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.”
Show the surrounding paragraph
Mark 7:9-13 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“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.”
Parallel Translations
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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.”
-
And he sayde vnto them: well ye cast asyde the comaundement of God to mayntayne youre owne tradicions.
For Moses sayde: Honoure thy father and thy mother: and whosoever cursseth father or mother let him dye for it.
But ye saye: a man shall saye to father or mother Corban: which is: that thou desyrest of me to helpe the with is geven God.
And so ye soffre him no more to do ought for his father or his mother
makinge the worde of God of none effecte through youre awne tradicions which ye have ordeyned. And many soche thinges ye do.
Show all 3 translations
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And he sayd vnto them, Well, ye reiect the commandement of God, that ye may obserue your owne tradition.
For Moses sayd, Honour thy father and thy mother: and Whosoeuer shall speake euill of father or mother, let him die the death.
But yee say, If a man say to father or mother, Corban, that is, By the gift that is offered by mee, thou mayest haue profite, hee shall be free.
So ye suffer him no more to doe any thing for his father, or his mother,
Making the worde of God of none authoritie, by your tradition which ye haue ordeined: and ye doe many such like things.
Cross-references (35)
- Exodus 21:17 (v10) “Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
- Exodus 20:12 (v10) “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
- Mark 7:9 (v13) He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
- Isaiah 29:13 (v9) The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and honors me with their lips, but they have removed their heart far from…
- Deuteronomy 5:16 (v10) “Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you; that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the…
Show all 34 cross-references
- Jeremiah 44:16-17 (v9) “As for the word that you have spoken to us in Yahweh’s name, we will not listen to you. But we will certainly perform every word that has…
- Galatians 2:21 (v9) I don’t reject the grace of God. For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for nothing!”
- Isaiah 24:5 (v9) The earth also is polluted under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the…
- Titus 1:14 (v13) not paying attention to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.
- Leviticus 20:9 (v10) “ ‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall…
- Psalms 119:126 (v9) It is time to act, Yahweh, for they break your law.
- Isaiah 8:20 (v13) Turn to the law and to the covenant! If they don’t speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.
- Matthew 5:17-20 (v13) “Don’t think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn’t come to destroy, but to fulfill. For most certainly, I tell you,…
- Matthew 15:3-6 (v9) He answered them, “Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your…
- Mark 7:3 (vv9, 13) (For the Pharisees and all the Jews don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders.
- Jeremiah 8:8-9 (v13) “ ‘How do you say, “We are wise, and Yahweh’s law is with us?” But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made that a lie. The wise men…
- Hosea 8:12 (v13) I wrote for him the many things of my law; but they were regarded as a strange thing.
- Matthew 15:6 (v13) he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition.
- Mark 7:13 (v9) making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”
- Romans 3:31 (v9) Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law.
- 2 Kings 16:10-16 (v9) King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath Pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar that was at Damascus; and king Ahaz sent to Urijah…
- Matthew 15:4 (v10) For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’
- Ezekiel 18:14 (v13) “Now, behold, if he fathers a son, who sees all his father’s sins, which he has done, and fears, and does not such like;
- Daniel 7:25 (v9) He will speak words against the Most High, and will wear out the saints of the Most High. He will plan to change the times and the law; and…
- Matthew 23:18 (v11) ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?’
- Mark 10:19 (v10) You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not give false testimony,’ ‘Do not defraud,’…
- 2 Thessalonians 2:4 (v9) he who opposes and exalts himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, setting…
- Deuteronomy 27:16 (v10) ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- Proverbs 20:20 (v10) Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.
- Proverbs 30:17 (v10) “The eye that mocks at his father, and scorns obedience to his mother: the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, the young eagles shall…
- Daniel 11:36 (v9) “The king will do according to his will. He will exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and will speak marvelous things…
- 1 Timothy 5:4-8 (v11) But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety toward their own family and to repay their parents, for…
- Matthew 15:5 (v11) But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother, “Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,”
- Galatians 5:21 (v13) envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice…
34 distinct cross-references across this passage (35 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (14 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv9–10 True Religion, which is clean contrary to superstition, consisteth…
True Religion, which is clean contrary to superstition, consisteth in spiritual worship: and all enemies of true Religion, although they seem to have taken deep root, shall be plucked up.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9–13 9 And he said unto them, Full well ye…
9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
Ver. 9. Full well ye reject] q.d. It is finely done of you, is it not? καλως. Sane, Bene. Ironice; ye are wise men therewhile. This was check to their masterships. Sapientes sapienter in infernum descendent, saith a father. The world’s wizards have not wit enough to escape hell.
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–13 And he said unto them,.... He continued his discourse,…
And he said unto them,.... He continued his discourse, saying,
full well, or "fairly",
Read full note →
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 Mat 15:3.
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 v10 Exod. xx, 12; Exod. xxi, 17.
Exod. xx, 12; Exod. xxi, 17.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 13 Verse 9. Full well] καλωσ , -a strong irony.…
Verse 9. Full well] καλωσ , -a strong irony. How noble is your conduct! From conscientious attachment to your own traditions ye have annihilated the commandments of God!
That ye may keep] But στησητε, that ye may establish, is the reading of D, three others, Syriac, all the Itala, with Cyprian, Jerome, and Zeno. Griesbach thinks it should be received instead of the other. God's law was nothing to these men, in comparison of their own: hear a case in point. "Rabba said, How foolish are most men! They observe the precepts of the Divine law, and neglect the statutes of the rabbins!" Maccoth, fol. 22.
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 v9 Mar 7:9-13. And he said, Full well — Καλως,…
Mar 7:9-13. And he said, Full well — Καλως, fairly, wholly; ye reject, &c. — Or, reading the word separately, Finely done! How praiseworthy is your conduct! A strong irony. Ye reject the commandment of God that ye may keep your own tradition — The words, your own, are emphatical, distinguishing the commandments of men, the corrupt traditions of the Pharisees, from the commandments of God. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother — “Lest the charge, which our Lord brought against the Pharisees, should be thought without foundation, because it contained an imputation of such gross profaneness, he supported it by an instance of an atrocious kind. God, saith he, has commanded children to honour their parents, that is, among other things, to maintain them when reduced to poverty, as the word honour signifies, 1Ti 5:17, promising life to such as do so, and threatening death against those that do otherwise. Nevertheless, ye Pharisees, presumptuously making light of the divine commandment, affirm that it is a more sacred duty to enrich the temple than to nourish one’s parents, though they be in the utmost necessity; pretending that what is offered to the great Parent is better bestowed than that which is given for the support of our parents on earth; as if the interest of God were different from that of his creatures. Nay, ye impiously teach that a man may lawfully suffer his parents to starve, if he can say to them, It is corban, (a gifts) &c., by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me — That is, that which should have succoured you, is given to the temple. Thus ye hypocrites have, by your frivolous traditions, made void the commandment of God, though of immutable and eternal obligation; and disguised with the cloak of piety the most horrid and unnatural action that a man can easily be guilty of.” — See Macknight, and the note on Mat 15:4-6.
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 v9 Well do you. Christ here speaks by the figure…
Well do you. Christ here speaks by the figure called irony. (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).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv10, 11, 13 10. Honour thy father] The words are quoted partly…
10. Honour thy father] The words are quoted partly from Exo_20:12, and partly from Exo_21:17.
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 vv9, 11, 13 (9) Full well ye reject.—The adverb is peculiar to…
(9) Full well ye reject.—The adverb is peculiar to St. Mark, and has in it the ring of a scathing and indignant irony. The word “reject” is hardly formal enough, the Greek conveying the idea, as in Gal_3:15, Heb_7:18, of “rescinding” or “repealing.” This the Pharisees practically did when they added traditions which pretended to be interpretations, but were in reality at variance with it.
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 vv9–11 Here the word kalwv is repeated. Full well (kalwv)…
Here the word kalwv is repeated. Full well (kalwv) do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition. It is as though our Lord said, "Your traditions are not instituted by God, or by his servants the prophets, but they are modern inventions, which you desire to defend, not out of love or reverence for them, but because you are the successors of those who invented them, and arrogate to yourselves the power of adding to them and making similar new traditions.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v11 a gift
a gift
Or, I have dedicated to God that which would relieve your need; Mar 7:12.
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No longer do you permit him to use it for his father or mother. Cf. Mat 15:5; Mat 15:6
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 v9 The attack of Christ:
The attack of Christ:
v. 9. And He said unto them, Full well ye reject the command of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
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v. 10. For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father and mother, let him die the death.
v. 11. But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free.
v. 12. And ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or his mother;
v. 13. making the Word of God of none effect through your tradition which ye have delivered; and many such like things do ye.
Having defended Himself successfully and silenced His detractors, the Lord now assumes the offensive. He employs pointed sarcasm: It is a fine way in which you frustrate the commandment of God that your tradition may be upheld! The Pharisees not only placed the precepts of tradition on the same level with those of God, but by their peculiar emphasis upon them actually set the latter aside. An example of this irreverent and blasphemous method: setting aside the Fourth Commandment for the sake of a probable sacrifice. God’s Law is clear on the relation of children to parents, Exo 20:12; Deu 5:16, also regarding the punishment of those that disregard the rights of the parents, Exo 21:17; Lev 20:9. He had placed the service to parents next to that of Himself. But the Pharisees took advantage of the fact that God had sanctioned free-will offerings or sacrifices. They taught: If a man says to his father or his mother, Corban, that is, a free-will gift, let that be what you would have from me for your benefit or help. The final understanding of the expression came to be: if a son or daughter took the money, the goods, the earnings, the means, with which he could and should assist his poor and needy parents, and dedicated it to God as a sacrifice or free-will offering for the Temple, he did well. The Pharisees held the mere making of such a vow, the mere use of the expression Corban, for a service done to God, which could very well take precedence of the service due to parents. In doing so, they set aside even the plain truth of the Old Testament, Pro 28:24. The result of such teaching soon became evident: The honor due to parents was forgotten, the fact that they were God’s substitutes was disregarded. Thus they literally set at naught the Word of God, and such instances could be multiplied. That was Christ’s attack, one that showed the real relation of values.
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 v11 General Information:
General Information:
In verses 11 and 12, Jesus shows how the Pharisees teach people that they do not have to obey God's commandment to honor their parents.
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General Information:
In verse 11 Jesus tells what the Pharisees allow people to say about their possessions, and in verse 12 he tells how that shows the Pharisees' attitude toward people helping their parents. This information can be reordered to first tell about the Pharisees' attitude toward people helping their parents and then tell how that attitude is shown in what the Pharisees allow people to say about their possessions. (See: Verse Bridges)
Whatever help you would have received from me is Corban
The tradition of the scribes said that once money or other things were promised to the temple, they could not be used for any other purpose.
is Corban
"Corban" here is a Hebrew word that refers to things that people promise to give to God. Translators normally transliterate it using the target language alphabet. Some translators translate its meaning, and then leave out Mark's explanation of the meaning that follows. AT: "is a gift to God" or "belongs to God" (See: Copy or Borrow Words)
Given to God
This phrase explains the meaning of the Hebrew word "Corban." It can be stated in active form. Mark explained the meaning so that his non-Jewish readers could understand what Jesus said. AT: "I have given it to God" (See: Active or Passive)
then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother
By doing this, the Pharisees are allowing people not to provide for their parents, if they promise to give to God what they would have given to them. (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
void
canceled or done away with
many similar things you do
"you are doing may other things similar to this"
translationWords
God
command
tradition
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 vv9, 11, 13 7:9-13 Next, Jesus provides an instance where the Pharisees’…
7:9-13 Next, Jesus provides an instance where the Pharisees’ traditions contradicted God’s law and allowed them to sidestep its requirements.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.