Colossians 2:22

2:22 These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are ¹  on human commands and teachings. ² 

Matthew 15:2-9

15:2 “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their ³  hands when they eat.” ⁴  15:3 He answered them, ⁵  “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? 15:4 For God said, ⁶  ‘Honor your father and mother’ ⁷  and ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁸  15:5 But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” ⁹  15:6 he does not need to honor his father.’ ¹⁰  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 ¹¹  is far from me,

15:9 and they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” ¹² 

Mark 7:3-13

7:3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing, ¹³  holding fast to the tradition of the elders. 7:4 And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. They hold fast to many other traditions: the washing of cups, pots, kettles, and dining couches. ¹⁴ ) ¹⁵  7:5 The Pharisees and the experts in the law asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat ¹⁶  with unwashed hands?” 7:6 He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart ¹⁷  is far from me.

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.”

Galatians 1:14

1:14 I ²⁶  was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, ²⁷  and was ²⁸  extremely zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. ²⁹ 

Galatians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³⁰  an apostle (not from men, nor by human agency, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead)

Galatians 1:18

1:18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem ³¹  to visit Cephas ³²  and get information from him, ³³  and I stayed with him fifteen days.

[2:22]  ¹ tn The expression “founded as they are” brings out the force of the Greek preposition κατά (kata).

[2:22]  ² tn Grk “The commands and teachings of men.”

[15:2]  ³ tc ‡ Although most witnesses read the genitive plural pronoun αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”), it may have been motivated by clarification (as it is in the translation above). Several other authorities do not have the pronoun, however (א B Δ 073 ˹ 579 700 892 1424 pc f g¹); the lack of an unintentional oversight as the reason for omission strengthens their combined testimony in this shorter reading. NA²⁷ has the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[15:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “when they eat bread.”

[15:3]  ⁵ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.”

[15:4]  ⁶ 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).

[15:4]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

[15:4]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.

[15:5]  ⁹ tn Grk “is a gift,” that is, something dedicated to God.

[15:6]  ¹⁰ 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.

[15:8]  ¹¹ tn The term “heart” is a collective singular in the Greek text.

[15:9]  ¹² sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.

[7:3]  ¹³ tn Grk “except they wash the hands with a fist,” a ceremonial washing (though the actual method is uncertain).

[7:4]  ¹⁴ tc Several important witnesses (Ì^45vid א B L Δ 28* pc) lack “and dining couches” (καὶ κλινῶν, kai klinwn), while the majority of mss (A D W Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt) have the reading. Although normally the shorter reading is to be preferred, especially when it is backed by excellent witnesses as in this case, there are some good reasons to consider καὶ κλινῶν as authentic: (1) Although the addition of κλινῶν could be seen as motivated by a general assimilation to the purity regulations in Lev 15 (as some have argued), there are three problems with such a supposition: (a) the word κλίνη (klinh) does not occur in the LXX of Lev 15; (b) nowhere in Lev 15 is the furniture washed or sprinkled; and (c) the context of Lev 15 is about sexual impurity, while the most recent evidence suggests that κλίνη in Mark 7:4, in keeping with the other terms used here, refers to a dining couch (cf. BDAG 549 s.v. κλίνη 2). Thus, it is difficult to see καὶ κλινῶν as a motivated reading. (2) κλίνη, though a relatively rare term in the NT, is in keeping with Markan usage (cf. Mark 4:21; 7:30). (3) The phrase could have been dropped accidentally, at least in some cases, via homoioteleuton. (4) The phrase may have been deliberately expunged by some scribes who thought the imagery of washing a dining couch quite odd. The longer reading, in this case, can thus be argued as the harder reading. On balance, even though a decision is difficult (especially because of the weighty external evidence for the shorter reading), it is preferable to retain καὶ κλινῶν in the text.

[7:4]  ¹⁵ sn Verses 3-4 represent parenthetical remarks by the author, giving background information.

[7:5]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “eat bread.”

[7:6]  ¹⁷ tn The term “heart” is a collective singular in the Greek text.

[7:7]  ¹⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.

[7:8]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Having left the command.”

[7:8]  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.

[7:9]  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.

[7:10]  ²² sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

[7:10]  ²³ sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.

[7:11]  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).

[7:13]  ²⁵ tn Grk “nullifying.” This participle shows the results of the Pharisees’ command.

[1:14]  ²⁶ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:14]  ²⁷ tn Or “among my race.”

[1:14]  ²⁸ tn Grk “was advancing beyond…nation, being.” The participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) was translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[1:14]  ²⁹ sn The traditions of my ancestors refers to both Pharisaic and popular teachings of this time which eventually were codified in Jewish literature such as the Mishnah, Midrashim, and Targums.

[1:1]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:18]  ³¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:18]  ³² sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).

[1:18]  ³³ tn Although often translated “to get acquainted with Cephas,” this could give the impression of merely a social call. L&N 34.52 has “to visit, with the purpose of obtaining information” for the meaning of ἱστορέω (Jistorew), particularly in this verse.