Deuteronomy 12:32

Idolatry and False Prophets

12:32 (13:1) ¹  You ²  must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it! ³ 

Joshua 1:7

1:7 Make sure you are ⁴  very strong and brave! Carefully obey ⁵  all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! ⁶  Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful ⁷  in all you do. ⁸ 

Proverbs 30:6

30:6 Do not add to his words,

lest he reprove you, and prove you to be a liar. ⁹ 

Ecclesiastes 12:13

12:13 Having heard everything, I have reached this conclusion: ¹⁰ 

Fear God and keep his commandments,

because this is the whole duty ¹¹  of man.

Matthew 5:18

5:18 I ¹²  tell you the truth, ¹³  until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter ¹⁴  will pass from the law until everything takes place.

Matthew 5:43

Love for Enemies

5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ ¹⁵  and ‘hate your enemy.’

Matthew 15:2-9

15:2 “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their ¹⁶  hands when they eat.” ¹⁷  15:3 He answered them, ¹⁸  “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? 15:4 For God said, ¹⁹  ‘Honor your father and mother’ ²⁰  and ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ ²¹  15:5 But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” ²²  15:6 he does not need to honor his father.’ ²³  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 ²⁴  is far from me,

15:9 and they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” ²⁵ 

Mark 7:1-13

Breaking Human Traditions

7:1 Now ²⁶  the Pharisees ²⁷  and some of the experts in the law ²⁸  who came from Jerusalem ²⁹  gathered around him. 7:2 And they saw that some of Jesus’ disciples ate their bread with unclean hands, that is, unwashed. 7:3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing, ³⁰  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. ³¹ ) ³²  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 ³³  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 ³⁴  is far from me.

7:7 They worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.’ ³⁵ 

7:8 Having no regard ³⁶  for the command of God, you hold fast to human tradition.” ³⁷  7:9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up ³⁸  your tradition. 7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ ³⁹  and, ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁴⁰  7:11 But you say that if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you would have received from me is corban’ ⁴¹  (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 ⁴²  the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this.”

Galatians 3:15

Inheritance Comes from Promises and not Law

3:15 Brothers and sisters, ⁴³  I offer an example from everyday life: ⁴⁴  When a covenant ⁴⁵  has been ratified, ⁴⁶  even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it.

Revelation 22:18-19

22:18 I testify to the one who hears the words of the prophecy contained in this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described ⁴⁷  in this book. 22:19 And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life ⁴⁸  and in the holy city that are described in this book.

[12:32]  ¹ sn Beginning with 12:32, the verse numbers through 13:18 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), with 12:32 ET = 13:1 HT, 13:1 ET = 13:2 HT, 13:2 ET = 13:3 HT, etc., through 13:18 ET = 13:19 HT. With 14:1 the verse numbers in the ET and HT are again the same.

[12:32]  ² tn This verse highlights a phenomenon found throughout Deuteronomy, but most especially in chap. 12, namely, the alternation of grammatical singular and plural forms of the pronoun (known as Numeruswechsel in German scholarship). Critical scholarship in general resolves the “problem” by suggesting varying literary traditions – one favorable to the singular pronoun and the other to the plural – which appear in the (obviously rough) redacted text at hand. Even the ancient versions were troubled by the lack of harmony of grammatical number and in this verse, for example, offered a number of alternate readings. The MT reads “Everything I am commanding you (plural) you (plural) must be careful to do; you (singular) must not add to it nor should you (singular) subtract form it.” Smr, LXX, Syriac, and Vulgate suggest singular for the first two pronouns but a few Smr mss propose plural for the last two. What both ancient and modern scholars tend to overlook, however, is the covenantal theological tone of the Book of Deuteronomy, one that views Israel as a collective body (singular) made up of many individuals (plural). See M. Weinfeld, Deuteronomy 1–11 (AB), 15-16; J. A. Thompson, Deuteronomy (TOTC), 21-23.

[12:32]  ³ sn Do not add to it or subtract from it. This prohibition makes at least two profound theological points: (1) This work by Moses is of divine origination (i.e., it is inspired) and therefore can tolerate no human alteration; and (2) the work is complete as it stands (i.e., it is canonical).

[1:7]  ⁴ tn Or “Only be.”

[1:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”

[1:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “commanded you.”

[1:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

[1:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “in all which you go.”

[30:6]  ⁹ tn The form of the verb is a Niphal perfect tense with a vav consecutive from the root כָּזַב (kazav, “to lie”). In this stem it has the ideas of “been made deceptive,” or “shown to be false” or “proved to be a liar.” One who adds to or changes the word of the Lord will be seen as a liar.

[12:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “The end of the matter, everything having been heard.”

[12:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “This is all men”; or “This is the whole of man.” The phrase זֶה כָּל־הָאָדָם (zeh kol-ha’adam, “this is all men”) features rhetorical elision of a key word. The ambiguity over the elided word has led to no less than five basic approaches: (1) “this is the whole duty of man” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NAB, NIV); (2) “this is the duty of all men” (MLB, ASV margin, RSV margin); (3) “this applies to all men” (NASB, NJPS); (4) “this is the whole duty of all men” (NRSV, Moffatt); and (5) “there is no more to man than this” (NEB). The four-fold repetition of כֹּל (kol, “all”) in 12:13-14 suggests that Qoheleth is emphasizing the “bottom line,” that is, the basic duty of man is simply to fear and obey God: After “all” (כֹּל) has been heard in the book, his conclusion is that the “whole” (כֹּל) duty of man is to obey God because God will bring “all” (כֹּל) acts into judgment, including “all” (כֹּל) that is hidden, whether good or bad. See D. Barthélemy, ed., Preliminary and Interim Report on the Hebrew Old Testament Text Project, 3:596.

[5:18]  ¹² tn Grk “For I tell.” Here an explanatory γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

[5:18]  ¹³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[5:18]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Not one iota or one serif.”

[5:43]  ¹⁵ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[15:2]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “when they eat bread.”

[15:3]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.”

[15:4]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

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

[15:5]  ²² tn Grk “is a gift,” that is, something dedicated to God.

[15:6]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn The term “heart” is a collective singular in the Greek text.

[15:9]  ²⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.

[7:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[7:1]  ²⁷ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[7:1]  ²⁸ tn Or “and some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[7:1]  ²⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[7:3]  ³⁰ tn Grk “except they wash the hands with a fist,” a ceremonial washing (though the actual method is uncertain).

[7:4]  ³¹ 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]  ³² sn Verses 3-4 represent parenthetical remarks by the author, giving background information.

[7:5]  ³³ tn Grk “eat bread.”

[7:6]  ³⁴ tn The term “heart” is a collective singular in the Greek text.

[7:7]  ³⁵ sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.

[7:8]  ³⁶ tn Grk “Having left the command.”

[7:8]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

[7:10]  ⁴⁰ sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.

[7:11]  ⁴¹ 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]  ⁴² tn Grk “nullifying.” This participle shows the results of the Pharisees’ command.

[3:15]  ⁴³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:11.

[3:15]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “I speak according to man,” referring to the illustration that follows.

[3:15]  ⁴⁵ tn The same Greek word, διαθήκη (diaqhkh), can mean either “covenant” or “will,” but in this context the former is preferred here because Paul is discussing in vv. 16-18 the Abrahamic covenant.

[3:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “has been put into effect.”

[22:18]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “written.”

[22:19]  ⁴⁸ tc The Textus Receptus, on which the KJV rests, reads “the book” of life (ἀπὸ βίβλου, apo biblou) instead of “the tree” of life. When the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus translated the NT he had access to no Greek mss for the last six verses of Revelation. So he translated the Latin Vulgate back into Greek at this point. As a result he created seventeen textual variants which were not in any Greek mss. The most notorious of these is this reading. It is thus decidedly inauthentic, while “the tree” of life, found in the best and virtually all Greek mss, is clearly authentic. The confusion was most likely due to an intra-Latin switch: The form of the word for “tree” in Latin in this passage is ligno; the word for “book” is libro. The two-letter difference accounts for an accidental alteration in some Latin mss; that “book of life” as well as “tree of life” is a common expression in the Apocalypse probably accounts for why this was not noticed by Erasmus or the KJV translators. (This textual problem is not discussed in NA²⁷.)