Mark 7:9

7:9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up ¹  your tradition.

Isaiah 8:20

8:20 Then you must recall the Lord’s instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. ²  Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened. ³ 

Jeremiah 8:8-9

8:8 How can you say, “We are wise!

We have the law of the Lord”?

The truth is, ⁴  those who teach it ⁵  have used their writings

to make it say what it does not really mean. ⁶ 

8:9 Your wise men will be put to shame.

They will be dumbfounded and be brought to judgment. ⁷ 

Since they have rejected the word of the Lord,

what wisdom do they really have?

Hosea 8:12

8:12 I spelled out my law for him in great detail,

but they regard it as something totally unknown ⁸  to them!

Matthew 5:17-20

Fulfillment of the Law and Prophets

5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them. ⁹  5:18 I ¹⁰  tell you the truth, ¹¹  until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter ¹²  will pass from the law until everything takes place. 5:19 So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others ¹³  to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law ¹⁴  and the Pharisees, ¹⁵  you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 15:6

15:6 he does not need to honor his father.’ ¹⁶  You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition.

Titus 1:14

1:14 and not pay attention to Jewish myths ¹⁷  and commands of people who reject the truth.

¹ 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.

² tn Heb “to [the] instruction and to [the] testimony.” The words “then you must recall” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 19-20a are one long sentence, reading literally, “When they say to you…, to the instruction and to the testimony.” On the identity of the “instruction” and “testimony” see the notes at v. 16.

³ tn Heb “If they do not speak according to this word, [it is] because it has no light of dawn.” The literal translation suggests that “this word” refers to the instruction/testimony. However, it is likely that אִם־לֹא (’im-lo’) is asseverative here, as in 5:9. In this case “this word” refers to the quotation recorded in v. 19. For a discussion of the problem see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 230, n. 9. The singular pronoun in the second half of the verse is collective, referring back to the nation (see v. 19b).

⁴ tn Heb “Surely, behold!”

⁵ tn Heb “the scribes.”

⁶ tn Heb “The lying pen of the scribes have made [it] into a lie.” The translation is an attempt to make the most common interpretation of this passage understandable for the average reader. This is, however, a difficult passage whose interpretation is greatly debated and whose syntax is capable of other interpretations. The interpretation of the NJPS, “Assuredly, for naught has the pen labored, for naught the scribes,” surely deserves consideration within the context; i.e. it hasn’t done any good for the scribes to produce a reliable copy of the law, which the people have refused to follow. That interpretation has the advantage of explaining the absence of an object for the verb “make” or “labored” but creates a very unbalanced poetic couplet.

⁷ tn Heb “be trapped.” However, the word “trapped” generally carries with it the connotation of divine judgment. See BDB 540 s.v. לָכַד Niph.2, and compare usage in Jer 6:11 for support. The verbs in the first two lines are again the form of the Hebrew verb that emphasizes that the action is as good as done (Hebrew prophetic perfects).

⁸ tn Heb “foreign” or “alien”; NASB, NRSV “as a strange thing.”

⁹ tn Grk “not come to abolish but to fulfill.” Direct objects (“these things,” “them”) were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but have been supplied here to conform to contemporary English style.

¹⁰ tn Grk “For I tell.” Here an explanatory γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

¹¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

¹² tn Grk “Not one iota or one serif.”

¹³ tn Grk “teaches men” ( in a generic sense, people).

¹⁴ tn Or “that of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

¹⁵ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

¹⁶ 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.

¹⁷ 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.