of which we are censured by the legalists and by the Ebionites, who differ from them very little), we are not to think that the scope of the Scripture is found in any superficial understanding of them. For "whatever goes into a person from the outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and so passes on."
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Commentary on Matthew 11.12patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 7:19
“Into the draught - See on Mat 15:17 (note). Purging all meats? - For what is separated from the different aliments taken into the stomach, and thrown out of the body, is the innutritious parts of all the meats that are eaten; and thus they are purged, nothing being left behind but what is proper for the support of the body.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 7:20-23
Jesus places defilement in the heart: For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder. Evil thoughts stand first, the inward root named before the acts.
Mark 7:20
“How weary the Savior must have been of the idle prattle of the scribes and Pharisees! They are forever talking about washing hands before meals and washing pots and cups—and He is all the while occupied with the great griefs and sins of men and how He can save them from the wrath to come. He must have felt as some true physician feels who looks upon a patient, marks the serious nature of the sickness and plans a remedy—while some quack is boasting his nostrums or performing ridiculous signs and passes over the dying man.”
evil thoughts: Matthew Henry compares this list with Matthew 15:19. Matthew names false witness, which Mark omits, while Mark adds seven sins that Matthew leaves out. John Gill notes that, except for blasphemy, these additions appear in no other Gospel.
Mark 7:21
“Divers particulars are specified, as in Matthew; we had one there, which is not here, and that is, false witness-bearing; but seven are mentioned here, to be added to those we had there.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
arrogance, and foolishness: John Wesley defines two words in the list. Wickedness covers ill nature, cruelty and every malevolent feeling, and foolishness means wild imaginations and extravagant passions. The Glossa Ordinaria adds that foolishness includes wrong thoughts about God, the opposite of wisdom.
Mark 7:22
“Wickedness - The word means ill natured, cruelty, inhumanity, and all malevolent affections. Foolishness - Directly contrary to sobriety of thought and discourse: all kind of wild imaginations and extravagant passions.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
John Gill calls the heart the fountain from which all these impure streams flow. Charles Spurgeon pictures Jesus as a true physician. The Pharisees, he says, were like a quack busy with outward signs while the patient died.
Mark 7:23
“All these evil things come from within,.... All evil thoughts, words, and actions, take their rise from the inward parts of man; from his heart; which is sadly corrupted, and is the fountain from whence all these impure streams flow.”
The Syrophoenician Mother Who Would Not Leave
went to the region of Tyre: Jesus withdraws into Gentile territory, the region of Tyre, and seeks a privacy He cannot keep. He entered a house, but was unable to escape their notice, for His name had already reached this pagan coastal region.
Mark 7:24
“The Gentiles, those who dwell on the borders, can be saved if they believe.… Think of it this way: Each of us when he sins is living on the borders of Tyre or Sidon or of Pharaoh and Egypt. They are on the borders of those who are outside the inheritance of God.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Commentary on Matthew 11.16patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 7:24
“Into the borders of Tyre and Sidon - Or, into the country between Tyre and Sidon. I have adopted this translation from Kypke, who proves that this is the meaning of the word μεθορια, in the best Greek writers.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 7:24
“The woman was a Greek (that is, a Gentile, not a Jew) a Syrophenician or Canaanite. Canaan was also called Syrophenicia, as lying between Syria, properly so called, and Phenicia.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Mark 7:25-26
a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit: Mark names the woman twice over, a Greek woman of Syrophoenician origin, Greek by religion and culture and Syrophoenician by birth. The double name sets her outside the covenant people on both counts a Jewish reader would know.
Mark 7:25
“The application made to him by a poor woman in distress and trouble. She was a Gentile, a Greek, a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, an alien to the covenant of promise; she was by extraction a Syrophenician, and not in any degree proselyted to the Jewish religion; she had a daughter, a young daughter, that was possessed with the devil.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a Greek woman of Syrophoenician origin: Adam Clarke notes that the Jews called every heathen a Greek, dividing the world into Jews and Greeks. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown explain Syrophoenician as one living in the Phoenician part of Syria. John Chrysostom praises the constancy of her asking.
Mark 7:26
“The woman was a Greek,.... Or Gentile, an Heathen woman, which made her faith the more remarkable.”
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 7:26
“The woman was a Greek - Rosenmuller has well observed, that all heathens or idolaters were called Ἑλληνες, Greeks, by the Jews; whether they were Parthians, Medes, Arabs, Indians, or Ethiopians. Jews and Greeks divided the whole world at this period.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 7:26
“Note, The greatest blessing we can ask of Christ for our children is, that he would break the power of Satan, that is, the power of sin, in their souls; and particularly, that he would cast forth the unclean spirit, that they may be temples of the Holy Ghost, and he may dwell in them.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
The word first in First let the children have their fill states an order of priority. It places the Gentiles after Israel in the order of the Lord's earthly ministry.
Mark 7:27
“But his saying, Let the children first be filled, intimates that there was mercy in reserve for the Gentiles, and not far off; for the Jews began already to be surfeited with the gospel of Christ, and some of them had desired him to depart out of their coasts.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Her answer accepts the word Jesus used and turns it into an argument: even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs. She asks for the overflow from Israel's table and claims no place at it.
Mark 7:28
“And she answered and said unto him, yes, Lord,.... Agreeing to, and acquiescing in, what he said; which she seemed to have understood, though delivered in a proverbial way; and very appropriately replies, yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs; which they leave, or let fall: signifying that she did not envy the blessings of the Jews, or desire any thing might be done injurious to them; only that this favour might be granted her, which she owned she was unworthy of, that her daughter might be healed.”
Mark 7:29-30
Jesus grants the healing on the ground of her answer: Because of this answer, you may go. The deliverance comes at a distance, for she went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.
Mark 7:29
“Because therefore the woman answered with much wisdom, she obtained what she wanted; wherefore there follows, And he said unto her, &c. He said not, My virtue hath made thee whole, but for this saying, that is, for thy faith, which is shown by this saying, go thy way, the devil is gone out of thy daughter. It goes on, And when she was come into her house, she found her daughter laid upon the bed, and the devil gone out.”
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Catena Aurea by Aquinaspatristic
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 7:29
“And he said unto her--"O woman, great is thy faith" (Mt 15:28). As BENGEL beautifully remarks, Jesus "marvelled" only at two things--faith and unbelief (see Lu 7:9). For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter--That moment the deed was done.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
found her child lying on the bed: Adam Clarke explains why the girl lay on the bed: the demon's torment had exhausted her strength, and she was resting. Matthew Henry notes that the mother went home trusting the word of Christ alone. She found it true.
Mark 7:30
“Laid upon the bed - The demon having tormented her, so that her bodily strength was exhausted, and she was now laid upon the couch to take a little rest. The Ethiopic has a remarkable reading here, which gives a very different, and, I think, a better sense. And she found her daughter Clothed, Sitting upon the couch, and the demon gone out.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Ephphatha: the Deaf Man Hears
into the region of the Decapolis: Jesus reaches the sea of Galilee through Decapolis, by a wide detour from Tyre. This region had already heard the testimony of the healed Gadarene demoniac, so the people Jesus meets had been prepared by His former patient.
Mark 7:31
“Departing from the coasts - The country or regions of Tyre. Came unto the sea of Galilee - The Sea of Tiberias. See the notes at Mat 4:18. Decapolis - See the notes at Mat 4:25. He did not go immediately into Capernaum, or any city where he was known, but into the retired regions around the Sea of Galilee. This was done to avoid the designs of the Pharisees, who sought his life.”
brought to Him a man who was deaf and hardly able to speak: Some people brought to Him a man who was deaf and hardly able to speak. His two afflictions left him dependent on them to ask for help, and they begged Jesus to place His hand on him.
Mark 7:32
“They bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech - Though from the letter of the text, it does not appear that this man was absolutely deprived of speech; for μογιλαλος literally signifies, one that cannot speak plainly - a stammerer; yet it is certain also that the word means a dumb person; and it is likely that the person in question was dumb, because he was deaf; and it is generally found that he who is totally deaf is dumb also.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 7:33-34
took him aside privately, away from the crowd: Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, and used touch a deaf man could follow. He put His fingers into the man’s ears, spit, and touched the man’s tongue.
Mark 7:33
“And he took him aside from the multitude,.... To shun all appearance of ostentation and vain glory: and put his fingers into his ears; the finger of his right hand into his left ear, and the finger of his left hand into his right ear: and he spit and touched his tongue; that is, either he spit upon his tongue, for so the Vulgate Latin renders it, "spitting he touched his tongue"; and the Persic version thus, "he cast his spittle on his tongue"; or rather, he spit on his finger, and touched his tongue with it.”
3 more voices on this verse
Mark 7:33
“And he took him aside from the multitude - Why this was done we have no means of information. It might have been to conceal from the multitude everything respecting the “manner” of cure, in order that none might attempt to cure in a similar way. And he put his fingers into his ears ... - Why this was done it has been found exceedingly difficult to explain. Jesus had power at once to open his ears and loose his tongue, but for some cause he chose to accompany it with a sign.”
Mark 7:33
“What is designated by the fingers of the Redeemer except the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Hence, when in another place He had cast out a demon, He said: "If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has surely come upon you." Concerning which matter He is described by another Evangelist as having said: "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." From both these passages it is gathered that the finger of God is called the Spirit.”
Gregory the Dialogist · written before 604 · Homilies on Ezekiel, Homily 10patristic
Mark 7:33
“He put his fingers into his ears - Perhaps intending to teach us, that we are not to prescribe to him (as they who brought this man attempted to do) but to expect his blessing by whatsoever means he pleases: even though there should be no proportion or resemblance between the means used, and the benefit to be conveyed thereby.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
He sighed deeply: Albert Barnes reads the sigh as pity for the man's suffering. Matthew Henry adds a second reason: the restored tongue would now face temptations it had been spared. John Wesley calls Ephphatha a word of sovereign authority, spoken from the power that resided in Christ himself.
Mark 7:34
“Every sabbath we witness the "opening up" of a mystery. It is in outline form the type of that liturgical opening when the minister once touched your ears and nostrils. What does this mean? Remember in the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ, when the deaf and dumb man was presented to him, touched his ears and his mouth: the ears, because he was deaf; the mouth, because he was dumb. And he said: "Ephphatha," a Hebrew word, which in Latin means adaperire [be opened].”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · On the Mysteries 1.4patristic
3 more voices on this verse
Mark 7:34
“Ephphatha - Ethphathach, Syriac. It is likely that it was in this language that our Lord spoke to this poor man: and because he had pronounced the word Ephphathach with peculiar and authoritative emphasis, the evangelist thought proper to retain the original word; though the last letter in it could not be expressed by any letter in the Greek alphabet.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 7:34
“Ephphatha - This was a word of SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY, not an address to God for power to heal: such an address was needless; for Christ had a perpetual fund of power residing in himself, to work all miracles whenever he pleased, even to the raising the dead, John v, 21, 26.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Mark 7:34
“And as to this man, he sighed, not because he was loth to do him this kindness, or did it with reluctancy; but because of the many temptations which he would be exposed to, and the sins he would be in danger of, the tongue-sins, after the restoring of his speech to him, which before he was free from.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the man’s ears were opened: Immediately the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was released, the healing told in full physical detail. Then he began to speak plainly, with no halting speech left from years of disuse, so the healing is complete. Mark gives such physical detail throughout his Gospel.
Mark 7:35
“And straightway his ears were opened--This is mentioned first as the source of the other derangement. and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain--The cure was thus alike instantaneous and perfect.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Mark 7:35
“Now this cure was, (1.) A proof of Christ's being the Messiah; for it was foretold that by his power the ears of the deaf should be unstopped, and the tongue of the dumb should be made to sing, Isa. xxxv. (2.) It was a specimen of the operations of his gospel upon the minds of men.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Mark 7:35
“He spake plain - Ορθως, distinctly, without stammering. One MS. has, And he spoke, praising God. There is no doubt of this: but the evangelist, I think, did not write these words.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Mark 7:36-37
Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone: The command to silence meets the fate of every such command in this Gospel: the more He ordered them, the more widely they proclaimed it. Their word, He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak, answers the prophets' hope.
Mark 7:36
“Tell no man - See on Mat 8:4 (note). This miracle is not mentioned by any other of the evangelists. Another proof that Mark did not abridge Matthew. For a practical review of the different important subjects of this chapter, see Matthew 15:1-39 (note), and particularly the observations at the end.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Mark 7:36
“Most men will proclaim their own goodness, or, at least, desire that others should proclaim it; but Christ, though he was himself in no danger of being puffed up with it, knowing that we are, would thus set us an example of self-denial, as in other things, so especially in praise and applause.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Matthew Henry notes that the cure was good for the man's family too, since he had been a burden to them. Lactantius saw a further meaning. Those once ignorant of heavenly things would soon receive wisdom and speak of God and the truth.
Mark 7:37
“And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well--reminding us, says TRENCH, of the words of the first creation (Ge 1:31, Septuagint), upon which we are thus not unsuitably thrown back, for Christ's work is in the truest sense "a new creation," he maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak--"and they glorified the God of Israel" (Mt 15:31).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
3 more voices on this verse
Mark 7:37
“He maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak; and that is well, it is well for them, it is well for their relations, to whom they had been a burthen; and therefore they are inexcusable who speak ill of him.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Mark 7:37
“He loosed the tongues of the dumb, so that they spake plainly. A power worthy of admiration, even when it was in operation: but there was contained in this display of power another meaning, which showed that it would shortly come to pass that those who were lately ignorant of heavenly things, having received the instruction of wisdom, might speak respecting God and the truth. For he who is ignorant of the divine nature, he truly is speechless and dumb, although he is the most eloquent of all men.”
Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius · written before 325 · The Divine Institutes Book 4 (Chapter XXVI)patristic
Mark 7:37
“Beyond measure - Exceedingly; very much. In the Greek, “Very abundantly.” He hath done all things well - All things in a remarkable manner; or, he has perfectly effected the cure of this deaf-mute.”
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Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes; Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Mark; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1911: “Hideous Discovery” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Cyprian; Glossa Ordinaria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Mark; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome; John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists; John Chrysostom, HOMILY 24, ON EPHESIANS; John Damascene, ON HERESIES 15; John Gill; John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Book 4 (Chapter XXVI); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 11.12; Tertullian, Of Patience and Theophylact of Ohrid.