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Mark Chapter 7

Mark Chapter 7

(Underlining marks a quotation/allusion. [Brackets] mark a textual variant.fnWhen two (or more) different copies of an original manuscript disagree on any given word or phrase — addition, omission, word order, etc. — the disagreement is called a "textual variant". ~99% of existing textual variants are either minor (like spelling), obviously not original (often appearing only in a few late manuscripts), or don't affect meaning (like "Jesus Christ" vs. "Christ Jesus"). The ~1% that remain do not affect any central doctrine of Christianity. The BOS Bible only marks significant textual variants that affect the meaning; smaller variants that do not affect meaning won't be marked for readability.  "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.fn"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love".  However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings — agapé centers on choice and behavior.  It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings.  (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".)  Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé".  Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing.  It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. An asterisk (*) indicates a verb in the Greek perfect tense.fnThe Greek perfect tense signifies a completed action in the past with a result and/or an ongoing state that extends into the present. For example, Hebrews 12:2 says in part: "He *sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"; the verb for "sat" is in the perfect tense, indicating that He sat down once (completed action in the past), and also that He remains seated until the present moment (ongoing state).)

Glossary

Note: this glossary is currently a work in progress; entries that do not expand will be added as time permits

Ages/of ages
“ages” and “of ages” are the Greek words “αἰών” (aión, noun form) and “αἰώνιος” (aiónios, adjective form) respectively.  The adjective form is typically translated “eternal”, as in “eternal life”. The noun form refers to a whole time period, (Keizer, “Life Time Entirety”) such as a person’s lifetime (an older Greek sense), an age/epoch (e.g., 2 Cor 4:4), or even time in its entirety, making its meaning similar to “forever” (e.g., John 14:16). The adjective form is similarly context-dependent, and the New Testament context often dictates a meaning similar to “forever” (but not always: e.g. 2 Tim 1:9).  Alternately or additionally, it can indicate the quality of a time period — indicating greatness/severity — like the English idiom “of ages” (e.g. “battle of the ages”). Thus, “of ages” was chosen for the adjective form so that both the time and quality senses remain visible.

Clean/unclean

Covenant

Faith

Flesh

Forgive/forgiveness

Grace
The Greek word is “χάρις” (charis), most often translated “grace”, “gift”, or “thanks”. It was a technical term in the 1st century, referring to the Patronage system in place. The Patron (from “pater” = “father”) would give gifts or do favors (both called a charis). A charis was always given/done freely to anyone who would be grateful for it, and this person then became a “client” of the patron. The clients were expected to reciprocate by telling everyone what the patron had done, and offering their services to the patron whenever the patron needed them. This reciprocal act was also called “charis”, and the ones who reciprocated were “being faithful” by giving thanks in this way. Both were done out of gratitude, not legal obligation. A client who wasn’t faithful and grateful probably wouldn’t receive any more charis from his patron, or any other patrons. The patron was responsible for taking care of all his clients, and making sure their needs were met. New Testament usage typically casts God the Father as a Heavenly Patron, to whom Christians should be grateful and faithful because of the gifts He has given us. (e.g. salvation, provision, protection, etc.)

Holy

Justification

Law (Torah)

Make purification

Pure/Impure

Purification offering
In the Old Testament, this is typically the Hebrew “חַטָּ֖את” (khat-tat); in the New Testament, it’s typically “περὶ ἁμαρτίας” (peri hamartias), which is what the Septuagint (an ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek) used to translate the Hebrew. It’s traditionally translated “sin offering”, but that translation has less support in high-level scholarship. The Hebrew word can mean “sin”, but it can also mean “purification” (e.g. Numbers 8:7). This offering was used to purify uncleanness, whether or not a sin was committed. Thus, it was required even when no sin was committed, such as after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8), for certain diseases (Leviticus 14), etc. High-level, peer-reviewed scholarship dedicated to the field (e.g. Milgrom, Levine, Gane, Sklar, Wright, Gorman, etc.) is largely united on the “purification offering” understanding. The BOS Bible has aligned itself with that high-level, peer-reviewed scholarship in its translation.

Ransom

Redemption

Repent/repentance

Righteous/righteousness

Salvation/save

Soul
“soul” is the Greek word “ψυχή/psuché” and Hebrew word “נֶפֶשׁ/nephesh”. The BOS Bible translates these words as “soul” for consistency, and so the full meaning of “soul” isn’t obscured by different translations in different places. They closely overlap in meaning and are typically translated “soul” or “life”. They refer to the animating force of a living thing, and thus can also refer to its life, or to the whole of any person or creature, including animals (e.g. fish in Revelation 8:9 and Genesis 1). They are frequently used as an emphatic reference to a person’s whole self, including longings, deep emotions, and inner life. (e.g. Ps 42:11) Note: while “soul” has significant overlap in meaning with “spirit”, the words have distinct meanings and usages throughout scripture. For example, lions tear apart a soul in Psalm 7:2, and a “dead soul” is mentioned in Leviticus 21:11; “spirit” has no analogous usages, and it returns to God at death (Ecc 12:7; Acts 7:59). The adjective forms of soul and spirit are contrasted in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15; see also: Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

Sin

Click to Collapse the Glossary
What defiles a man

(Parallel accounts:  Matthew 15:1–20)

  1. And having come from Jerusalem, the Pharisees and some of the scribes assemble themselves to Him,
  2. and having seen that some of His disciples are eating bread with unclean hands (that is, unwashed;
  3. for holding fast to the tradition of the elders, the Pharisees and all the Jews don’t eat unless they wash their hands ceremonially with the fist.fn“with the fist” is one word in Greek, with that exact literal meaning.  However, there is some debate as to what that means.  Some contend that it means vigorously, diligently, or ‘with strength’ as implied by the fist.  Some contend that it means from the elbow down to the fist, and there are other interpretations.  Regardless, most scholars agree that this goes beyond just washing the hands for cleanliness before you eat and ventures into ceremonial tradition that had to be done a specific way to count.
  4. And after returning from the market, they don’t eat unless they wash.  And there are many other traditions that they received to hold fast to; washings of cups, and pitchers, and utensils, and couches for eating.)
  5. And the Pharisees and the scribes interrogate Him: “Why don’t your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat the bread with unwashed hands?”
  6. But He told them: “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is *written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, yet their heart keeps far away from Me.
  7. ” ‘Yet they worship Me vainly, teaching the precepts of men as doctrines’.fnquotation/allusion to Isaiah 29:13
  8. “Having disregarded the command of God, you are holding to the tradition of men [washings of pitchers and cups, and you do many other similar such things].”
  9. And He was telling them: “You ‘nobly’fn“nobly” this word is used here in the sense of “bitter irony” (Thayers), or sarcasm. do away with the commandment of God so you might keep your tradition.
  10. “For Moses said: ‘honor your father and your mother‘,fnquotation/allusion to Exodus 20:12, and Deuteronomy 5:16 and ‘The man cursing father or mother must end in death‘.fnquotation/allusion to Leviticus 20:9 and Exodus 21:17
  11. “But you say that if a man says to his father or his mother: ‘If you might be helped by something from me, it’s Corbanfn“Corban” is specifically a gift consecrated/devoted to God.   The Pharisees believed that it was wrong to use something which was devoted/consecrated to God for “normal” use.  Therefore, the Pharisees said if a man devoted (gave) everything he owned to God, he couldn’t use it for another purpose (such as helping family).  However, there was no time requirement to deliver his goods, so he could keep them indefinitely while avoiding his obligations.  This loophole was apparently invented by the Pharisees to allow men to shirk the Biblical and moral obligation of taking care of their own parents. (that is, a gift to God).
  12. “You no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother,
  13. annulling the word of God through your tradition which you handed down.  And you do many similar such things.”
  14. And having summoned the crowd again, He was telling them: “All of you listen to Me and understand.
  15. “There’s nothing from the outside of a man which is able to defile him after entering into him.  But the things coming out of the man are the things defiling the man.
  16. “[If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.]”
  17. And when He went away from the crowd into the house, His disciples were asking Him about the parable.
  18. And He says to them: “So, are you also undiscerning?  Don’t you comprehend that nothing entering into a man from the outside is able to defile him?
  19. That’s because it doesn’t enter into his heart, but into the stomach and goes out into the sewage pit.” fn“sewage pit” the Greek word here literally means “a place of sitting apart”, referring to a drain or latrine for human waste.  (Thus cleansing all foods.)fn“cleansing all foods” There are two basic interpretations of this phrase.  (1) Says the body cleanses the food by extracting the good and expelling the bad.  (2) Says that this is Jesus abolishing the distinction between clean and unclean foods that was laid down in the Mosaic Law.
  20. And He was saying: “What’s coming out of a man; that defiles the man.
  21. “For from within the heart of men come out evil deliberations, fornications, thefts, murders, men having sex with other men’s wives,fn“men having sex with other men’s wives” is one word in Greek, usually translated “adultery” in this verse.  However, the Greek (and Hebrew) words specifically mean a man (married or unmarried) having sex with another man’s wife.  The Hebrews divided sexual sins into two classes based on the marital status of the woman.  A man having sex with another man’s wife (or betrothed) was adultery.  A man having sex with an unmarried woman was fornication.  Both are serious sins, but they are differentiated by the Greek and Hebrew words.
  22. “covetousness, wickedness, deceit, wanton debauchery, an evil eye of envy,fn“of envy” This was added to indicate that the phrase “evil eye” had an idiomatic meaning of being envious or even greedy. blasphemy, arrogant pride, and foolishness.
  23. “All these evils come out from within, and they defile a man.”
The Syrophoenician Woman

(Parallel accounts: Matthew 15:21–28)

  1. And having risen, He departed from there into the region of Tyre [and Sidon].  And having entered into a house, He wasn’t wanting anyone to know, and He wasn’t able to escape notice.
  2. But having heard about Him, a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet.
  3. Now the woman was a gentile, Syrophoenician by ethnicity, and she was asking Him so He might cast the demon out of her young daughter.
  4. And He was telling her: “First allow the children to be satisfied, for it’s not good to take the children’s bread and to throw it to the pet dogs.fn“pet dogs”  The Greek word here literally means a “little dog”, which has a diminutive connotation, and thus an affectionate sense.  It could also mean a literal “little dog”, which could indicate a puppy. Translating it “pet puppies” is possible.  Regardless, there is an affectionate sense here and Jesus didn’t use this in a derogatory way.
  5. But she answered and says to Him: “Yes Lord, and the pet dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs.”
  6. And He told her: “Because of this statement, go; the demon has come out of your daughter.”
  7. And having departed to her house, she found the child *lying on the bed and the demon *departed.
Jesus heals a deaf man
  1. And having gone out of the region of Tyre again, He came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the midst of the region of the Decapolis.
  2. And they bring a man to Him who is deaf and has a speech impediment, and they implore Him so He might put a hand on him.
  3. And having taken him aside from the crowd on his own, He put His fingers into his ears, and having spit He touched his tongue.
  4. And having looked up to heaven, He sighedfn“sighed” could also be translated “groaned” and tells him: “Ephphatha!”  (That is, “Be opened!”)
  5. And immediately his ears were opened and the impediment of his tongue was undone, and he was speaking correctly.
  6. And He instructed them that they tell no one.  But the more He was instructing them, the more abundantly they were proclaiming it.
  7. And they were stunned beyond measure, saying: “He has done all things nobly; He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”fnpossible quotation/allusion to Isaiah 35:5-6

 

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