Mark 7:6

6 He replied, "Isaiah was right. He prophesied about you people who pretend to be good. He said, " 'These people honor me by what they say. But their hearts are far away from me.

Mark 7:6 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 7:6

He answered and said unto them
Matthew postpones the following citation and application of the prophecy of Isaiah, to the account of the command of God being broken by the tradition of Corban; which Mark makes the answer of Christ to begin with:

well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites;
which in Matthew is read, "ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you", ( Matthew 15:7 ) ; to the same sense as here: for the prophecy of Isaiah not only described the hypocrites of his time, but had respect chiefly to the Jews in succeeding ages, in the times of Christ, and both before and after; when they would, as they did, greatly degenerate, and lost the power and spirituality of religion, and had only the form of it; left the word of God for the traditions of men, and were given up to great stupidity, and to judicial blindness: hence the Apostle Paul refers to a passage in the same chapter, ( Isaiah 29:10 ) , and applies it to the Jews in his time, ( Romans 11:8 ) ; (See Gill on Matthew 15:7), saying,

as it is written
in ( Isaiah 29:13 ) ,

this people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far
from me.
In the Prophet Isaiah more is said than is here cited; and so in Matthew more is produced, and the whole is there expressed thus: "this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me", ( Matthew 15:8 ) : they presented their bodies before the Lord in the synagogues, or in the temple, and prayed to him with an air of devotion and fervency, and offered up their praises to him, for their external privileges and blessings; but, alas! this was all lip labour; there was no lifting up their hearts, with their hands, unto God; these were not united to fear his name, but were distracted in his worship, and carried away from him to other objects; (See Gill on Matthew 15:8).

Mark 7:6 In-Context

4 When they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they wash. And they follow many other teachings. For example, they wash cups, pitchers, and kettles in a special way.

5 So the Pharisees and the teachers of the law questioned Jesus. "Why don't your disciples live by what the elders teach?" they asked. "Why do they eat their food with 'unclean' hands?"

6 He replied, "Isaiah was right. He prophesied about you people who pretend to be good. He said, " 'These people honor me by what they say. But their hearts are far away from me.

7 Their worship doesn't mean anything to me. They teach nothing but human rules.' (Isaiah 29:13)

8 You have let go of God's commands. And you are holding on to the teachings that men have made up."