Mark 7:8-13 & Matthew 15:1-9

Mark 7:8-13 - LSB

⁸ Leaving the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” ⁹ And He was also saying to them, “You are good at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to be put to death’; ¹¹ but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever you might benefit from me is Corban (that is to say, given to God),’ ¹² you no longer leave him to do anything for his father or his mother; ¹³ thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

Parallel text is:

Matthew 15:1-9 - LSB

¹ Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, ² “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” ³ And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? ⁴ For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ ⁵ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever you might benefit from me is given to God,” ⁶ he need not honor his father.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. ⁷ You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ⁸ ‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
⁹ But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commands of men.’”

Exegesis

• The passage records Jesus confronting the Jewish leaders (Pharisees and experts) about their traditions.

• Jesus states, “Leaving the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” He further says, “You are good at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.”

• He provides a specific example: God commanded to honor father and mother (citing Moses). However, the Jewish tradition allowed someone to declare property or resources as “Corban” (given to God), thus exempting them from using it to help their parents.

• Jesus concludes, “thus invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

• This specific “Korban” rule mentioned by Jesus in verses 11-13 is found directly in historical Jewish sources, such as the Mishnah (possibly tractate Aboth).

• This Jewish oral tradition was considered by some to be a “divine tradition” that came from Moses. But regardless, Jesus’ response to this oral oral tradition is that it is a “violation of scripture” and that they are “invalidating the word of God.”

• Jesus himself placed the written Word of God above human tradition, even traditions claiming ancient authority, and condemned traditions that invalidated or set aside God’s commandments found in Scripture.