Mark 7:1

Breaking Human Traditions

7:1 Now ¹  the Pharisees ²  and some of the experts in the law ³  who came from Jerusalem ⁴  gathered around him.

Mark 2:18

The Superiority of the New

2:18 Now ⁵  John’s ⁶  disciples and the Pharisees ⁷  were fasting. ⁸  So ⁹  they came to Jesus ¹⁰  and said, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples don’t fast?”

Mark 2:24

2:24 So ¹¹  the Pharisees ¹²  said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is against the law on the Sabbath?”

Mark 3:6

3:6 So ¹³  the Pharisees ¹⁴  went out immediately and began plotting with the Herodians, ¹⁵  as to how they could assassinate ¹⁶  him.

Mark 8:15

8:15 And Jesus ¹⁷  ordered them, ¹⁸  “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees ¹⁹  and the yeast of Herod!”

Mark 10:2

10:2 Then some Pharisees ²⁰  came, and to test him ²¹  they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his ²²  wife?” ²³ 

Mark 12:13

Paying Taxes to Caesar

12:13 Then ²⁴  they sent some of the Pharisees ²⁵  and Herodians ²⁶  to trap him with his own words. ²⁷ 

Mark 7:3

7:3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing, ²⁸  holding fast to the tradition of the elders.

Mark 8:11

The Demand for a Sign

8:11 Then the Pharisees ²⁹  came and began to argue with Jesus, asking for ³⁰  a sign from heaven ³¹  to test him.

Mark 2:16

2:16 When the experts in the law ³²  and the Pharisees ³³  saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ³⁴ 

Mark 7:5

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 ³⁵  with unwashed hands?”

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

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

[7:1]  ³ tn Or “and some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[7:1]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:18]  ⁵ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[2:18]  ⁶ sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[2:18]  ⁷ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[2:18]  ⁸ sn John’s disciples and the Pharisees followed typical practices with regard to fasting and prayer. Many Jews fasted regularly (Lev 16:29-34; 23:26-32; Num 29:7-11). The zealous fasted twice a week on Monday and Thursday.

[2:18]  ⁹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “So” to indicate that in the narrative this question happened as a result of the fasting of John’s disciples and the Pharisees.

[2:18]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:24]  ⁹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[2:24]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[3:6]  ¹³ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[3:6]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[3:6]  ¹⁵ tn Grk inserts “against him” after “Herodians.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has not been translated.

[3:6]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “destroy.”

[8:15]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:15]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “was giving them orders, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[8:15]  ¹⁹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[10:2]  ²¹ tc The Western text (D it) and a few others have only καί (kai) here, rather than καὶ προσελθόντες Φαρισαῖοι (kai proselqonte" Farisaioi, here translated as “then some Pharisees came”). The longer reading, a specific identification of the subject, may have been prompted by the parallel in Matt 19:3. The fact that the mss vary in how they express this subject lends credence to this judgment: οἱ δὲ Φαρισαῖοι προσελθόντες (Joi de Farisaioi proselqonte", “now the Pharisees came”) in W Θ 565 2542 pc; καὶ προσελθόντες οἱ Φαρισαῖοι (kai proselqonte" Joi Farisaioi, “then the Pharisees came”) in א C N (˹: καὶ προσελθόντες ἐπηρώτησαν αὐτὸν οἱ Φαρισαῖοι) 579 1241 1424 pm; and καὶ προσελθόντες Φαρισαῖοι in A B K L Γ Δ Ψ Ë¹³ 28 700 892 2427 pm. Further, the use of an indefinite plural (a general “they”) is a Markan feature, occurring over twenty times. Thus, internally the evidence looks rather strong for the shorter reading, in spite of the minimal external support for it. However, if scribes assimilated this text to Matt 19:3, a more exact parallel might have been expected: Matthew has καὶ προσῆλθον αὐτῷ Φαρισαῖοι (kai proshlqon aujtw Farisaioi, “then Pharisees came to him”). Although the verb form needs to be different according to syntactical requirements of the respective sentences, the word order variety, as well as the presence or absence of the article and the alternation between δέ and καί as the introductory conjunction, all suggest that the variety of readings might not be due to scribal adjustments toward Matthew. At the same time, the article with Φαρισαῖοι is found in both Gospels in many of the same witnesses (א Ï in Matt; א pm in Mark), and the anarthrous Φαρισαῖοι is likewise parallel in many mss (B L ˹³ 700 892). Another consideration is the possibility that very early in the transmissional history, scribes naturally inserted the most obvious subject (the Pharisees would be the obvious candidates as the ones to test Jesus). This may account for the reading with δέ, since Mark nowhere else uses this conjunction to introduce the Pharisees into the narrative. As solid as the internal arguments against the longer reading seem to be, the greatest weakness is the witnesses that support it. The Western mss are prone to alter the text by adding, deleting, substituting, or rearranging large amounts of material. There are times when the rationale for this seems inexplicable. In light of the much stronger evidence for “the Pharisees came,” even though it occurs in various permutations, it is probably wisest to retain the words. This judgment, however, is hardly certain.

[10:2]  ²² tn In Greek this phrase occurs at the end of the sentence. It has been brought forward to conform to English style.

[10:2]  ²³ tn The personal pronoun “his” is not in the Greek text, but is certainly implied and has been supplied in the English translation to clarify the sense of the statement (cf. “his wife” in 10:7).

[10:2]  ²⁴ tn The particle εἰ (ei) is often used to introduce both indirect and direct questions. Thus, another possible translation is to take this as an indirect question: “They asked him if it were lawful for a man to divorce his wife.” See BDF §440.3.

[12:13]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:13]  ²⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[12:13]  ²⁷ sn Pharisees and Herodians made a very interesting alliance. W. W. Wessel (“Mark,” EBC 8:733) comments: “The Herodians were as obnoxious to the Pharisees on political grounds as the Sadducees were on theological grounds. Yet the two groups united in their opposition to Jesus. Collaboration in wickedness, as well as goodness, has great power. Their purpose was to trip Jesus up in his words so that he would lose the support of the people, leaving the way open for them to destroy him.” See also the note on “Herodians” in Mark 3:6.

[12:13]  ²⁸ tn Grk “trap him in word.”

[7:3]  ²⁹ tn Grk “except they wash the hands with a fist,” a ceremonial washing (though the actual method is uncertain).

[8:11]  ³³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 2:16.

[8:11]  ³⁴ tn Grk “seeking from him.” The participle ζητοῦντες (zhtountes) shows the means by which the Pharisees argued with Jesus.

[8:11]  ³⁵ sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.

[2:16]  ³⁷ tn Or “the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.

[2:16]  ³⁸ sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[2:16]  ³⁹ sn The issue here is inappropriate associations. Jews were very careful about personal associations and contact as a matter of ritual cleanliness. Their question borders on an accusation that Jesus is ritually unclean.

[7:5]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “eat bread.”