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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Mark C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16
Mark 7 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33 V34 V35 V36 V37
OET (OET-LV) And he_is_saying to_them:
Are you_all thus also unintelligent?
You_all_are_ not _understanding that everything the part outside entering_in into the person is_ not _able to_defile him,
OET (OET-RV) But he scolded them, “Can’t you understand something so simple! Can’t you see that anything from the outside that enters your body doesn’t make you guilty in God’s sight,
This section (7:1–23) deals with the difference between ritual uncleanness and real moral uncleanness. Ritual uncleanness is external, but real uncleanness involves the inner being of a person. Mark introduced this topic by describing an incident in which the Pharisees and teachers of the law rebuked Jesus. They did this because his disciples ate without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish tradition (7:1–5).
Jesus did not respond to their rebuke directly. Instead, he gave an example of how these leaders ignored God’s law in order to follow their own traditions (7:6–13). Jesus then explained to the crowd that true uncleanness in God’s sight is not caused by external things. It is not caused by things such as food going into the body. True uncleanness is caused by sinful things that a person does or says. Those things come from a person’s inner being (7:14–23).
It is good to translate this section before you decide on a heading for it.
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Ritual uncleanness is not what causes God to consider a person unclean
Jesus teaches about what defiles a person
There are parallel passages for this section in Matthew 15:1–20 and Luke 11:37–39.
“Are you still so dull?” He asked.
He asked them, “You too? Do you fail to understand?
He said to them, “So, you are just like the others. You do not understand me either!
The Greek clause that the BSB translates as Are you still so dull? is more literally “Then are you also without understanding?” (as in the RSV). For the discussion in 7:18a, the RSV, which is more literal, is used.
(RSV:) Then are you also without understanding?: This is a rhetorical question. Jesus asked this question to rebuke his disciples. He rebuked them because not only had the crowd not understood, even his own disciples had not understood him.
There are at least two ways to translate this rebuke.
As a rhetorical question. For example, the NRSV says:
Then do you also fail to understand?
As a statement. For example:
You also fail to understand like the others!
Use whichever form is most natural to express this rebuke in your language.
(RSV:) Then: The Greek word that the RSV translates as Then also means “thus” or “so.” Here Jesus used this conjunction to emphatically introduce his question. In English, a word like “so” works well here.
You should do whatever is natural in your language to emphasize this rebuke.
(RSV:) you: The Greek pronoun that the RSV translates as you is emphatic. It emphasizes the comparison with the crowd.
(RSV:) also: Greek word that the RSV here translates as also means “also,” “in addition,” “in the same way,” or “even.” The word also compares the disciples to the people in the crowd.
(RSV:) without understanding: The Greek word that the RSV translates as without understanding means “without insight, foolish.” Jesus implied here that the disciples should have understood what he meant. Jesus did not imply that the disciples were not intelligent. He implied that they were not using their intelligence to understand spiritual truth.
In the Greek, 18b–19c is one rhetorical question. The first part of the rhetorical question is a rebuke. In the last part, Jesus taught his disciples. The BSB has therefore divided 18b–19c into one question and two statements.
“Do you not understand?
Don’t you understand what I said before,
Certainly you know
Understand this!
Do you not understand?: This is a rhetorical question. It expresses a rebuke. Jesus rebuked his disciples because they still did not understand who he really was.
There are at least two ways to translate this rebuke:
As a rhetorical question. For example, the NIRV says:
Don’t you see?
As a statement. For example:
You still do not understand.
Use whichever form is most natural to express this rebuke in your language.
Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him,
that something that goes into a person from the outside does not defile him before God?
that food that someone puts into his body cannot make that person unclean.
Food that people eat does not cause God to consider them to be impure.
defile: The Greek word that the BSB translates as defile in this context refers to being impure and unfit in the sight of God. See the note in 7:15b.
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀσύνετοί ἐστε?
thus (Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί λέγει αὐτοῖς οὕτως καί ὑμεῖς ἀσύνετοι Ἐστέ Οὒ νοεῖτε ὅτι παν τό ἔξωθεν εἰσπορευόμενον εἰς τόν ἄνθρωπον οὒ δύναται αὐτόν κοινῶσαι)
Jesus is using the question form to rebuke the disciples for how they still do not understand what he is saying. If you would not use the question form for this purpose in your language, you could translate this as a statement or an exclamation. Alternate translation: [I can tell that you also are without understanding.] or [I am amazed that you also do not understand!]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion
οὐ νοεῖτε ὅτι πᾶν τὸ ἔξωθεν εἰσπορευόμενον εἰς τὸν ἄνθρωπον, οὐ δύναται αὐτὸν κοινῶσαι & ὅτι οὐκ εἰσπορεύεται αὐτοῦ εἰς τὴν καρδίαν, ἀλλ’ εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν, καὶ εἰς τὸν ἀφεδρῶνα ἐκπορεύεται?
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί λέγει αὐτοῖς οὕτως καί ὑμεῖς ἀσύνετοι Ἐστέ Οὒ νοεῖτε ὅτι παν τό ἔξωθεν εἰσπορευόμενον εἰς τόν ἄνθρωπον οὒ δύναται αὐτόν κοινῶσαι)
Jesus is using the question form to remind his disciples about what happens to the food that people eat. If you would not use the question form for this purpose in your language, you could translate this as a statement or an exclamation. Alternate translation: [You should already understand that everything that enters into the man from outside is not able to defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into the stomach, and passes out into the latrine (making all foods clean).] or [You already know that everything that enters into the man from outside is not able to defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into the stomach, and passes out into the latrine (making all foods clean)!]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
πᾶν τὸ ἔξωθεν εἰσπορευόμενον εἰς τὸν ἄνθρωπον
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί λέγει αὐτοῖς οὕτως καί ὑμεῖς ἀσύνετοι Ἐστέ Οὒ νοεῖτε ὅτι παν τό ἔξωθεν εἰσπορευόμενον εἰς τόν ἄνθρωπον οὒ δύναται αὐτόν κοινῶσαι)
Here Jesus is referring to food and drink, which are outside a person and enter into the man. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make that idea more explicit. See how you expressed the similar words in [7:15](../07/15.md). Alternate translation: [all food and drink, entering into him,] or [everything outside the man, being eaten by him,]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
τὸν ἄνθρωπον & αὐτὸν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: Καί λέγει αὐτοῖς οὕτως καί ὑμεῖς ἀσύνετοι Ἐστέ Οὒ νοεῖτε ὅτι παν τό ἔξωθεν εἰσπορευόμενον εἰς τόν ἄνθρωπον οὒ δύναται αὐτόν κοινῶσαι)
Although the terms man and him are masculine, Jesus is using the words in a generic sense that includes both men and women. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a phrase that makes this clear. Alternate translation: [the person … him or her]
OET (OET-LV) And he_is_saying to_them:
Are you_all thus also unintelligent?
You_all_are_ not _understanding that everything the part outside entering_in into the person is_ not _able to_defile him,
OET (OET-RV) But he scolded them, “Can’t you understand something so simple! Can’t you see that anything from the outside that enters your body doesn’t make you guilty in God’s sight,
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.