Mark 7:1-23

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The Text This Week:

Mark 7:1-23

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Reading the Text:
- NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
- Greek Interlinear Bible, ScrTR, ScrTR t, Strong, Parsing, CGTS, CGES id, AV.
- The Bible Gateway: NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
- The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Greek text with concordance, commentaries.
- The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary & sermons.
Historical References, Commentary and Comparative Texts:
- The Five Gospels Parallels, John W. Marshall, University of Toronto.
- Comparative World Scriptures from United Communities of Spirit: Hypocrisy.
- Comparative texts about Pharisees & Sadducees from Joephus, Tosefta, Mishnah & Babylonian Talmud and comparative primary texts about Purity and Social Relations, from Philo, Josephus, Lucian, Pseudepigrapha, Babylonian Talmud, Midrash, Philostratus. At Mahlon H. Smith's (Rutgers University) Into His Own: Perspective on the World of Jesus.
- "What Goes In," The Jesus Database, an online annotated inventory of the traditions concerning the life and teachings of Jesus. Dr. Gregory C. Jenks, FaithFutures Foundation.
- (Mark 7:6) Chapter XV of The First Epistle to the Corinthians, Clement of Rome (ca. 96).
- XX.17-21, 23-28, 32-34, 38-40, 42-44; Tatian's Diatessaron (c. 150-160).
- II.14, Stromata, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
- XI.11, XI.12, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Origen. (c.247)
- Epistle XXXIX -- Cyprian of Carthage (c. 250)
- On the Unity of the Church, Cyprian of Carthage (c. 250)
- On the Lord's Prayer -- Cyprian of Carthage (c. 252)
- Epistle LXII -- Cyprian of Carthage (c. 253)
- Epistle LXXIII -- Cyprian of Carthage (c. 256)
- Epistle LXVII -- Cyprian of Carthage (c. 257)
- From the Catena Aurea, Patristic Commentary by St Thomas Aquinas.
- From the Geneva Notes.
  - "The more earnest the superstitious are, the more mad they are in promising themselves God's favour because of their deeds."
- From Matthew Henry's Commentary.
  - "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."
- From Wesley's Notes.
  - "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."
- From the Commentary on the Whole Bible (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
- From The People's New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
  - "The duty of washing before meat is not inculcated in the law, but only in the tradition of the scribes. So rigidly did the Jews observe it, that Rabbi Akiba, being imprisoned, and having water scarcely sufficient to sustain life given him, preferred dying of thirst to eating without washing his hands."
Contemporary Commentary, Studies, and Exegesis:
- Commentary, Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23, Henry Langknecht, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
  - "My plea earlier was that you begin your sermon prep by asking, "What are God's specific gracious remedies to our defilement?" Perhaps a starting place is to rejoice that God creates in us new hearts and right spirits within us."
- Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
- A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 6:7 - 8:26, Carl W. Conrad. (Click superscript numbers for commentary.)
- "Pharisees Criticize Jesus for Eating with Unwashed Hands," Michael A. Turton's Historical Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, "a complete verse-by-verse commentary on the Gospel of Mark, focusing on the historicity of people, places, events, and sayings in the world of the Gospel of Mark."
- "First Thoughts on Year B Gospel Passages in the Lectionary," Pentecost 13, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
  - "The way of the Spirit says that, to God, people matter most."
- Exegetical Notes by Brian Stoffregen at CrossMarks Christian Resources.
  - "...it can be difficult to understand sin as our common ("koinos"), human, natural state. It comes from within. It is part of our nature. It is not just "doing bad things.""
- Holy Textures, Understanding the Bible in its own time and in ours, Mark 7:1-8, 14-15-, 21-23, David Ewart, 2009.
  - "Discerning what practices actually embody God's will are more often learned from getting it wrong than they are from getting it right."
- "From Ritual Holiness to Human Compassion: Jesus and the Politics of Purity,"
  The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself, Daniel B. Clendenin, Journey with Jesus Foundation, 2009.
  - "Consider: when God hates all the same people you hate, you can be sure that you've created Him in your own image."
- "Traditions," Gospel Analysis, Sermons from Seattle, Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington. Detailed background and exegesis.
- "Jesus' Contagious Cleanliness," Carolyn Schneider, Sabbatheology, The Crossings Community, 2009.
  - "Jesus gave his disciples authority over unclean spirits, too (Mark 6:7), and so we are sent out to handle what is unclean with Jesus' cleansing life. Will we be defiled in the process? Absolutely. But we know what to do with that; it goes with Jesus to the cross to get sanitized in his risen life for us and for others."
- Gospel for Gays, Mark 7:1-8; 14-15; 21-23; Jeremiah Bartram, 2009.
  - "In a section omitted from this reading, Jesus expands the scope of the question well beyond dietary laws. Citing the example of a young man avoiding his clear duty of support to his parents by declaring his goods to be devoted to God, and thus untouchable ('Corban'), [Harvey] says that 'Jesus takes the attack a stage further,' proposing that they 'were actually rejecting commandments by developing traditions that were incompatible with them.'"
- "ID Check," Cynthia M. Campbell, The Christian Century, 2006.
  - "The question that drove the Pharisees and that motivates some contemporary Christians is an important one: in a religiously diverse culture, how does one maintain Christian identity and integrity?"
- "Pharisees Are Us," John Ortberg, The Christian Century, 2003.
  - "Ironically, the one human being who was perfectly free from self-righteousness is the only one who was completely righteous. The least exclusive member of the human race is also its most exalted. The only person who has ever been truly free of a messiah complex was the Messiah."
- "Matters of the Heart," commentary by Heidi Husted, The Christian Century, 2000. At Religion Online.
  - "It’s never too late to experience the ongoing transforming presence of God in our lives. We’re never too old for God to work on us from the inside out."
- "A Precarious Righteousness," Ronald Goetz, The Christian Century, 1997.
  - "Could it be that the lofty idealism and freedom entailed in Jesus’ instructions drive us, his would-be followers, to the legalism that Jesus rejects?"
- "No Outcasts Cast Out: From the Politics of Purity to the Call for Compassion," The Journey with Jesus: Notes to Myself, Daniel B. Clendenin, Journey with Jesus Foundation.
  - "How do we embrace both holiness and compassion, instead of choosing one or the other?"
- "Diversionary Tactics," Ordinary 22B, Fr. Gerry Pierse, C.Ss.R., from Sundays Into Silence: Reflections on the Sunday Gospels in the Light of Christian Meditation. Claretian Publications.
  - "The precise difference between Jesus and the Pharisees was that they looked at the external activity whereas Jesus looked at the heart, the source of activity. They looked to the fulfillment of law and tradition while he looked to love and commitment. They looked at the letter of the law while he looked at it's spirit."
- Wellspring of the Gospel, Ordinary 22B, Catherine McElhinney and Kathryn Turner, Weekly Wellsprings.
- Marginally Mark, by Brian McGowan, Anglican priest in Western Australia.
- "Ways to Enter the Sacred Meal," Ordinary 22B, Larry Broding's Word-Sunday.Com: A Catholic Resource for This Sunday's Gospel. Adult Study, Children's Story, Family Activity, Support Materials.
  - "How do you prepare for a special dinner? What rituals or habits do you have to ready your mind and heart for that unique meal?"
- "The Issue of Purity," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed textual notes.
Articles & Background:
- "Mark 7: Clean and Unclean," "Ritual Cleanliness," wikipedia.
- "A Symbolic Approach to Mark 7." Jerome H. Neyrey, Forum 4,3 (1988):63-91.
  - "Since the purpose of God's law was not to separate covenant from non-covenant members but to gather all peoples in God's mysterious election, the particularistic kosher laws are judged abrogated. And so the issue of clean/unclean in Mark 7 may be focused on the question of washing hands and vessels, but these are but symbols of the larger discussion of purity and pollution."
- "Jesus' Eating Transgressions and Social Impropriety in the Gospel of Mark: A Social Scientific Approach," Dietmar Neufeld, Biblical Theology Bulletin, 2000.
  - "Eating and food are occasions for Mark to present Jesus, not only as popular hero, but also as subversive sage."
- "Vowing Away the Fifth Commandment: Matthew 15:3-6//Mark 7:9-13," Jon Nelson Bailey, Restoration Quarterly, 2000.
- "Anti-Judaism in Process Christologies?" Clark M. Williamson, Process Studies, 1980.
  - "That Jesus declared all foods clean -- Mark 7:19 -- is not so clear, particularly when one considers that the Jerusalem church apparently never understood this to be the case and that Peter only got the point much later. It is at least possible that Mark’s gospel attributes to Jesus’ authority the practices of a later Gentile church."
- "Meals, Food and Tablefellowship." Jerome H. Neyrey, in The Social Sciences and New Testament Interpretation, 159-82. R. L. Rohrbaugh, ed. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1996.
  - "How can readers understand the particular ceremony of meals and table fellowship? Why are meals so important as symbols of broader social relationships? How can we peer below the surface and grasp the social dynamics encoded in meals and commensality, what anthropologists call "the language of meals"?"
- "Questions, Chreai, and Challenges to Honor. The Interface of Rhetoric and Culture in Mark's Gospel." Jerome H. Neyrey, Catholic Biblical Quarterly 60 (1998):657-81.
  - "In terms of rhetorical background, our survey of "questions" indicates that how they function more often than not as competitive, even hostile weapons intended to inflict major damage. Questions score points, draw blood, and shame opponents. The same interpretation applies equally to the phenomenon of answering a question with a counter-question, which also is an aggressive weapon. And by observing who is reduced to silence, we have narrative clues about who triumphed in the question game and who lost."
- "Mark 7:1-23 and the Historical Jesus," Dr. William R.G. Loader, Colloquium, 1998.
  - "There is little doubt, in my mind, that much of the authentic Jesus material reflects what one might broadly call the wisdom or popular philosophical tradition. The difficulty appears to me to come when this is used too sharply as a criterion of coherence to exclude, for instance, the apocalyptic/eschatological tradition or even a conservative stance on some matters of Law."
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- Bailey, Jon Nelson, "Vowing Away the Fifth Commandment: Matthew 15:3-6 // Mark 7:9-13," Restoration Quarterly, 2000.
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- Bishop, Jonathan, "Parabole and Parrhesia in Mark," Interpretation, 1986.
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- Blomberg, Craig L., "The New Testament Definition of Heresy (or When Do Jesus and the Apostles Really Get Mad?)," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2002.
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- Cook, Donald E., "A Gospel Portrait of the Pharisees," Review and Expositor, 1987.
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- Crossley, James G., "Halakah and Mark 7.4: '...and beds,'" Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 2003.
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- Keller, Joseph, "Jesus and the Critics: A Logico-Critical Analysis of the Marcan Confrontation," Interpretation, 1986.
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- Lamkin, James E., "'Of Sails and Sudders': Song of Songs 2:8-13; James 1:17-27, Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23," Review and Expositor, 2008. (Sermon)
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- Loader, William R.G., "Challenged at the Boundaries: A Conservative Jesus in Mark's Tradition," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1996. (Section on this text begins on p. 45.)
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- McEleney, Neil J., "Authenticating Criteria and Mark 7:1-23," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1972.
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- Ortberg, John, "Pharisees Are Us," The Christian Century, 2003.
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- Passakos, Demetrios C., "Clean and Unclean in the New Testament: Implications for Contemporary Liturgical Practices," Greek Orthodox Theological Review, 2002.
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- Petersen, Norman R., "The Composition of Mark 4:1-8:26," Harvard Theological Review, 1980.
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- Poirier, John C., "Purity beyond the Temple in the Second Temple Era," Journal of Biblical Literature, 2003.
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- Räisänen, Heikki, "Jesus and the Food Laws: Reflections on Mark 7.15," Journal for the Study of the New Testament, 1982.
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- Reynolds, Stephen M., "PYGME (Mark 7.3) as 'Cupped Hand'," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1966.
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- Salyer, Gregory, "Rhetoric, Purity and Play: Aspects of Mark 7:1-23," Semeia, 1993.
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- Sellew, Philip, "The Composition of Didactic Scenes in Mark's Gospel," Journal of Biblical Literature, 1989.
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- Thiering, B.E., "'Breaking of Bread' and 'Harvest' in Mark's Gospel," Novum Testamentum, 1970.
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- Tomson, Peter J., "Jewish Food Laws in Early Christian Community Discourse," Semeia, 1999.
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- Wahlen, Clinton, "The Temple in Mark and Contested Authority," Biblical Interpretation, 2007.
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- Watson, Francis, "The Social Function of Mark's Secrecy Theme," Journal for the Study of the New Testament," 1985.
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- Wink, Walter, "The Education of the Apostles: Mark's View of Human Transformation," Religious Education, 1988.
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Reviews:
- Reviews: Jesper Svartvik, Mark and Mission: Mk 7:1-23 in its Narrative and Historical Contexts. Almqvist & Wiksell International, 2000. Reviews by Craig A Evans and Paula Fredriksen in SBL's Review of Biblical Literature.
Sermons:
- "Tradition: Fiddler on the Roof," Pastor Edward F. Markquart, Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, Washington.
- "Whose Bible Is It Anyway?" the Rev. Richard E. Spalding, 2004. Covenant Network of Presbyterians.
- "What Matters to God," the Rev. Dr. Francis H. Wade, Day 1, 2003.
- "Why Don't You Wash Your Hands?" the Very Rev. Samuel G. Candler, Day 1, 2000.
- "Have a Heart (for God)," John Jewell, 2000.
- Father Andrew M. Greeley, "Priest, Author, Sociologist," Commentary and Homily:
With Children:
- "True Worship," Charles Kirkpatrick, Sermons4kids.com.
- "Linda and Jerry Fight Over Table Traditions," children's story by Larry Broding, word-sunday.com.
- "Jesus' Disciples Eat without Washing their Hands," "What Is Clean in the Site of God?" Sunday School Lessons: Family Bible Study, art projects, music, stories, etc.
- "Mark 7 & 8 Word Search," Don Crownover's Bible Puzzles.
Drama:
- "With Dirty Hands," from A Certain Jesus by Jose Ignacio and Maria Lopez Vigil. Ideal for catechetical and liturgical dramatization of today's gospel. Claretian Publications.
- "A Taxing Question," James Jack, dramatix.
Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
- Clip Art Images: Mark 7:1-23, Misioneros Del Sagrado Corazón en el Perú.
- Mark 7:1-23 at Cerezo Barredo's weekly gospel illustration. Liberation emphasis.
- Images for this week's readings, Pitts Theology Library Digital Image Archive.
- Mark 7:1-23, Liturgical Drawing, Maria d.c. Zamora, Claretian Resources, Philippines. ("Download and use these for free.")
- Commercial Site: "What's Inside? (Mark 7:1-8)," graphics/films/worship ideas from Lumicon.
- Bulletin Cover/Art, Mark 7:6, John Stuart, Knoxville, TN. (Free use by churches.)
Hymns and Music:
- Contemporary/Praise Song suggestions, Together to Celebrate, David MacGregor.
Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
Movies scenes with the following themes, listed at The Text This Week's Movie Concordance:
- Clean/Unclean
Study Links and Resources for the Book of Mark