Numbers 15:39

15:39 You must have this tassel so that you may look at it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and obey them and so that you do not follow ¹  after your own heart and your own eyes that lead you to unfaithfulness. ² 

Psalms 106:39

106:39 They were defiled by their deeds,

and unfaithful in their actions. ³ 

Isaiah 29:13

29:13 The sovereign master ⁴  says,

“These people say they are loyal to me; ⁵ 

they say wonderful things about me, ⁶ 

but they are not really loyal to me. ⁷ 

Their worship consists of

nothing but man-made ritual. ⁸ 

Matthew 15:6

15:6 he does not need to honor his father.’ ⁹  You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition.

Mark 7:13

7:13 Thus you nullify ¹⁰  the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”

¹ tn Heb “seek out, look into.”

² tn This last clause is a relative clause explaining the influence of the human heart and physical sight. It literally says, “which you go whoring after them.” The verb for “whoring” may be interpreted to mean “act unfaithfully.” So, the idea is these influences lead to unfaithful activity: “after which you act unfaithfully.”

³ tn Heb “and they committed adultery in their actions.” This means that they were unfaithful to the Lord (see Ps 73:27).

⁴ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

⁵ tn Heb “Because these people draw near to me with their mouth.”

⁶ tn Heb “and with their lips they honor me.”

⁷ 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.

⁸ tn Heb “their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught.”

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ tn Grk “nullifying.” This participle shows the results of the Pharisees’ command.