MARK 7:2 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) and noticed that some of his followers were eating their food without following their religious customs, i.e., without washing their hands.

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT And having seen some of his disciples, that they eat loaves with defiled hands, that is, unwashed—

UST Then, they noticed that some of Jesus’ apprentices did not cleanse their hands before eating food. So, their hands were unclean when they ate the food.

BSB and they saw some of His disciples eating [with] hands [that were] defiled—that is, unwashed.

MSB And seeing some of His disciples eating [with] hands [that were] defiled ( that is, unwashed), they found fault.[fn]

7:2 CT And they saw some of His disciples eating with hands that were defiled—that is, unwashed.

BLB And they had seen that some of His disciples are eating the bread with defiled, that is, unwashed hands.

AICNT And when they saw that some of his disciples were eating bread with defiled hands, that is, unwashed, [[they complained]][fn]

7:2, they complained: Some manuscripts include.

OEB They had noticed that some of his disciples ate their food with their hands “defiled,” by which they meant unwashed.

WEBBE Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is unwashed, hands, they found fault.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET And they saw that some of Jesus’ disciples ate their bread with unclean hands, that is, unwashed.

LSV and having seen certain of His disciples with defiled hands—that is, unwashed—eating bread, they found fault;

FBV noticed that some of his disciples ate with “unclean” (meaning unwashed) hands.

TCNT When they saw some of his disciples eating bread with hands that were defiled (that is, unwashed), they criticized them.

T4T 2-4 The Pharisees and all of the other Jews strictly observe the traditions that their ancestors taught. For example, they refuse to eat until they first wash their hands with a special ritual, especially after they return from buying things in the marketplace. They think that God will be angry with them if they do not do that, because some person or thing unacceptable to God might have touched ◄them/the things they bought►. There are many other such traditions that they accept and try to obey. Specifically, they wash in a special way their cups, pots, kettles, containers, and beds in order that using these things will not make God reject them.

LEB And they saw that some of his disciples were eating their[fn] bread with unclean—that is, unwashed—hands.

7:2 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun

BBE And had seen that some of his disciples took their bread with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.

Moff They noticed that some of his disciples ate their food with '4common'4* (that is, unwashed) hands.

Wymth They had noticed that some of His disciples were eating their food with `unclean' (that is to say, unwashed) hands.

ASV and had seen that some of his disciples ate their bread with defiled, that is, unwashen, hands.

DRA And when they had seen some of his disciples eat bread with common, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.

YLT and having seen certain of his disciples with defiled hands — that is, unwashed — eating bread, they found fault;

Drby and seeing some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, unwashed, hands,

RV and had seen that some of his disciples ate their bread with defiled, that is, unwashen, hands.
(and had seen that some of his disciples ate their bread with defiled, that is, unwashed, hands. )

SLT And having seen some of his disciples with common hands, that is, unwashed, eating loaves, they rebuked.

Wbstr And when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled (that is to say with unwashed) hands, they found fault.

KJB-1769 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.
(And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashed, hands, they found fault. )

KJB-1611 And when they saw some of his disciples eate bread with [fn]defiled (that is to say, with vnwashen) hands, they found fault.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

7:2 Or, common.

Bshps And whe they sawe some of his disciples eate bread with common that is to say, with vnwasshen hands, they founde fault.
(And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with common that is to say, with unwashed hands, they found fault.)

Gnva And when they sawe some of his disciples eate meate with common hands, (that is to say, vnwashen) they complained.
(And when they saw some of his disciples eat meat with common hands, (that is to say, unwashed) they complained. )

Cvdl And wha they sawe certayne of his disciples eate bred with comon (that is, with vnwashen) handes, they complayned.
(And what they saw certain of his disciples eat bread with common (that is, with unwashed) hands, they complained.)

TNT And when they sawe certayne of his disciples eate breed with comen hondes (that is to saye with vnwesshen hondes) they complayned.
(And when they saw certain of his disciples eat bread with common hands (that is to say with unwashed hands) they complained. )

Wycl And whanne thei hadden seen summe of hise disciplis ete breed with vnwaisschen hoondis, thei blameden.
(And when they had seen some of his disciples eat bread with unwashed hands, they blamed.)

Luth Und da sie sahen etliche seiner Jünger mit gemeinen, das ist, mit ungewaschenen Händen das Brot essen, versprachen sie es.
(And there they/she/them saw several his disciple with common, the is, with unwashed hands the bread eat, promised they/she/them it.)

ClVg Et cum vidissent quosdam ex discipulis ejus communibus manibus, id est non lotis, manducare panes, vituperaverunt.[fn]
(And when/with they_would_have_seen some from students his common hands, that it_is not/no washed, to_eat bread/food, they_blamed. )

7.2 Communibus manibus. HIERON. Immundis, vel communibus manibus communionem gentium significat. Munditia Pharisæorum sterilis est, communio apostolorum non tota extendit palmites suos usque ad mare. Non lotis. De non lotis corporis manibus vituperant, cum in eorum operibus nihil immunditiæ inveniatur. Ipsi aqua exterius loti, conscientiæ livore intus sunt polluti.

7.2 Communibus hands. HIERON. Unclean, or common hands communion nations means. Cleanliness of_the_Pharisees barren it_is, communio of_the_apostles not/no the_whole extends/stretches_out palm_trees his_own until to the_sea. Not/No washed. From/About not/no washed body hands they_blame, when/with in/into/on their works nothing uncleanness be_found. Himself water outside washed, conscience bruise inside/within are polluted.

UGNT καὶ ἰδόντες τινὰς τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ὅτι κοιναῖς χερσίν, τοῦτ’ ἔστιν ἀνίπτοις, ἐσθίουσιν τοὺς ἄρτους.
(kai idontes tinas tōn mathaʸtōn autou hoti koinais ⱪersin, tout’ estin aniptois, esthiousin tous artous.)

SBL-GNT καὶ ἰδόντες τινὰς τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ⸂ὅτι κοιναῖς χερσίν, τοῦτʼ ἔστιν ἀνίπτοις, ἐσθίουσιν⸃ ⸀τοὺς ⸀ἄρτους—
(kai idontes tinas tōn mathaʸtōn autou ⸂hoti koinais ⱪersin, toutʼ estin aniptois, esthiousin⸃ ⸀tous ⸀artous—)

RP-GNT καὶ ἰδόντες τινὰς τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ κοιναῖς χερσίν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἀνίπτοις, ἐσθίοντας ἄρτους ἐμέμψαντο.
(kai idontes tinas tōn mathaʸtōn autou koinais ⱪersin, tout' estin aniptois, esthiontas artous emempsanto.)

TC-GNT καὶ ἰδόντες τινὰς τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ [fn]κοιναῖς χερσί, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν ἀνίπτοις, ἐσθίοντας [fn]ἄρτους [fn]ἐμέμψαντο.
(kai idontes tinas tōn mathaʸtōn autou koinais ⱪersi, tout estin aniptois, esthiontas artous emempsanto. )

7:2 κοιναις … εσθιοντας ¦ οτι κοιναις … εσθιουσι CT

7:2 αρτους ¦ τους αρτους CT

7:2 εμεμψαντο ¦ — CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 7:1–23: Jesus explained what makes a person unclean

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.

Paragraph 7:1–5

In the first paragraph of this section, Mark introduced the topic of ritual uncleanness. He did this by telling an incident in which the Pharisees and teachers of the law rebuked Jesus. They rebuked him because his disciples had not followed the Jewish tradition of washing their hands in a special way before they ate.

In the middle of this paragraph (7:2b–4), Mark explained some of these Jewish traditions. He did this so that his readers would understand why the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders were upset with Jesus and questioned him.

In Greek, 7:2–5 forms one long sentence. The RSV has a long sentence in 7:3–4, and the BSB has a long sentence in 7:1–2. In your translation, use sentences that are a normal length in your language.

7:2a

and they saw some of His disciples eating with hands that were defiled—

They noticed that some of his disciples were eating food with hands that were not clean,
They saw that some of his followers were eating while their hands were ceremonially unclean.

and they saw: The Greek word that the BSB translates as saw in this context means “observed” or “noticed” (as in the GNT). The Pharisees observed what was happening around Jesus and quickly noticed a problem.

some of His disciples: The Greek word that the BSB translates as disciples means “learners” who are in a relationship with a teacher. The learners commit themselves to their teacher in order to learn from him and live according to his teaching and example. In the New Testament, disciples often lived with their teacher and followed him wherever he went.

Here are some other ways to translate disciples:

Use a term that refers to people who learn from a teacher or an expert. It is helpful if the term also implies that the learners are often with their teacher. For example:
learners/students
apprentices Be careful not to use a term that would refer only to a student in a school or classroom.
Use a term that refers to people who follow a teacher or leader by obeying his teaching. It is helpful if this term also implies learning from the teacher and actually following the teacher wherever he goes. For example:
followers
those who are committed/faithful (to a teacher/leader)

See disciple in the Glossary.

eating: In some languages it may be necessary to indicate what they were eating. In the Greek, there is a word that often refers to “bread” specifically, but this word also can refer to food more generally. In some languages, it may be necessary to explicitly state what they were eating. Translate in a way that is natural in your language. For example:

eating food

ate a meal

defiled: The Greek word that the BSB translates as defiled means “unclean” or “desecrated.” Here defiled has a figurative meaning and means “unfit before God”. The literal meaning of “dirty” is not intended. You can translate this as:

ritually impure

not proper before God

7:2b

that is, unwashed.

which means they did not ceremonially wash their hands.
This means that they had not washed their hands according to the Jewish custom.

that is, unwashed: There is a textual issue here that concerns the phrase that the KJV translates as “they found fault”: (1) Some Greek manuscripts do not include this phrase. For example, the NET says: “And they saw that some of Jesus’ disciples ate their bread with unclean hands, that is, unwashed” (BSB, RSV, NIV, NJB, NET, NCV, GW, NASB, CEV, REB, GNT, ESV, JBP). (2) Other Greek texts include the phrase “they found fault” at the end of the verse. For example the KJV says: “And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault” (KJV). It is recommended that you follow option (1) as the majority of English versions do. The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as that is shows that the next word or phrase explains what came before it. In this case, unwashed explains “defiled” in 7:2a. In some languages it may be natural to show this by saying:

meaning that they had not gone through a ceremonial washing (JBP)

because they ate without washing their hands (GW)

unwashed: One of the rituals/practices of the Pharisees and other Jewish people was to wash/rinse their hands before meals. They poured water over each hand in a certain way, and then they considered their hands to be ceremonially clean.

The ceremonial laws of the Old Testament did not require people to wash their hands in this way. The Jewish people had added these customs to the rules of the Old Testament.

If people in your area will not understand that the word “wash” refers to a ceremonial cleaning, you may want to add the implied meaning. For example:

they did not ceremonially wash/rinse their hands

they did not wash their hands in the way/manner that the Pharisees had commanded

If people in your area would still be uncertain about the purpose of the ceremonial washing, you may want to add a footnote. Here is an example:

One of the traditions of the Jews was to wash their hands in a certain way before they ate. They believed that this was necessary in order to remain ceremonially clean and acceptable to God. But the Old Testament did not say that it was necessary to wash before every meal in order to be acceptable to God.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicitinfo

ἰδόντες τινὰς τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ὅτι & ἐσθίουσιν

˓having˒_seen (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἰδόντες τινάς τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ὅτι κοιναῖς χερσίν τοῦτʼ ἐστίν ἀνίπτοις ἐσθίουσιν τούς ἄρτους)

Here, the phrase that they eat refers directly back to the phrase some of his disciples. Mark expresses the idea in this way to introduce whom the Pharisees and scribes saw and then explain what they saw them doing. If referring to who were seen and then referring back to them with the phrase that they eat would be redundant in your language, you could omit the redundant information. Alternate translation: [having seen some of his disciples eating]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

ἐσθίουσιν τοὺς ἄρτους

˱they˲_˓are˒_eating (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἰδόντες τινάς τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ὅτι κοιναῖς χερσίν τοῦτʼ ἐστίν ἀνίπτοις ἐσθίουσιν τούς ἄρτους)

The Pharisees and scribes are using loaves to represent any food. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression from your culture or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [they eat their meals]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

κοιναῖς χερσίν, τοῦτ’ ἔστιν ἀνίπτοις

˱with˲_unclean hands this (Some words not found in SR-GNT: καί ἰδόντες τινάς τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ὅτι κοιναῖς χερσίν τοῦτʼ ἐστίν ἀνίπτοις ἐσθίουσιν τούς ἄρτους)

Here Mark explains that defiled hands are hands that are unwashed. Consider how you might include an explanation like this. Alternate translation: [with unwashed hands, which are defiled] or [with defiled—that is to say, unwashed—hands]

Parallel MARK 7:2

Section 7:1–23: Jesus explained what makes a person unclean

Paragraph 7:1–5

7:2a

7:2b