Mark 7:10
in Mark 7For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death:
KJV
For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:
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This verse in Mark 7
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThe Law, He says, teaches: "Honor your father and your mother" (Exodus 20:12); but you teach children to say to their parents: that which you want from me is corban, that is, dedicated to God. For the Pharisees, wishing to profit from the property of …
This site's exposition
Honor your father and your mother
on 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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Moreover, to convict them of neglecting the reverence due to God, for the sake of the tradition of the elders, which was opposed to the Holy Scriptures, He subjoins, For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death. (Exod. 21:17.)
The Medieval Church3 voices
For Moses said: Honor your father and your mother. And he who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die. In Scripture, honor is not felt so much in greetings and the rendering of services as in alms and the giving of gifts. …
(ubi sup.) The sense of the word honour in Scripture is not so much the saluting and paying court to men, as alms-giving, and bestowing gifts; honour, says the Apostle, widows who are widows indeed. (1 Tim. 5:3.)
For the Pharisees, wishing to devour the offerings, instructed sons, when their parents asked for some of their property, to answer them, what thou hast asked of me is corban, that is, a gift, I have already offered it up to the Lord; thus the parents would not require it, as being offered up to the Lord, (and in that way profitable for their own salvation). Thus they deceived the sons into neglecting their parents, whilst they themselves devoured the offerings; with this therefore the Lord reproaches them, as transgressing the law of God for the sake of gain. Wherefore it goes on, Making the word of God of none effect through your traditions, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye; transgressing, that is, the commands of God, that ye may observe the traditions of men.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For Moses said,.... That is, God by Moses; for the following precept was spoken by God, and written by him on one of the tables of stone, and delivered into the hands of Moses, to be given to the children of Israel: honour thy father and thy mother, Exo 20:12, the sanction of which law is, and whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death, Exo 21:
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
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!" We are told that they attached great importance to the washing of cups, and pots, and bronze vessels, and tables!" In short, the man who paid most rigid attention to mere external observances of human invention was reckoned the holiest man! The nation, be it remembered, in which this state of things existed, was the most highly favored in the world. To it, was given the law on Mount Sinai, the service of God, the priesthood, the covenants, and the promises. Moses, and Samuel, and David, and the prophets, lived and died among its people. No nation upon earth ever had so many spiritual privileges. No nation ever misused its privileges so fearfully, and so thoroughly forsook its own mercies. Never did fine gold become so dim! From the religion of the books of Deuteronomy and Psalms, to the religion of washing hands, and pots, and cups — how great was the fall! No wonder that in the time of our Lord's earthly ministry, He found the people like sheep without a shepherd. External observances alone feed no consciences and sanctify no hearts! Let the history of the Jewish church be a warning to us never to trifle with false doctrine. If we once tolerate it we never know how far it may go, or into what degraded state of religion we may at last fall.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
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!"
For Moses said, etc. - See all these verses, from this to the 23d, explained Matthew 15:3-20 (note).
How the passage was read
On Mark 7:1-23On Mark 7:1-23
Mark explaining Jewish practice to outsiders
Mark pauses mid-story to explain handwashing to his readers: “the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not” (7:3-4). A Gospel writer translating Jewish practice for outsiders is this layer's own method inside the canon. The washing is netilat yadayim, a ritual pouring over the hands before bread, extending priestly purity to the ordinary table; the Mishnah gives it a whole tractate (Yadayim 1:1), and its schools debated the meal's washings in detail (Berakhot 8:2 records a Hillel-Shammai dispute over the order of washing and mixing the cup). The korban vow Jesus then confronts, property locked away from one's parents by a dedication formula, is explained in this site's note on Numbers 30.
Verse 19's closing phrase, which most translations render “thus he declared all foods clean,” asks for plain honesty at the point of contact: observant Judaism keeps the food laws (kashrut) to this day and does not read the verse as ending them; the Christian church, reading Mark with Acts 10 and 15, historically has. The entry states the difference as difference. What both readings share is the verse's own center: defilement is not conquered at the lips but at the heart, “for from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Yadayim 1:1 (the handwashing rite) · Mishnah Berakhot 8:2 (the schools on the meal's washings)
The words behind it
19 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Μωϋσῆς | mouses | Moses | G3475 → | 78 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| εἶπεν· | eipen | said; | G2036 → | 925 times |
| τίμα | tima | do honor | G5091 → | 20 times |
| τὸν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πατέρα | patera | Father | G3962 → | 410 times |
| σου | sou | of you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| μητέρα | metera | mother | G3384 → | 83 times |
| σου, | sou | of you,’ | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ὁ | ho | The [one] | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| κακολογῶν | kakologon | speaking evil of | G2551 → | |
| πατέρα | patera | father | G3962 → | 410 times |
| ἢ | e | or | G2228 → | 342 times |
| μητέρα | metera | mother | G3384 → | 83 times |
| θανάτῳ | thanato | in death | G2288 → | 120 times |
| τελευτάτω. | teleutato | should end.’ | G5053 → |
ΜωϋσῆςMoses
mousesG3475 →78 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
εἶπεν·said;
eipenG2036 →925 times
τίμαdo honor
timaG5091 →20 times
τὸνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
πατέραFather
pateraG3962 →410 times
σουof you
souG4771 →2973 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
μητέραmother
meteraG3384 →83 times
σου,of you,’
souG4771 →2973 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ὁThe [one]
hoG3588 →19766 times
κακολογῶνspeaking evil of
kakologonG2551 →
πατέραfather
pateraG3962 →410 times
ἢor
eG2228 →342 times
μητέραmother
meteraG3384 →83 times
θανάτῳin death
thanatoG2288 →120 times
τελευτάτω.should end.’
teleutatoG5053 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 20:12Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
it leads to
- Ephesians 6:1–3
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Colossians 3:20
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 5:16
Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 23:22–25
Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
- Leviticus 19:3
Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.
- Ephesians 6:1–3
Through
Deuteronomy 5:16Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the…
it leads to
- Exodus 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 20:12
Through
Matthew 15:4For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’
it leads to
- Exodus 21:17
Anyone who curses his father or mother must surely be put to death.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Exodus 21:17
Through
Leviticus 20:9If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 27:16
‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 27:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies7
About Mark
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pseudo-Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.