Mark 7:6 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Mark 7:6
He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
them
αὐτοῖςautois
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative plural masculine
Well
καλῶςkalōs
G2573
well (usually morally) · adverb
hath
ἐπροφήτευσενeprophēteusen
G4395
to foretell events · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
Esaias
ἨσαΐαςĒsaias
G2268
Hesaias (i.e. Jeshajah) · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
prophesied
προφητεύωprophēteúō
G4395
to foretell events
of
περὶperi
G4012
properly · preposition
you
ὑμῶνhymōn
G5216
of (from or concerning) you
hypocrites
ὑποκριτῶν,hupokritōn
G5273
an actor under an assumed character (stage-player) · noun — genitive plural masculine
as
ὡςhōs
G5613
which how · particle
it is written
γέγραπταιgegraptai
G1125
to "grave" · verb — perfect passive indicative, 3rd person singular
This
οὗτοςhoutos
G3778
the he (she or it) · demonstrative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
people
λαὸςlaos
G2992
a people (in general · noun — nominative singular masculine
honoureth
τιμᾷ,tima
G5091
to prize · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
me
μεme
G3165
me · personal pronoun — 1st person accusative singular
with
χείλεσίνcheilesin
G5491
a lip (as a pouring place) · noun — dative plural neuter
lips
χεῖλοςcheîlos
G5491
a lip (as a pouring place)
but
δὲde
G1161
but · conjunction
their
αὐτῶνautōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
heart
καρδίαkardia
G2588
the heart · noun — nominative singular feminine
is
ἀπέχειapechei
G568
(actively) to have out · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
far
πόρρωporrō
G4206
forwards · adverb — comparative
from
ἀπ᾽ap᾽
G575
"off · preposition
me
ἐμοῦemoû
G1700
of me
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their he…
Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
Matthew 15:7-9 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
Ezekiel 33:31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for…
2 Timothy 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Matthew 23:13-15 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neit…
James 2:14-17 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
John 5:42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Mark 7:1-23
One great design of Christ's coming, was, to set aside the ceremonial law which God made, and to put an end to it; to make way for which he begins with the ceremonial law which men had made, and added to the law of God's making, and discharges his disciples from the obligation of that; which here he doth fully, upon occasion of the offence which the Pharisees took at them for the violation of it. These Pharisees and scribes with whom he had this argument, are said to come from Jerusalem down to Galilee - fourscore or a hundred miles, to pick quarrels with our Saviour there, where they supposed him to have the greatest interest and reputation. Had they come so far to be taught by him, their z…
Honoreth me - Με τιμᾳ - but the Codex Bezae, and three copies of the Itala, have με αγαπᾳ, loveth me: - the Ethiopic has both readings.
John Gill on Mark 7:6
He answered and said unto them,.... Matthew postpones the following citation and application of the prophecy of Isaiah, to the account of the command of God being broken by the tradition of Corban; which Mark makes the answer of Christ to begin with:
well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites; which in Matthew is read, "ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you", Matthew 15:7; to the same sense as here: for the prophecy of Isaiah not only described the hypocrites of his time, but had respect chiefly to the Jews in succeeding ages, in the times of Christ, and both before and after; when they would, as they did, greatly degenerate, and lost the power and spirituality of religion, and…
Mark 7:1-13
Matthew 15:1-9
Mark 7:1-13
1. Then scribes and Pharisees, who had come from Jerusalem, approach to Jesus, saying, 2. Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3. But he answering said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God on account of [390] your tradition? 4. For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother; and, He that curseth father or mother, dying let him die. 5. But you say, Whosoever shall say to his father or mother, Whatever is a gift from me shall profit thee; and shall not honor his father or his mother. 6. Therefore you have annulled the commandment of God on account o…
The Church Fathers
He beats back the vain words of the Pharisees with His arguments, as men drive back dogs with weapons, by interpreting Moses and Isaiah, that we too by the word of Scripture may conquer the heretics, who oppose us; wherefore it goes on: (Isa. 29:13) Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites; as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
So let us devote ourselves to those at peace in their devotion to God, and not to those who seek peace through hypocrisy. For he says in one place: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." And again: "They blessed with their mouth, but they cursed in their heart." And again he says: "They flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues. Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not true to his covenant."
The Lord Himself shall teach us that Judas the deceitful is meant: "He that dippeth with Me in the dish, the same shall betray Me." You see the treacherous guest, and this same Judas betrayed the Master with a kiss. For he was a hypocrite, giving a treacherous kiss, in imitation of another hypocrite of old. And He reproves that people respecting whom it was said, "This people honour Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me." It is not improbable, therefore, that by the oil He means that disciple to whom was shown mercy, and by the tainted and poisoned oil the traitor.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Pharisees — Separatists (Heb. persahin, from parash, “to separate”). They were probably the successors of the Assideans (i.e., the “pious”), a party that originated in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes in revolt…
Washing — (Mark 7:1-9). The Jews, like other Orientals, used their fingers when taking food, and therefore washed their hands before doing so, for the sake of cleanliness. Here the reference is to the…
Ecclesiasticism · Traditional rules of the Jewish — Traditional rules of the Jewish
Hypocrisy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Pharisees · .The washing of hands — .The washing of hands
Pharisees, The · Character of: Zealous of tradition — Character of: Zealous of tradition
Tradition · Commandments of men — Commandments of men
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Jesus first responds by quoting Isa 29:13 (Greek version), which deals with the farce of equating man-made ideas with God’s commands. It describes well the situation in which the Pharisees had substituted their human tradition for God’s law.
