Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is unwashed, hands, they found fault. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders. They don’t eat when they come from the marketplace unless they bathe themselves, and there are many other things, which they have received to hold to: washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches.) The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?”
He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
But they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
“For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.” He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban,” ’ ” that is to say, given to God, “then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”
He called all the multitude to himself, and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. There is nothing from outside of the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”
When he had entered into a house away from the multitude, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Don’t you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can’t defile him, because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, making all foods clean?” He said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 19, 22 For the Pharisees would not eat their meat with…
For the Pharisees would not eat their meat with unwashed hands, because they thought that their hands were defiled with common handling of things, Matt. 15:11, 12.
Word for word, eat bread: a kind of speech which the Hebrews use, taking bread for all kinds of food.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–23 2 And when they saw some of his disciples…
2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.
Ver. 2. With defiled] Gr. with common hands, κοιναις χερσι. Common and defiled is one and the same in Greek and other languages; to show that those that come to holy things with common affections and carriages, profane them.
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They found fault] εμεμψαντο. They mumped at it, as we say; they dispraised, accused, complained. Vituperant homines quam collaudant promptius, saith one: another being demanded, what was the easiest thing in the world? answered, to find fault with another. Μωμεισθαι ραον η μιμεισθαι, saith a third; it is easier to find a fault, than to mend it.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 17, 18 Our Saviour’s calling all the people unto him before…
Our Saviour’s calling all the people unto him before he spake what next followeth, and his prefacing that discourse with, Hearken every one of you, and understand, lets us know that what he was about to say was a point of great moment, well worth their learning and observation.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v14 Our blessed Saviour, leaving the Pharisees with some dislike,…
Our blessed Saviour, leaving the Pharisees with some dislike, applies himself to the multitude, and instructs them in a very necessary and useful doctrine, touching the original cause of all spiritual pollution and uncleanness; namely, The filthiness and impurity of man’s heart and nature. And that it is not the meat eaten with the mouth, but the wickedness of the heart, vented by the mouth, which pollutes a person in God’s account. The heart and soul of man alone is capable of sinful defilement. Nothing can defile a person in God’s account, but that which defileth the inward man.
Learn hence, 1. That the heart of man is the sink and seed-plot of all sin, the source and fountain of all pollution.
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2. That all the impiety of the life proceeds from the impurity and filthiness of the heart. Men’s lives would not be so bad if their hearts were not worse. The disciples desiring the interpretation of the foregoing parable, our Saviour gives it them; but withal expostulates with them for not understanding a matter so obvious and plain, Are ye yet without understanding? As if he had said, "Have ye sat thus long under my ministerial teaching, and enjoyed the benefit of my conversation, and yet are no farther proficients in knowledge?" Plainly intimating, that Christ expects a proficiency in knowledge from us proportionable to the opportunities, and means of knowledge enjoyed by us. Having given them this rebuke, he next acquaints them with the sense and meaning of the parable; namely, That it is out of a wicked and sinful heart, that all sin and wickedness doth proceed. Tho’ the occasions of sin are from without, yet the source and original of it is from within. The heart of man is as a cage full of unclean birds: Hence proceeds evil thoughts, either against God or our neighbours. Adulteries, or all sins of the flesh. Murders; That is, all cruelty and hard dealing towards others. An evil eye; that is, an envious spirit, which frets and grieves at the happiness of others called an evil eye, because envy doth much shew and manifest itself in the outward countenance, and especially by the eyes.
From the whole, Note, That the best way to hinder the progress of sin in this life, is to mortify it in the heart, to crucify all inordinate motions, lusts, and corruptions, in their root; for the heart is the first seat and subject of sin, from whence it flows forth into the life and conversation.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–23 And when they saw some of his disciples,.... An…
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
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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, , "with defiled hands"; that is, says the commentator (i), it is all one as if it was said, , "without washing of hands"; which was esteemed a very great crime, and especially if done in a contemptuous way: for they say (k),
"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 (l),
"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 (m); See Gill on Mat 15:2.
(i) Bartenora in Misn. Cholin, c. 2. sect. 5. (k) Zoharin Numb fol. 100. 3. (l) T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 61. 1. (m) Bevaidbar Rabba, fol. 228. 4.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv4, 5, 6, 10, 15, 19, 22 Washing of cups and pots and brazen vessels and…
Washing of cups and pots and brazen vessels and couches - The Greek word (baptisms) means indifferently either washing or sprinkling. The cups, pots, and vessels were washed; the couches sprinkled.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 19 Verse 2. They found fault.] This is wanting in…
Verse 2. They found fault.] This is wanting in ABEHLV, nineteen others, and several versions: Mill and Bengel approve the omission, and Griesbach rejects the word. If the 3d and 4th verses be read in a parenthesis, the 2d and 5th verses will appear to be properly connected, without the above clause.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv3, 9, 14, 17 Mar 7:3-5. For the Pharisees, &c., except they wash…
Mar 7:3-5. For the Pharisees, &c., except they wash their hands oft — Greek, εαν μη πυγμη νιψωνται τας χειρας, except they wash their hands with their fist: or, as some render it, to the wrist. Theophylact translates it, unless they wash up to their elbows; affirming that πυγμη denotes the whole of the arm, from the bending to the ends of the fingers. But this sense of the word is altogether unusual. For πυγμη, properly, is the hand, with the fingers contracted into the palm, and made round. “Theophylact’s translation, however,” says Macknight, “exhibits the evangelist’s meaning. For the Jews, when they washed, held up their hands, and, contracting their fingers, received the water that was poured on them by their servants, (who had it for a part of their office, 2Ki 3:11,) till it ran down their arms, which they washed up to their elbows. To wash with the fist, therefore, is to wash with great care.” A MS. termed Codex Bezæ, instead of πυγμη, the fist, or wrist, has πυκνη, frequently. And when they come from the market, except they wash — Greek, βαπτισωνται, bathe themselves, as the word probably ought here to be rendered, (see Lev 15:11,) they eat not — Having the highest opinion of the importance of these institutions. Indeed, some of their rabbis carried this to such a ridiculous height, that one of them determined the neglect of washing to be a greater sin than whoredom; and another declared, it would be much better to die than to omit it. See many instances of this kind in Hammond and Whitby on the place. The Pharisees, therefore, viewing these washings in this important light, did not doubt but our Lord, by authorizing his disciples to neglect them, would expose himself to universal censure, as one who despised the most sacred services of religion; services to which a sanction was given by the approbation and practice of the whole nation. Accordingly, they asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders? — Hast thou taught them to despise these institutions? But while they pretended nothing but a sorrowful concern for the contempt which the disciples cast on institutions so sacred, their real intention was to make Jesus himself to be detested by the people as a deceiver. But the charge of impiety which they thus brought against him and his disciples, he easily retorted upon them with ten-fold strength. For he shows clearly, that notwithstanding their pretended regard for the duties of godliness, they were themselves guilty of the grossest violations of the divine law. And as they thus transgressed, not through ignorance, but knowingly, they were the worst of sinners, mere hypocrites, who deserved to be abhorred by all good men; and the rather, as God had long ago testified his displeasure against them, in the prophecy which Isaiah had uttered concerning them. He answered, Well hath Esaias prophesied, &c. — See note on Mat 15:7-9.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 17 With common hands. It may be translated, with defiled…
With common hands. It may be translated, with defiled hands; as also ver. 15; but the circumstances plainly shew the sense. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6, 17, 22 2. Unwashen hands — This was not the matter…
2. Unwashen hands — This was not the matter of cleanliness, but of superstitious purity. The Jews of Palestine at the present day wash, indeed, after the meal, because they have handled meat with their fingers, but they wash not, either for cleanliness or superstition, before the meal. According to the Eastern custom, they sometimes think it polite, as Dr. Thomson remarks, to present to the mouth of their guests a piece of food in fingers too dirty to be agreeable to a European taste.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 17, 19, 21, 22 2. with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen,…
2. with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands] Thus St Mark explains for his Roman readers, and then proceeds more fully to set forth certain Jewish usages. The Pharisees had probably crept in secretly into some of the social gatherings of the disciples.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 16, 19, 22 (2) With defiled, that is to say, with unwashen,…
(2) With defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands.—The first word means literally common. This came to be associated, as in Act_10:14, with what was “unclean,” and so, for Jews at all events, the word acquired a new meaning. St. Mark’s Gentile readers, however, were not likely to understand what was meant by “common hands,” and therefore he adds his explanation of “unwashed.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20 Except they wash their hands oft. The Greek word…
Except they wash their hands oft. The Greek word here rendered "oft" is pugmh : literally, with the fist, i.e. with the closed hand, rubbing one against the other. This word has caused a vast amount of criticism; and the difficulty of explaining it seems to have led to the adoption of a conjectural reading (puknwv or puknh) rendered "oft;" crebro in the Vulgate. But the Syriac Peshito Version renders the Greek word by a word which means "diligently," and it is interesting and helpful, as a matter of exegesis, to know that it also renders the Greek word (epimelwv) in Luk_15:8 by the same Syriac synonym, "diligently." The "clenched fist" implies vigor and resolution, and points to "diligence," and there are very high authorities in favor of this rendering, as, Epiphanius, Isaac Casaubon, and Cornelius a Lapide, to say nothing of our best modern expositors. It is also adopted in the Revised Version. Holding the tradition of the elders. The Pharisees pretended that this tradition had been orally delivered by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, and then transmitted orally down to their time. These oral precepts were afterwards embodied in the Talmud.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v17 Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without…
Mar_7:17-23
Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man.
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The true source of defilement
Having rebuked the scribes and Pharisees, our Lord addressed the people, and laid down a great general principle (Mar_7:15), which His disciples asked Him to explain more fully. We are taught-
I. That mere external observances do not affect or change the moral state and character of man.
1. The statement that nothing from without defileth a man, must be taken in connection with what goes before, and then it becomes a principle, of which the Jews had much need to be told. All require to be told.
2. That mere outward observances cannot affect the moral nature, seems a very simple truth. Reason teaches it. The body may be affected by them, but not the soul; to influence the heart, means of a right class must be selected. Experience teaches it. Observation confirms it.
3. This principle requires in our day to be loudly proclaimed.
4. The more nearly the soul can come to God, irrespective of outward things, the better.
II. That the moral state and character of a man, is affected by that which cometh out of his heart.
1. The fountainhead of all that enters into human history and character, is the heart. Hence, the character of the moral law, the order of the Spirits work, the importance of the inspired precept, Keep thine heart, etc.
2. That which naturally proceeds from the heart proves that it is wholly depraved.
3. By these things, which proceed from the heart, is man defiled. Christs blood and spirit, alone can cleanse. (Expository Discourses.)
Spiritual defilement
I. The ceremonialism of the Pharisees denounced.
1. The undue importance they attached to outward observances.
2. The additions they made to the requirements of the law of Moses.
3. The Saviours discourse on this occasion was evidently intended to prepare the minds of the people for the total abolition of all ceremonial rites.
II. The ignorance of the disciples reproved. And He saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also?
1. To us their dulness of apprehension appears strange and unaccountable.
2. In their ignorance we see the effect, not merely of inattention, but of prejudice and bigotry.
III. The depravity of human nature exhibited. We are shown-
1. The source of evil. It is in the heart.
2. The diversified streams of evil. Adulteries, fornications, thefts, murders, covetousness, etc.
3. The contaminating influence of evil. These are the things by which men are defiled. (Expository Outlines.)
Things from within
It is well known that rotten wood and glowworms make a glorious show in the night, and seem to be some excellent things; but when the day appears, they show what they are indeed-poor, despicable, and base creatures. Such is the vanity and sinfulness of all haughty, proud, high-minded persons, who, though now shining in the darkness of this world, through the greatness of their power, place, and height of their honour, when the Sun of Righteousness shall appear and manifest the secrets of all hearts, then they will be seen in their own proper colours. (Spencer.)
Out of the heart.-
The heart determines the life
The bowl runs as the bias inclines it; the ship moves as the rudder steers it; and the mind thinks according to the predominancy of vice or virtue in it. The heart of man is like the spring of the clock, which causes the wheels to move right or wrong, well or ill. If the heart once set forward for God, all the members will follow after; all the parts, like dutiful handmaids, in their places, will wait on their mistress. The heart is the great workhouse where all sin is wrought before it is exposed to open view. It is the mint where evil thoughts are coined, before they are current in our words or actions. It is the forge where all our evil works as well as words are hammered out. There is no sin but is dressed in the withdrawing room of the heart, before it appears on the stage of life. It is vain to go about an holy life till the heart be made holy. The pulse of the hand beats well or ill, according to the state of the heart. If the chinks of the ship are unstopped, it will be to no purpose to labour at the pump. When the water is foul at the bottom, no wonder that scum and filth appear at the top. There is no way to stop the issue of sin, but by drying up the matter that feeds it. (Swinnock.)
Natural corruption of the heart
That which AEsop said to his master, when he came into his garden and saw so many weeds in it, is applicable to the heart, His master asked him what was the reason that the weeds grew up so fast and the herbs thrived not? He answered, The ground is natural mother to the weeds, but a stepmother to the herbs. So the heart of man is natural mother to sin and corruption, but a stepmother to grace and goodness; and further than it is watered from heaven, and followed with a great deal of care and pains, it grows not. (Goodwin.)
The heart a storehouse of evil
Here is a piece of iron laid upon the anvil. The hammers are plied upon it lustily. A thousand sparks are scattered on every side. Suppose it possible to count each spark as it falls from the anvil; yet, who could guess the number of the unborn sparks that still lie latent and hidden in the mass of iron? Now, your sinful nature may be compared to that heated bar of iron. Temptations are the hammers; your sins are the sparks. If you could count them (which you cannot do), yet who could tell the multitude of unborn iniquities-eggs of sin that lie slumbering in your soul? You must know this before you can know the sinfulness of your nature. Our open sins are like the farmers little sample which he brings to market. There are granaries full at home. The iniquities that we see are like the weeds upon the surface soil, but I have been told, and indeed have seen the truth of it, that if you dig six feet into the earth and turn up fresh soil, there will be found in that soil six feet deep the seeds of the weeds indigenous to the land. And so we are not to think merely of the sins that grow on the surface, but if we could turn our heart up to its core and centre, we should find it is fully permeated with sin as every piece of putridity is with worms and rottenness. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
An evil heart
A certain little boy in Kansas, only eleven years old, strove hard to be a Christian. Once he stood watching Maggie paring the potatoes for dinner. Soon she pared an extra large one, which was very white and very nice on the outside, but when cut into pieces it showed itself to be hollow and black inside with dry rot. Instantly Willie exclaimed, Why, Maggie, that potato isnt a Christian. What do you mean? asked Maggie. Dont you see it has a bad heart? was the childs reply. This little Kansas boy had learned enough of the religion of Jesus to know that however fair the outside may be, the natural heart is corrupt. (Baptist Messenger.)
Evil passions when restrained only by custom, law, or public opinion, and not by the grace and love of God, still merit condemnation
If men were shut up in cells, so that they could not commit that which their nature instigated them to do, yet, as before the Lord, seeing they would have been such sinners outwardly if they could have been, their hearts are judged to be no better than the hearts of those who found opportunity to sin and used it. A vicious horse is none the better tempered because the kicking straps prevent his dashing the carriage to atoms; and so a man is none the better really because the restraints of custom and Providence may prevent his carrying out that which he would prefer. Poor fallen human nature behind the bars of laws, and in the cage of fear of punishment, is none the less a fearful creature; should its master unlock the door we should soon see what it would be and do. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
No heart free from sin
Well-tempered spades turn up ill savoury soils even in vineyards. (Baily.)
The heart its own laboratory
We hear a great deal said in our day about the doctrine of environment. Circumstances, we are told, make the man; Life is a modification of matter; Thinking is matter in motion; The brain secretes thought as the liver secretes bile; The difference between a good man and a bad man is mainly a difference in molecular organization; The affections are of an eminently glandular nature; Not as a man thinketh in his heart, but as he eateth, so is he; Character is the aggregate of surroundings, the sum total of parents, nurse, place, time, air, light, food, etc. Now this doctrine of environment is in a certain sense entirely true. The mind does not more certainly act on the body than the body on the mind. But the doctrine of environment means, or at least tends to mean, more than this. It tends to teach that sin is not so much a crime as a misfortune, not so much guilt as disease. Not so did the Galilean Master teach. Hearken to Me, all of you, and understand: Nothing that goeth into a man from without can defile him; but the things that come out of him are what defile a man. Here He is in direct issue with the materialism of the day. For man is something more than matter, or an organized group of molecules. Behind the visible of him there is the invisible. The heart is its own laboratory. Friend, overtaken in a sin, do not judge yourself too charitably. Dont ascribe too much to outward circumstances. Recall the first Adam: he was in a garden, where every outward circumstance was for him; yet he fell. Recall the second Adam: He was in a desert, where every outward circumstance was against Him; yet He remained erect: the Devil failed to conquer Him, not because He was Divine, but because He was sinless. Dont excuse yourself then too much by your environment. Man is not altogether an imbecile. True, circumstances do make the man. But they make him only in the sense and degree that he permits them to make him. You will find the most niggardly of men in the mansions of the rich, and the most generous of men in the cabins of the poor; the humblest of Christians in the palace, and the proudest of Pharisees in the cottage; saints in the dungeon, and villains in the Church. It is not so much the outward that tinges the inward as the inward that tinges the outward. It is for the man himself to say whether his own heart shall be a temple or a kennel. The great problem then is this: How shall a man use his circumstances? For just what he does with them-just what he does with his strength and time, and skill, and money, and imagination, and reason, and affections, just what the heart does with its opportunities-just this is the test of him. Do these opportunities, after passing through the laboratory of his heart, issue as blessings on the world? Then his heart is pure, Do they issue in moral blights? Then his heart is defiled. Not that these bad issues do of themselves defile the heart; but the heart being itself defiled, and sending forth issues of evil thoughts and deeds, these issues take on the impurities of the source from which they spring, marking its defilement, and aggravating its pollution by the very act of outflowing. These are the unclean things, which, coming out from within, defile the man. Keep thy heart, then, with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life and of death. Friend, are you disheartened by my Masters doctrine? Dont seek to remedy your case by merely altering your circumstances, or reforming your habits. You cant purify a fountain by purifying its streams. Jesus Christ is the most radical of reformers. He does not say, Change your circumstances, and you will change your character; but He does say, Change your heart, and you will be likely to change your circumstances. (George Dana Boardman, D. D.)
Evil Thoughts.-
Source of evil thoughts
Notice how evil thoughts are by the Saviour said to be the first of the evil things which coming out of the heart defile. We should not, I think, have put evil thoughts amongst the things which come out of the heart, because we suppose them to be in the heart. But is not what the Saviour says true of that which He alone knows-the very nature and substance of the soul? In its very centre, or close to its centre, the evil has its root or fountain. The evil suggestion arises, and then the will or affection takes notice of it. If the will is right with God, it immediately puts out the evil thing as if it were a loathsome reptile, but if the will be not right with God, it harbours the first suggestion of evil, it cogitates it, thinks it over and over, dwells upon it in imagination, chews the food of the evil fancy, desires to do the evil deed, resolves to do it, and so has already done it in the heart. So that out of the heart, out of the unseen and unthinkable depths within, proceed the evil thoughts which become evil acts within before they are incarnated, as it were, in some evil deed without. (M. F. Sadler, M. A.)
Sinfulness of evil thoughts
Some please themselves in thoughts of sinful sports, or cheats, or unclean acts, and sit brooding on such cockatrice eggs with great delight. It is their meat and drink to roll these sugarplums under their tongues. Though they cannot sin outwardly, for want of strength of body or a fit opportunity, yet they act sin inwardly with great love and complacency. As players in a comedy, they act their parts in private, in order to a more exact performance of them in public. (Swinnock.)
Thoughts usually indicate character
Our thoughts are like the blossoms on a tree in the spring. You may see a tree in the spring all covered with blossoms, so that nothing else of it appears. Multitudes of them fall off and come to nothing. Ofttimes where there are most blossoms there is least fruit. But yet there is no fruit, be it of what sort it will, good or bad, but it comes in and from some of those blossoms. The mind of man is covered with thoughts as a tree with blossoms. Most of them fall off, vanish, and come to nothing, end in vanity; and sometimes where the mind does most abound with them there is the least fruit, the sap of the mind is wasted and consumed in them. Howbeit there is no fruit which actually we bring forth, be it good or bad, but it proceeds from some of these thoughts. Wherefore, ordinarily, these give the best and surest measure of the frame of mens minds. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. In case of strong and violent temptations, the real frame of a mans heart is not to be judged by the multiplicity of thoughts about any object, for whether they are from Satans suggestions, or from inward darkness, trouble, and horror, they will impose such a continual sense of themselves on the mind as shall engage all its thoughts about them; as when a man is in a storm at sea, the current of his thoughts runs quite another way than when he is in safety about his occasions. But ordinarily voluntary thoughts are the best measure and indication of the frame of our minds. As the nature of the soil is judged by the grass which it brings forth, so may the disposition of the heart by the predominancy of voluntary thoughts; they are the original acting of the soul, the way whereby the heart puts forth and empties the treasure that is in it, the waters that first rise and flow from that fountain. (J. Owes.)
Petrifying influence of evil thoughts
Anyone who has visited limestone eaves has noticed the stalactite pillars, sometimes large and massive, by which they were adorned and supported. They are natures masonry of solid rock, formed by her own slow, silent, mysterious process. The little drop of water percolates through the roof of the cave, and deposits its sediment, and another follows it, till the icicle of stone is formed: and finally reaching to the rock beneath, it becomes a solid pillar, a marble monument, which can only be rent down by the most powerful forces. But is there not going forward oftentimes in the caverns of the human heart a process as silent and effective, yet infinitely more momentous? There in the darkness that shrouds all from the view of the outward observer, each thought and feeling, as light and inconsiderate, perhaps, as the little drop of water, sinks downward into the soul, and deposits-yet in a form almost imperceptible-what we may call its sediment. And then another and another follows, till the traces of all combined become more manifest, and at length, if these thoughts and feelings are charged with the sediment of worldliness and worldly passion, they have reared within the spirit permanent and perhaps everlasting monuments of their effects. All around the walls of this spiritual cave stand in massive proportions the pillars of sinful inclinations and the props of iniquity, and only a convulsion like that which rends the solid globe can rend them from their place and shake their hold. Thus stealthily is the work done; mere fancies and desires and lusts unsuspiciously entertained, contribute silently but surely to the result. The heart is changed into an impregnable fortress of sin. The roof of its iniquity is sustained by marble pillars, and all the weight of reason and conscience and the Divine threatenings are powerless to lay it low in the dust of humility. Such is the power of those light fancies and imaginations and desires which enter the soul unobserved, and are slighted for their insignificance. They attract no notice. They utter no note of alarm. We might suppose that if left to themselves they would be absorbed in oblivion, and leave no trace behind. But they form the pillars of character. They sustain the soul under the pressure of all those solemn appeals to which it ought to yield. How impressive, then, the admonition, Keep thy heart with all diligence! Things which seem powerless and harmless may prove noxious beyond expression. The power of inveterate sin is from the silent flow of thought. Your habitual desires or fancies are shaping your eternal destiny. (American National Preacher.)
Evil thoughts not to be harboured
The best Christians heart here is like Solomons ships, which brought home not only gold and silver, but also apes and peacocks; it has not only spiritual and heavenly, but also vain and foolish thoughts. But these latter are there as a disease or poison in the body, the object of his grief and abhorrence, not of his love and complacency. Though we cannot keep vain thoughts from knocking at the door of our hearts, nor from entering in sometimes, yet we may forbear bidding them welcome, or giving them entertainment. How long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee? It is bad to let them sit down with us, though but for an hour, but it is worse to let them lie or lodge with us. It is better to receive the greatest thieves into our houses than vain thoughts into our hearts. John Huss, seeking to reclaim a very profane wretch, was told by him, that his giving way to wicked, wanton thoughts was the original of all those hideous births of impiety which he was guilty of in his life. Huss answered him, that although he could not keep evil thoughts from courting him, yet he might keep them Item marrying him; as, he added, though I cannot keep the birds from flying over my head, yet I can keep them from building their nests in my hair. (Swinnock.)
Importance of keeping the mind well employed
Mans heart is like a millstone: pour in corn, and round it goes, bruising and grinding, and converting it into flour; whereas give it no corn, and then indeed the stone goes round, but only grinds itself away, and becomes ever thinner and smaller and narrower. Even as the heart of man requires to have always something to do; and happy is he who continually occupies it with good and holy thoughts, otherwise it may soon consume and waste itself by useless anxieties or wicked and carnal suggestions. When the millstones are not nicely adjusted, grain may indeed be poured in, but comes away only half ground or not ground at all. The same often happens with our heart when our devotion is not sufficiently earnest. On such occasions we read the finest texts without knowing what we have read, and pray without hearing our own prayers. The eye flits over the sacred page, the mouth pours forth the words, and clappers like a mill, but the heart meanwhile turns from one strange thought to another; and such reading and such prayer are more a useless form than a devotion acceptable to God. (Scriver.)
Good thoughts strangers
The thoughts of spiritual things are with many as guests that come into an inn and not like children that dwell in the house. (Dr. John Owen.)
Cure for evil thoughts
As the streams of a mighty river running into the ocean, so are the thoughts of a natural man, and through self they run into hell. It is a fond thing to set a dam before such a river to curb its streams. For a little space there may be a stop made, but it will quickly break down all obstacles, or overflow all its bounds. There is no way to divert its course, but only by providing other channels for its waters, and turning them there into. The mighty stream of the evil thoughts of men will admit of no bounds or dams to pug a stop unto them. There are but two ways of relief from them; the one respecting their moral evil, the other their natural abundance. The first by throwing salt into the spring, as Elisha cured the waters of Jericho; that is, to get the heart and mind seasoned with grace; for the tree must be made good before the fruit will be so; the other is, to turn their streams into new channels, putting new aims and ends upon them, fixing them on new objects; so shall we abound in spiritual thoughts; for abound in thought we shall, whether we will or no. (Dr. John Owen.)
Evil thoughts not trifles
Notice this evil catalogue, this horrible list of words. It begins with what is very lightly regarded among men-evil thoughts. Instead of evil thoughts being less simple than evil acts, it may sometimes happen that in the thought the man may be worse than in the act. Thoughts are the heads of words and actions, and within the thoughts lie condensed all the villany and iniquity that can be seen in the words or in the acts. If men did more carefully watch their thoughts, they would not so readily fall into evil ways. Instead of fancying that evil thoughts are mere trifles, let us imitate the Saviour, and put them first in the catalogue of things to be condemned. Let us make a conscience of our thoughts. In the words of the text the first point mentioned is evil thoughts, but the last is foolishness. This is the way of sin, to begin with a proud conceit of our own thoughts, ending with folly and stupidity. What a range there is between these two points, what a variety of sin thus enumerated! Sin is a contradictory thing: it takes men this way and that, but never in the right way. Virtue is one, as truth is one; holiness is one, but sin is ten thousand things conglomerated into a dread confusion. When we look upon any man and only regard him with malignity, we sin in all that-it is the sin of envy. There stands pride. One would have thought that a man who commits these sins would not have been proud. When a man is filled with a proud conceit of himself he is justifying his own iniquity. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Human depravity seen in the thoughts of man
Consider the wild mixtures of thought displayed both in the waking life and the dreams of mankind. How grand! how mean! how sudden the leap from one to the other! how inscrutable the succession! how defiant of orderly control! It is as if the soul were a thinking ruin, which it very likely is. The angel and the demon life appear to be contending in it. The imagination revels in beauty exceeding all the beauty of things, wails in images dire and monstrous, wallows in murderous and base suggestions that shame our inward dignity. (H. Bushnell, D. D.)
Covetousness.
Covetousness-its spirit
The spirit of covetousness which leads to an over value and over love of money, is independent of amount. A poor man may make an idol of his little, just as much as the rich man makes an idol of his much. We know our Lord showed how the poorest person may exceed in charity and liberality the richest-by giving more than the wealthy in proportion to the whole amount of his possessions. So in like manner, a poor man may be more covetous than a wealthy man, because he may keep back from the treasury of God more in proportion to his all than the rich man keeps back from his all. If the Christian character is debased, and heaven is lost by such indulgence of covetousness as to make a man an idolater of mammon, it is of little consequence whether the heart be set on an idol of gold, or an idol of clay. (Dean Ramsay.)
Covetousness exchanges true riches for the false
As the dog in AEsops fable lost the real flesh for the shadow of it, so the covetous man casts away the true riches for the love of the shadowy. (T. Adams.)
Covetousness pines in plenty
The covetous man pines in plenty, like Tantalus up to the chin in water, and yet thirsty. (T. Adams.)
Degradation of the covetous
A young man once picked up a sovereign lying in the road. Ever afterwards, in walking along, he kept his eye fixed steadily upon the ground in the hope of finding another. And in the course of a long life he did pick up a good many gold and silver coins at different times. But all these years, while he was looking for them, he saw not that the heavens were bright above him, and nature beautiful around. He never once allowed his eyes to look up from the mud and filth in which he sought his treasure; and when he died-a rich old man-he only knew this fair earth as a dirty road to pick up money as you walk along. (Dr. Jeffers.)
Delusion of the covetous
Some of us may remember a fable of a covetous man, who chanced to find his way one moonlight night into a fairys palace. There he saw bars, apparently of solid gold, strewed on every side; and he was permitted to take away as many as he could carry. In the morning, when the sun rose on his imaginary treasure, borne home with so much toil, behold! there was only a bundle of sticks, and invisible beings filled the air around him with scornful laughter. Such will be the confusion of many a man who died in this world with his thousands, and woke up in the next world not only miserable, and poor, and naked, but in presence of a heap of fuel stored up against the great Day of burning. (Anon.)
Covetousness mental gluttony
Covetousness is a sort of mental gluttony, not confined to money, but craving honour and feeding on selfishness. (Chamfort.)
Covetousness manifested in insufficient expenditure
Whosoever, when a just occasion calls, either spends not at all, or not in some proportion to Gods blessing upon him, is covetous. The reason of the ground is manifest, because wealth is given to that end to supply our occasions. Now, if I do not give everything its end, I abuse the creature; I am false to my reason, which should guide me; I offend the Supreme Judge, in perverting that order which He hath set both to those things and to reason. The application of the ground would be infinite. But, in brief, a poor man is an occasion; nay friend is an occasion; my country; my table; my apparel. If in all these, and those more which concern me, I either do nothing, or pinch and scrape and squeeze blood, indecently to the station wherein God hath placed me, I am covetous. More particularly, and to give one instance of all: if God have given me servants, and I either provide too little for them, or that which is unwholesome, and so not competent nourishment, I am covetous. Men usually think that servants for their money are as other things that they buy, even as a piece of wood, which they may cut, or hack, or throw into the fire; and so that they pay them their wages, all is well. Nay, to descend yet more particularly: if a man hath wherewithal to buy a spade, and yet he chooseth rather to use his neighbours, and wear out that, he is covetous. Nevertheless, few bring covetousness thus low or consider it so narrowly, which yet ought to be done, since there is a justice in the least things, and for the least there shall be a judgment. (George Herbert.)
Pride.-
Pride
Diogenes being at Olympia, saw at the celebrated festival some young men of Rhodes, arrayed most magnificently. Smiling scornfully, he exclaimed, This is pride. Afterwards, meeting with some Lacedaemonians in a mean and sordid dress, he said, This is also pride. Pride is found at the same opposite extremes of dress at the present day.
The folly of pride
Of all sins, pride is such a one as we may well wonder how it should grow, for it hath no other root to sustain it, than what is found in mans dreaming fancy. It grows, as sometimes we see a mushroom, or moss among stones, where there is little soil or none for its root to take hold of. (W. Gurnall.)
The test of purity
A gentleman was once extolling loudly the virtue of honesty, saying what a dignity it imparted to our nature, and how it recommended us to the favour of God. Sir, replied his friend, however excellent the virtue of honesty may be, I fear there are very few men in the world who really possess it. You surprise me, said a stranger. Ignorant as I am of your character, was the reply, I fancy it would be no difficult matter to prove even you to be a dishonest man. I defy you. Will you give me leave, then, to ask you a question or two, and promise not to be offended? Certainly. Have you never met with an opportunity of getting gain by unfair means? I dont say, have you taken advantage of it; but, have you ever met with such an opportunity? I, for my part, have; and I believe everybody else has. Very probably I may. How did you feel your mind affected on such an occasion? Had you no secret desire, not the least inclination, to seize the advantage which offered? Tell me without any evasion, and consistently with the character you admire. I must acknowledge, I have not always been absolutely free from every irregular inclination; but-. Hold! sir, none of your salvos; you have confessed enough. If you had the desire, though you never proceeded to the act, you were dishonest in heart. This is what the Scriptures call concupiscence. It defiles the soul; it is a breach of that law which requireth truth in the inward parts, and, unless you are pardoned through the Blood of Christ, it will be a just ground for your condemnation, when God shall judge the secrets of men.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v14 Chapter 7
Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7:14-23 (Mar_7:14-23)
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THINGS WHICH DEFILE
"And He called to Him the multitude again, and said unto them, Hear Me all of you, and understand: there is nothing from without the man, that going into him can defile him: but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man. And when He was entered into the house from the multitude, His disciples asked of Him the parable. And He saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth into the man, it cannot defile him; because it goeth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught? This He said, making all meats clean. And He said, That which proceedeth out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness: all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man." Mar_7:14-23 (R.V.)
WHEN Jesus had exposed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, He took a bold and significant step. Calling the multitude to Him, He publicly announced that no diet can really pollute the soul; only its own actions and desires can do that: not that which entereth into the man can defile him, but the things which proceed out of the man.
He does not as yet proclaim the abolition of the law, but He surely declares that it is only temporary, because it is conventional, not rooted in the eternal distinctions between right and wrong, but artificial. And He shows that its time is short indeed, by charging the multitude to understand how limited is its reach, how poor are its effects.
Such teaching, addressed with marked emphasis to the public, the masses, whom the Pharisees despised as ignorant of the law, and cursed, was a defiance indeed. And the natural consequence was an opposition so fierce that He was driven to betake Himself, for the only time, and like Elijah in his extremity, to a Gentile land. And yet there was abundant evidence in the Old Testament itself that the precepts of the law were not the life of souls. David ate the shewbread. The priests profaned the sabbath. Isaiah spiritualized fasting. Zechariah foretold the consecration of the Philistines. Whenever the spiritual energies of the ancient saints received a fresh access, they were seen to strive against and shake off some of the trammels of a literal and servile legalism. The doctrine of Jesus explained and justified what already was felt by the foremost spirits in Israel.
When they were alone, "the disciples asked of Him the parable," that is, in other words, the saying which they felt to be deeper than they understood, and full of far-reaching issues. But Jesus rebuked them for not understanding what uncleanness really meant. For Him, defilement was badness, a condition of the soul. And therefore meats could not defile a man, because they did not reach the heart, but only the bodily organs. In so doing, as St. Mark plainly adds, He made all meats clean, and thus pronounced the doom of Judaism, and the new dispensation of the Spirit. In truth, St. Paul did little more than expand this memorable saying. "Nothing that goeth into a man can defile him," here is the germ of all the decision about idol meats --"neither if one' eat is he the better, neither if he eat not is he the worse." "The things which proceed out of the man are those which defile the man," here is the germ of all the demonstration that love fulfills the law, and that our true need is to be renewed inwardly, so that we may bring forth fruit unto God.
But the true pollution of the man comes from within; and the life is stained because the heart is impure. For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, like the uncharitable and bitter judgments of His accusers -- and thence come also the sensual indulgences which men ascribe to the flesh, but which depraved imaginations excite, and love of God and their neighbor would restrain -- and thence are the sins of violence which men excuse by pleading sudden provocation, whereas the spark led to a conflagration only because the heart was a dry fuel -- and thence, plainly enough, come deceit and railing, pride and folly.
It is a hard saying, but our conscience acknowledges the truth of it. We are not the toy of circumstances, but such as we have made ourselves; and our lives would have been pure if the stream had flowed from a pure fountain. However modern sentiment may rejoice in highly colored pictures of the noble profligate and his pure minded and elegant victim; of the brigand or the border ruffian full of kindness, with a heart as gentle as his hands are red; and however true we may feel it to be that the worst heart may never have betrayed itself by the worst actions, but many that are first shall be last, it still continues to be the fact, and undeniable when we do not sophisticate our judgment, that "all these evil things proceed from within."
It is also true that they "further defile the man." The corruption which already existed in the heart is made worse by passing into action; shame and fear are weakened; the will is confirmed in evil; a gap is opened or widened between the man who commits a new sin, and the virtue on which he has turned his back. Few, alas! are ignorant of the defiling power of a bad action, or even of a sinful thought deliberately harbored, and the harboring of which is really an action, a decision of the will.
This word which makes all meats clean, ought for ever to decide the question, what restrictions may be necessary for men who have depraved and debased their own appetites, until innocent indulgence does reach the heart and pervert it. Hand are foot are innocent, but men there are who cannot enter into life otherwise than halt or maimed. Also it leaves untouched the question, as long as such men exist, how far may I be privileged to share and so to lighten the burden imposed on them by past transgressions? It is surely a noble sign of religious life in our day, that many thousands can say, as the Apostle said, of innocent joys, "Have we not a right? . . . Nevertheless we did not use this right, but we bear all things, that we may cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ."
Nevertheless the rule is absolute: "Whatsoever from without goeth into the man, it cannot defile him. And the Church of Christ is bound to maintain, uncompromised and absolute, the liberty of Christian souls.
Let us not fail to contrast such teaching as this of Jesus with that of our modern materialism.
"The value of meat and drink is perfectly transcendental," says one. "Man is what he eats," says another. But it is enough to make us tremble, to ask what will issue from such teachng if it ever grasps firmly the mind of a single generation. What will become of honesty, when the value of what may be had by theft is transcendental? How shall armies be persuaded to suffer hardness, and populations to famish within beleagured walls, when they learn that "man is what he eats," so that his very essence is visibly enfeebled, his personality starved out, as he grows pale and wasted underneath his country's flag? In vain shall such a generation strive to keep alive the flame of generous self-devotion. Self-devotion seemed to their fathers to be the noblest attainment; to them it can be only a worn-out form of speech to say that the soul can overcome the flesh. For to them the man is the flesh; he is the resultant of his nourishment; what enters into the mouth makes his character, for it makes him all.
There is that within us all which knows better; which sets against the aphorism, "Man is what he eats;" the text "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he;" which will always spurn the doctrine of the brute, when it is boldly confronted with the doctrine of the Crucified.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv2–5 2. Eat bread with defiled hands. Not dirty, but…
2. Eat bread with defiled hands. Not dirty, but “unwashen.” The “tradition of the elders” required them to always wash before eating lest they might have touched something ceremonially unclean.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v14 Mat 15:10-20; Mar 7:14-23. Matthew: “Calling the multitude to…
TRUE RELIGION — INTERNAL & SPIRITUAL
Mat 15:10-20; Mar 7:14-23. Matthew: “Calling the multitude to Him, He said to them, Hear and understand. Not that which cometh into the mouth defileth a man; but that which goeth out of a man, that defileth a man. Then His disciples, coming, said to Him, Do you know that the Pharisees, hearing the word, were offended? and He, responding, said, Every plant which My Heavenly Father did not plant, shall be rooted up.” The subject here is the Pharisaic traditions, and an infinite diversity of burdensome human rites, ceremonies, and institutions which had been foisted on the Jewish Church, covering up and literally hiding the heavenly superstructure, till the people, seeing nothing but humanism, were following the shadow, ignorant of the substance, led by the blind clergy in the way of death. All that was smashed up by the Roman armies, a few years subsequently to this awful prophecy, sweeping their institutions from the face of the earth, and annihilating the Jewish polity. A similar doom awaits the Pharisaical institutions of the Gentile Church, when the bloody revolutions of the Armageddon shall roll their desolating billows over the world, eliminating from the Church all her human inventions, and reducing her down to primitive simplicity and apostolic purity, unfurling the New Testament standard to all nations, and thus verifying the prophecy of Jesus, “Every plant which My Heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” We would better all take warning, and come up at once to the simplicity of Jesus and His apostles revealed in the New Testament. “Let them alone; they are blind leaders of the blind; and if the blind may lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” We have no right to shove this back and leave it with the fallen Church, apostate membership, and godless clergy, of our Savior’s time. It is written for us. The unspiritual leaders all around us, stickleristic for their human institutions, and ignorant of God’s grand spiritual truth, are leading the multitudes to ruin. Jesus makes no mistake. Leaders and followers shall altogether fall into the ditch of irretrievable woe.
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Mark: “And when He came from the multitudes into the house, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.” As he was at Caperuaum, His home after His expulsion from Nazareth — and, having no house of His own, it is believed that Peter’s house was His home — it is more than likely that this in the house into which He entered. “And He says to them Are you truly yet without understanding? Do you not know that everything without, entering into the man, is not able to defile him? Because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach; and goes out into the excrement, purifying all edibles;” i.e., in the gospel dispensation we have large liberties on the question of eating and drinking, as these edibles and potables do not go into the heart, but into the alimentary canal, portions being eliminated for the nutriment of the physical being, and the residue becoming soil, and perfectly purified by the chemical agencies brought into activity by earth, air, and water, so there is actually no ultimately surviving impurity. On this problem we are to walk in the light which God gives us, sedulously observing the laws of hygiene with reference to eating and drinking, as to time, quality, and quantity. We should all beware of side issues, calculated to absorb undue attention, and deflect us from the grand trunk-line of holiness to the Lord. In that department, fanaticism is prone to bivouac. “And He said, That which cometh out of the man defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of the people, proceed evil reasonings, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, hypocrisy, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, folly. All these evils come out from within, and defile the man.” O what an appalling and horrific den of rattlesnakes, here catalogued by the Infallible, constituting the black cohort of inbred sin, occupying the heart of poor, fallen humanity, till extirpated, eradicated, washed away by the cleansing blood, consumed and annihilated by the refining fire of the Holy Ghost, poured down from heaven in Pentecostal floods and sanctifying baptism!
“Evil reasonings” are most adroitly manipulated by demons, who will crowd around you and argue you down, answering all of your objections to something, painted fair as Eden flowers, but black as the pit.
“Adulteries and fornications,” so nearly synonymous that Jesus, in view of their awful power over their wretched victims, here almost indulges in tautology by way of emphasizing this vice, which is, probably more than any other, productive of human ruin in time and in eternity.
“Wickedness” is a generic term, in the plural number, comprehending every vice conceivable, whether included in this catalogue or not.
“Deceitfulness” lies deep down in the subterranean jungles of the fallen spirit, cropping out in all phases of guile, craft, stratagem, trickery, chicanery, and hypocrisy, so utterly irreconcilable with that unsophisticated simplicity, innocence, and guilelessness characteristic of angels and redeemed spirits, and yet, by many pseudo-preachers and saints, winked at and apologized for as shrewdness in trade and business sagacity.
“Murders.” Do not forget, “He that hateth his brother is a murderer.” “Man looketh on the outside, but God looketh on the heart.” The spirit is the essence in the Divine estimation, God seeing the anger, wrath, malice, envy, jealousy, revenge, which are the spirit of murder, deep down in your heart, and consequently condemning you, as if you had imbued your hands in the blood of your neighbor.
“Thefts.” If you cheat a person out of a dollar, you are as really a thief in the sight of God as if you had gone at midnight and stolen a horse. The reason why Churches are dead is because they are so frequently ruled by criminals, who grieve the Holy Spirit away, the man who can steal most by cheating promoted to the highest office.
“Covetousness.” This is the fatal and magnitudinous sin of the day. It sent an apostle to hell, and almost ruined Jacob. It is the crying sin of the Church today, alone disqualifying her to girdle the world with missionaries, and envelop the nations with sunbursts of light and glory.
“Impurity.” O how black and how impudent this monster, intruding into homes, withering and blighting the fairest domestic flowers, blasting the dearest social bliss, turning communities into battle-fields and homes into hells!
“Pride.” John Wesley pronounced pride the great mother-sin, generating whole groups of vices and follies, which prove rattlesnakes in the bosom, and develop perdition in the home, superinducing ruined health, dissipated fortunes, and alienated friends.
“Folly.” This is a very comprehensive term, as it is the opposite of wisdom, which, in the Bible, means the grace of God that saves soul and body. As a rule, pride and folly are more prevalent with women, sending millions of the fairer sex to be brutalized by demons in the bottomless pit; while the dark, vulgar vices — e. g., murder, theft, robbery, and blasphemy roll their pestilential billows over men and boys, precipitating them into hell by millions before their time.
“Blasphemy.” This vice, to all human appearances, is the most unapologizable, as Satan bates his hook when he goes fishing for the participants of all other sins, while in case of blasphemy lie just drops down the naked hook, and, to the surprise of angels, disgust of good men, and the ridicule of devils, the poor dupe opens his mouth in blasphemy against the God who gives him breath, for which he couldn’t give an excuse nor a reason to save his life. N.B. All repetitions of God’s name are blasphemy, unless taken in prayer, supplication, adoration, praise, with due reverence and solemnity.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv5, 7, 11, 19 i.e. the so-called "oral law" alleged to have been…
tradition
i.e. the so-called "oral law" alleged to have been handed down from Moses; really a traditional interpretation of the written law.
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See margin ref., (See Scofield "Mar 7:7")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv6, 9, 14, 17 The Lord’s answer:
The Lord’s answer:
v. 6. He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
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v. 7. Howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
v. 8. For laying aside the commandments of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups; and many other such like things ye do.
In cases of weakness and lack of understanding the Lord was always willing to employ a great deal of patience, but in the case of the Pharisees, where utter hardness of heart was united with supercilious haughtiness and unwillingness to be taught, Jesus used the weapons of invective and sarcasm, and sometimes of bitter denunciation. He applies a double prophecy of Isaiah to them. With their lips they honored the Lord, endless prayers with babbling repetition were their strong suit, but their heart was altogether away, at a great distance from Him. They were proud of their outward observance of the precepts of both the Law and of the tradition of the elders, believing that this was true service of God. But vain is such worship, the Lord informs them, since they teach and insist upon the doctrines of men. In accordance with this prophecy, Jesus fitly calls them hypocrites, actors of a kind, that go through the routine of their part, say their prayers, and make the appropriate gestures by rote, but who seldom or never can reach the spontaneous expression of one that speaks and acts out of the fullness of his heart. Like them, all people that place the commandments of men on the same level with God’s holy Law and for the sake of their precepts change and even set aside the eternal Word of God, are hypocrites, whose heart is far from God, who do not give the Lord their heart, for otherwise they would have the proper relevance for the same. The rebuke of Jesus exactly strikes the sore spot: they put aside the command of God and cling to the tradition of men.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2, 5, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20 General Information:
General Information:
In verses verses 3 and 4, the author gives background information about the Pharisees' washing traditions in order to show why the Pharisees were bothered that Jesus' disciples did not wash their hands before eating. This information can be reordered in order to make it easier to understand, as in the UDB. (See: Background Information and Verse Bridges)
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They saw
"The Pharisees and the scribes saw"
that is, unwashed
The word "unwashed" explains why the disciples' hands were defiled. It can be expressed in active form. AT: "that is, with hands that they had not washed" or "that is, that they had not washed their hands" (See: Active or Passive)
elders
Jewish elders were leaders in their communities and were also judges for the people.
copper vessels
"copper kettles" or "metal containers"
the couches upon which they eat
"benches" or "beds." At that time, the Jews would recline when eating.
translationWords
disciple
bread
defile
Pharisee
Jew
tradition
elder
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 14, 20 7:2-4 Mark explains the Pharisaic practices of ritual cleansing…
7:2-4 Mark explains the Pharisaic practices of ritual cleansing for his non-Jewish (Gentile) readers. The ancient traditions (literally the traditions of the elders) were as yet unwritten accounts that the Pharisees believed had been given to Moses on Mount Sinai along with the written law. They were written down around AD 200 in the Mishnah, one of the key sources for understanding ancient Judaism.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.