Mark 7:9

9 And he said to them, "You splendidly ignore the commandment of God so that you can keep your tradition.

Mark 7:9 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 7:9

And he said unto them
He continued his discourse, saying,

full well,
or "fairly",

ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own
tradition:
these words may be considered, as spoken ironically, thus; as pious and excellently good men, you in a very fair and handsome manner, reject and make void the commandments and laws of God; and it is very fit it should be so, in order to preserve your own traditions, that nothing may be wanting to keep up the honour of them, and a due regard to them. The Arabic version reads the words by way of interrogation, "is it fit that you should omit the commandments of God, and keep your own statutes?" and so the Ethiopic, "do ye rightly make void the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own commandment?" Which makes them come nearer to the passage in Matthew; (See Gill on Matthew 15:3).

Mark 7:9 In-Context

7 And they worship me in vain, teaching [as] doctrines the commandments of men.'

8 Abandoning the commandment of God, you hold fast to the tradition of men."

9 And he said to them, "You splendidly ignore the commandment of God so that you can keep your tradition.

10 For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'The one who speaks evil of father or mother {must certainly die}.'

11 But you say, 'If a man says to his father or to his mother, "Whatever {benefit you would have received} from me [is] corban" (that is, a gift [to God]),

Footnotes

• [a]. Some manuscripts have "you can maintain"