Mark 7:9-12

7:9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up ¹  your tradition. 7:10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ ²  and, ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ ³  7:11 But you say that if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you would have received from me is corban’ ⁴  (that is, a gift for God), 7:12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother.

[7:9]  ¹ 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]  ² sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

[7:10]  ³ sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.

[7:11]  ⁴ 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).