5 Then question him do the Pharisees and the scribes, 'Wherefore do thy disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but with unwashed hands do eat the bread?' 6 and he answering said to them—'Well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you, hypocrites, as it hath been written, This people with the lips doth honor Me, and their heart is far from Me; 7 and in vain do they worship Me, teaching teachings, commands of men; 8 for, having put away the command of God, ye hold the tradition of men, baptisms of pots and cups; and many other such like things ye do.' 9 And he said to them, 'Well do ye put away the command of God that your tradition ye may keep; 10 for Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, He who is speaking evil of father or mother—let him die the death; 11 and ye say, If a man may say to father or to mother, Korban (that is, a gift), 'is' whatever thou mayest be profited out of mine, 12 and no more do ye suffer him to do anything for his father or for his mother, 13 setting aside the word of God for your tradition that ye delivered; and many such like things ye do.' 14 And having called near all the multitude, he said to them, 'Hearken to me, ye all, and understand; 15 there is nothing from without the man entering into him that is able to defile him, but the things coming out from him, those are the things defiling the man. 16 If any hath ears to hear—let him hear.' 17 And when he entered into a house from the multitude, his disciples were questioning him about the simile, 18 and he saith to them, 'So also ye are without understanding! Do ye not perceive that nothing from without entering into the man is able to defile him? 19 because it doth not enter into his heart, but into the belly, and into the drain it doth go out, purifying all the meats.' 20 And he said—'That which is coming out from the man, that doth defile the man; 21 for from within, out of the heart of men, the evil reasonings do come forth, adulteries, whoredoms, murders, 22 thefts, covetous desires, wickedness, deceit, arrogance, an evil eye, evil speaking, pride, foolishness; 23 all these evils do come forth from within, and they defile the man.'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Mark 7:5-23
Commentary on Mark 7:1-13
(Read Mark 7:1-13)
One great design of Christ's coming was, to set aside the ceremonial law; and to make way for this, he rejects the ceremonies men added to the law of God's making. Those clean hands and that pure heart which Christ bestows on his disciples, and requires of them, are very different from the outward and superstitious forms of Pharisees of every age. Jesus reproves them for rejecting the commandment of God. It is clear that it is the duty of children, if their parents are poor, to relieve them as far as they are able; and if children deserve to die that curse their parents, much more those that starve them. But if a man conformed to the traditions of the Pharisees, they found a device to free him from the claim of this duty.
Commentary on Mark 7:14-23
(Read Mark 7:14-23)
Our wicked thoughts and affections, words and actions, defile us, and these only. As a corrupt fountain sends forth corrupt streams, so does a corrupt heart send forth corrupt reasonings, corrupt appetites and passions, and all the wicked words and actions that come from them. A spiritual understanding of the law of God, and a sense of the evil of sin, will cause a man to seek for the grace of the Holy Spirit, to keep down the evil thoughts and affections that work within.