Mark 7:3

7:3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing, ¹  holding fast to the tradition of the elders.

Mark 8:11

The Demand for a Sign

8:11 Then the Pharisees ²  came and began to argue with Jesus, asking for ³  a sign from heaven ⁴  to test him.

[7:3]  ¹ tn Grk “except they wash the hands with a fist,” a ceremonial washing (though the actual method is uncertain).

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

[8:11]  ³ tn Grk “seeking from him.” The participle ζητοῦντες (zhtountes) shows the means by which the Pharisees argued with Jesus.

[8:11]  ⁴ 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.