Mark 7:2

2 They had noticed that some of His disciples were eating their food with `unclean' (that is to say, unwashed) hands.

Mark 7:2 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 7:2

And when they saw some of his disciples
An opportunity soon offered of giving them an handle against him: for observing some of his disciples to sit down to meat, they took notice that they

eat bread with defiled (that is to say, with unwashen) hands,
and they found fault;
with them, and charged them with the breach of the traditions of the elders, and took an occasion from hence of quarrelling with Christ. The Jews use the same phrase the evangelist here does, and interpret it in just the same manner: so, speaking of things eaten, (twbawom Mydyb) , "with defiled hands"; that is, says the commentator ^F9, it is all one as if it was said, (Mydy tlyjn alb) , "without washing of hands"; which was esteemed a very great crime, and especially if done in a contemptuous way: for they say ^F11,

``he that despiseth washing of hands, shall be rooted out of the world; for in it is the secret of the decalogue:''

and particularly to eat with unwashed hands, was unpardonable in a disciple of a wise man; for they looked upon this to be the characteristic of one of the vulgar people, a common and illiterate man: for they ask ^F12,

``who is one of the people of the earth, or a plebeian? he that does not eat his common food with purity.''

By this also they distinguished a Jew from a Gentile; if he washed his hands, and blessed, he was known to be an Israelite, but if not, a Gentile ^F13; (See Gill on Matthew 15:2).

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 Bartenora in Misn. Cholin, c. 2. sect. 5.
F11 Zoharin Numb fol. 100. 3.
F12 T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 61. 1.
F13 Bevaidbar Rabba, fol. 228. 4.

Mark 7:2 In-Context

1 Then the Pharisees, with certain Scribes who had come from Jerusalem, came to Him in a body.

2 They had noticed that some of His disciples were eating their food with `unclean' (that is to say, unwashed) hands.

3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews--being, as they are, zealous for the traditions of the Elders--never eat without first carefully washing their hands,

4 and when they come from market they will not eat without bathing first; and they have a good many other customs which they have received traditionally and cling to, such as the rinsing of cups and pots and of bronze utensils, and the washing of beds.)

5 So the Pharisees and Scribes put the question to Him: "Why do your disciples transgress the traditions of the Elders, and eat their food with unclean hands?"