Isaiah 29:13

29:13 The sovereign master ¹  says,

“These people say they are loyal to me; ² 

they say wonderful things about me, ³ 

but they are not really loyal to me. ⁴ 

Their worship consists of

nothing but man-made ritual. ⁵ 

Isaiah 29:18

29:18 At that time ⁶  the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll,

and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness. ⁷ 

Daniel 11:37

11:37 He will not respect ⁸  the gods of his fathers – not even the god loved by women. ⁹  He will not respect any god; he will elevate himself above them all.

Matthew 15:3-9

15:3 He answered them, ¹⁰  “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? 15:4 For God said, ¹¹  ‘Honor your father and mother’ ¹²  and ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ ¹³  15:5 But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” ¹⁴  15:6 he does not need to honor his father.’ ¹⁵  You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition. 15:7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said,

15:8 ‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart ¹⁶  is far from me,

15:9 and they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” ¹⁷ 

Mark 7:7-13

7:7 They worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.’ ¹⁸ 

7:8 Having no regard ¹⁹  for the command of God, you hold fast to human tradition.” ²⁰  7:9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up ²¹  your tradition. 7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ ²²  and, ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ ²³  7:11 But you say that if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you would have received from me is corban’ ²⁴  (that is, a gift for God), 7:12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother. 7:13 Thus you nullify ²⁵  the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”

Titus 1:14

1:14 and not pay attention to Jewish myths ²⁶  and commands of people who reject the truth.

Revelation 17:18

17:18 As for ²⁷  the woman you saw, she is the great city that has sovereignty over the kings of the earth.”

¹ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

² tn Heb “Because these people draw near to me with their mouth.”

³ tn Heb “and with their lips they honor me.”

⁴ tn Heb “but their heart is far from me.” The heart is viewed here as the seat of the will, from which genuine loyalty derives.

⁵ tn Heb “their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught.”

⁶ tn Or “In that day” (KJV).

⁷ tn Heb “and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.”

⁸ tn Heb “consider.”

⁹ tn Heb “[the one] desired by women.” The referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁰ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.”

¹¹ tc Most mss (א*^,2 C L W 0106 33 Ï) have an expanded introduction here; instead of “For God said,” they read “For God commanded, saying” (ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἐνετείλατο λέγων, Jo gar qeo" eneteilato legwn). But such expansions are generally motivated readings; in this case, most likely it was due to the wording of the previous verse (“the commandment of God”) that caused early scribes to add to the text. Although it is possible that other witnesses reduced the text to the simple εἶπεν (eipen, “[God] said”) because of perceived redundancy with the statement in v. 3, such is unlikely in light of the great variety and age of these authorities (א¹ B D Θ 073 Ë^1,13 579 700 892 pc lat co, as well as other versions and fathers).

¹² sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

¹³ sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.

¹⁴ tn Grk “is a gift,” that is, something dedicated to God.

¹⁵ tc The logic of v. 5 would seem to demand that both father and mother are in view in v. 6. Indeed, the majority of mss (C L W Θ 0106 ˹ Ï) have “or his mother” (ἢ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ, h thn mhtera autou) after “honor his father” here. However, there are significant witnesses that have variations on this theme (καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ [kai thn mhtera autou, “and his mother”] in Φ 565 1241 pc and ἢ τὴν μητέρα [“or mother”] in 073 ˹³ 33 579 700 892 pc), which is usually an indication of a predictable addition to the text rather than an authentic reading. Further, the shorter reading (without any mention of “mother”) is found in early and important witnesses (א B D sa). Although it is possible that the shorter reading came about accidentally (due to the repetition of –ερα αὐτοῦ), the evidence more strongly suggests that the longer readings were intentional scribal alterations.

¹⁶ tn The term “heart” is a collective singular in the Greek text.

¹⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.

¹⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.

¹⁹ tn Grk “Having left the command.”

²⁰ tc The majority of mss, mostly Byzantine ([A] ˹³ 33 Ï), have at the end of v. 8 material that seems to have come from v. 4 and v. 13: “the washing of pots and cups, and you do many other similar things.” A slight variation on the wording occurs at the very beginning of v. 8 in mostly Western witnesses (D Θ 0131^vid 28 565 it). Such floating texts are usually signs of scribal emendations. The fact that the earliest and most reliable mss, as well as other important witnesses (Ì⁴⁵ א B L W Δ 0274 ˹ 2427 co), lacked this material also strongly suggests that the longer reading is secondary.

²¹ tc The translation here follows the reading στήσητε (sthshte, “set up”) found in D W Θ Ë¹ 28 565 2542 it sy^s,p Cyp. The majority of mss here read τηρήσητε (thrhsete; א A L ˹³ 33 Ï co) or τηρῆτε (thrhte; B 2427), both translated “keep.” It is hard to know which reading is best: On the one hand, τηρήσητε/τηρῆτε has much stronger external support, but στήσητε is a more difficult reading. What makes “keep” suspect is that it appears in two different forms, suggesting independent alterations of a difficult reading. Further, scribes may have been influenced by the preceding “commandment of God” to change the text toward “keep” (TCGNT 81), a common enough expression (cf. Matt 19:17; John 14:15; 1 Tim 6:1; 1 John 5:3; Rev 14:12). Thus, the more difficult reading is “set up.” Also, the more natural opposite of “reject” (ἀθεῖτε [aqeite], literally “you set aside”) is “set up.” However, the Western reading may have been influenced by Exod 6:4 or Heb 10:9, but this likelihood seems remote. Thus, “set up” is more likely to be the original wording of Mark here.

²² sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

²³ sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.

²⁴ sn Corban is a Hebrew loanword (transliterated in the Greek text and in most modern English translations) referring to something that has been set aside as a gift to be given to God at some later date, but which is still in the possession of the owner (L&N 53.22). According to contemporary Jewish tradition the person who made this claim was absolved from responsibility to support or assist his parents, a clear violation of the Mosaic law to honor one’s parents (v. 10).

²⁵ tn Grk “nullifying.” This participle shows the results of the Pharisees’ command.

²⁶ sn Jewish myths were legendary tales characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus and Crete. See parallels in 1 Tim 1:4; 4:7; and 2 Tim 4:4.

²⁷ tn Grk “And.” Because this remark is somewhat resumptive in nature, “as for” is used in the translation.