Worthy.Bible » Parallel » Mark » Chapter 7 » Verse 6

Mark 7:6 King James Version (KJV)

6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.


Mark 7:6 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

6 He answered G611 and G1161 said G2036 unto them, G846 G3754 Well G2573 hath Esaias G2268 prophesied G4395 of G4012 you G5216 hypocrites, G5273 as G5613 it is written, G1125 This G3778 people G2992 honoureth G5091 me G3165 with their lips, G5491 but G1161 their G846 heart G2588 is G568 far G4206 from G575 me. G1700


Mark 7:6 American Standard (ASV)

6 And he said unto them, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, But their heart is far from me.


Mark 7:6 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

6 and he answering said to them -- `Well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you, hypocrites, as it hath been written, This people with the lips doth honor Me, and their heart is far from Me;


Mark 7:6 Darby English Bible (DARBY)

6 But he answering said to them, Well did Esaias prophesy concerning you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honour me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.


Mark 7:6 World English Bible (WEB)

6 He answered them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, But their heart is far from me.


Mark 7:6 Bible in Basic English (BBE)

6 And he said, Well did Isaiah say of you, you false ones: These people give me honour with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

Cross Reference

Isaiah 29:13 KJV

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Matthew 15:7-9 KJV

Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Ezekiel 33:31 KJV

And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.

Titus 1:16 KJV

They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

Luke 11:39-44 KJV

And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.

James 2:14-17 KJV

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Matthew 23:13-15 KJV

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

2 Timothy 3:5 KJV

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

John 5:42 KJV

But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.

John 8:41-42 KJV

Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

John 15:24 KJV

If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.

Hosea 8:2-3 KJV

Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee. Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him.

John 8:54-55 KJV

Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.

Acts 28:25 KJV

And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,

Commentary on Mark 7 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


CHAPTER 7

Mr 7:1-23. Discourse on Ceremonial Pollution. ( = Mt 15:1-20).

See on Mt 15:1-20.

Mr 7:24-37. The Syrophœnician Woman and Her Daughter—A Deaf and Dumb Man Healed. ( = Mt 15:21-31).

The Syrophœnician Woman and Her Daughter (Mr 7:24-30).

The first words of this narrative show that the incident followed, in point of time, immediately on what precedes it.

24. And from thence he arose, and went into the borders—or "unto the borders."

of Tyre and Sidon—the two great Phœnician seaports, but here denoting the territory generally, to the frontiers of which Jesus now came. But did Jesus actually enter this heathen territory? The whole narrative, we think, proceeds upon the supposition that He did. His immediate object seems to have been to avoid the wrath of the Pharisees at the withering exposure He had just made of their traditional religion.

and entered into an house, and would have no man know it—because He had not come there to minister to heathens. But though not "sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Mt 15:24), He hindered not the lost sheep of the vast Gentile world from coming to Him, nor put them away when they did come—as this incident was designed to show.

but he could not be hid—Christ's fame had early spread from Galilee to this very region (Mr 3:8; Lu 6:17).

25. For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit—or, as in Matthew (Mt 15:22), "was badly demonized."

heard of him—One wonders how; but distress is quick of hearing.

and fell at his feet:

26. The woman was a Greek—that is, "a Gentile," as in the Margin.

a Syrophœnician by nation—so called as inhabiting the Phœnician tract of Syria. Juvenal uses the same term, as was remarked by Justin Martyr and Tertullian. Matthew (Mt 15:22) calls her "a woman of Canaan"—a more intelligible description to his Jewish readers (compare Jud 1:30, 32, 33).

and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter—"She cried unto Him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David: my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil" (Mt 15:22). Thus, though no Israelite herself, she salutes Him as Israel's promised Messiah. Here we must go to Mt 15:23-25 for some important links in the dialogue omitted by our Evangelist.

Mt 15:23:

But he answered her not a word—The design of this was first, perhaps, to show that He was not sent to such as she. He had said expressly to the Twelve, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles" (Mt 10:5); and being now among them Himself, He would, for consistency's sake, let it be seen that He had not gone thither for missionary purposes. Therefore He not only kept silence, but had actually left the house, and—as will presently appear—was proceeding on His way back, when this woman accosted Him. But another reason for keeping silence plainly was to try and whet her faith, patience, and perseverance. And it had the desired effect: "She cried after them," which shows that He was already on His way from the place.

And His disciples came and besought Him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us—They thought her troublesome with her importunate cries, just as they did the people who brought young children to be blessed of Him, and they ask their Lord to "send her away," that is, to grant her request and be rid of her; for we gather from His reply that they meant to solicit favor for her, though not for her sake so much as their own.

Mt 15:24:

But He answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel—a speech evidently intended for the disciples themselves, to satisfy them that, though the grace He was about to show to this Gentile believer was beyond His strict commission, He had not gone spontaneously to dispense it. Yet did even this speech open a gleam of hope, could she have discerned it. For thus might she have spoken: "I am not SENT, did He say? Truth, Lord, Thou comest not hither in quest of us, but I come in quest of Thee; and must I go empty away? So did not the woman of Samaria, whom when Thou foundest her on Thy way to Galilee, Thou sentest away to make many rich!" But this our poor Syrophœnician could not attain to. What, then, can she answer to such a speech? Nothing. She has reached her lowest depth, her darkest moment: she will just utter her last cry:

Mt 15:25:

Then came she and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, help me!—This appeal, so artless, wrung from the depths of a believing heart, and reminding us of the publican's "God be merciful to me a sinner," moved the Redeemer at last to break silence—but in what style? Here we return to our own Evangelist.

27. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled—"Is there hope for me here?" "Filled FIRST?" "Then my turn, it seems, is coming!—but then, 'The CHILDREN first?' Ah! when, on that rule, shall my turn ever come!" But ere she has time for these ponderings of His word, another word comes to supplement it.

for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs—Is this the death of her hopes? Nay, rather it is life from the dead. Out of the eater shall come forth meat (Jud 14:14). "At evening-time, it shall be light" (Zec 14:7). "Ah! I have it now. Had He kept silence, what could I have done but go unblest? but He hath spoken, and the victory is mine."

28. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord—or, as the same word is rendered in Mt 15:27. "Truth, Lord."

yet the dogs eat of the children's crumbs—"which fall from their master's table" (Mt 15:27). "I thank Thee, O blessed One, for that word! That's my whole case. Not of the children? True. A dog? True also: Yet the dogs under the table are allowed to eat of the children's crumbs—the droppings from their master's full table: Give me that, and I am content: One crumb of power and grace from Thy table shall cast the devil out of my daughter." Oh, what lightning quickness, what reach of instinctive ingenuity, do we behold in this heathen woman!

29. And he said unto her—"O woman, great is thy faith" (Mt 15:28). As Bengel beautifully remarks, Jesus "marvelled" only at two things—faith and unbelief (see Lu 7:9).

For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter—That moment the deed was done.

30. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed—But Matthew (Mt 15:28) is more specific; "And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." The wonderfulness of this case in all its features has been felt in every age of the Church, and the balm it has administered, and will yet administer, to millions will be known only in that day that shall reveal the secrets of all hearts.

Deaf and Dumb Man Healed (Mr 7:31-37).

31. And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the Sea of Galilee—or, according to what has very strong claims to be regarded as the true text here, "And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre, He came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee." The manuscripts in favor of this reading, though not the most numerous, are weighty, while the versions agreeing with it are among the most ancient; and all the best critical editors and commentators adopt it. In this case we must understand that our Lord, having once gone out of the Holy Land the length of Tyre, proceeded as far north as Sidon, though without ministering, so far as appears, in those parts, and then bent His steps in a southeasterly direction. There is certainly a difficulty in the supposition of so long a detour without any missionary object: and some may think this sufficient to cast the balance in favor of the received reading. Be this as it may, on returning from these coasts of Tyre, He passed

through the midst of the coasts—frontiers.

of Decapolis—crossing the Jordan, therefore, and approaching the lake on its east side. Here Matthew, who omits the details of the cure of this deaf and dumb man, introduces some particulars, from which we learn that it was only one of a great number. "And Jesus," says that Evangelist (Mt 15:29-31), "departed from thence, and came nigh unto the Sea of Galilee, and went up into a mountain"—the mountain range bounding the lake on the northeast, in Decapolis: "And great multitudes came unto Him, having with them lame, blind, dumb, maimed"—not "mutilated," which is but a secondary sense of the word, but "deformed"—"and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and He healed them: insomuch that the multitude [multitudes] wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see; and they glorified the God of Israel"—who after so long and dreary an absence of visible manifestation, had returned to bless His people as of old (compare Lu 7:16). Beyond this it is not clear from the Evangelist's language that the people saw into the claims of Jesus. Well, of these cases Mark here singles out one, whose cure had something peculiar in it.

32. And they bring unto him one that was deaf … and they beseech him to put his hand upon him—In their eagerness they appear to have been somewhat too officious. Though usually doing as here suggested, He will deal with this case in His own way.

33. And he took him aside from the multitude—As in another case He "took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town" (Mr 8:23), probably to fix his undistracted attention on Himself, and, by means of certain actions He was about to do, to awaken and direct his attention to the proper source of relief.

and put his fingers into his ears—As his indistinct articulation arose from his deafness, our Lord addresses Himself to this first. To the impotent man He said, "Wilt thou be made whole?" to the blind men, "What will ye that I shall do unto you?" and "Believe ye that I am able to do this?" (Joh 5:6; Mt 20:32; 9:28). But as this patient could hear nothing, our Lord substitutes symbolical actions upon each of the organs affected.

and he spit and touched his tongue—moistening the man's parched tongue with saliva from His own mouth, as if to lubricate the organ or facilitate its free motion; thus indicating the source of the healing virtue to be His own person. (For similar actions, see Mr 8:23; Joh 9:6).

34. And looking up to heaven—ever acknowledging His Father, even while the healing was seen to flow from Himself (see on Joh 5:19).

he sighed—"over the wreck," says Trench, "which sin had brought about, and the malice of the devil in deforming the fair features of God's original creation." But, we take it, there was a yet more painful impression of that "evil thing and bitter" whence all our ills have sprung, and which, when "Himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses" (Mt 8:17), became mysteriously His own.

"In thought of these his brows benign,

Not even in healing, cloudless shine."

Keble

and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened—Our Evangelist, as remarked on Mr 5:41, loves to give such wonderful words just as they were spoken.

35. And straightway his ears were opened—This is mentioned first as the source of the other derangement.

and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain—The cure was thus alike instantaneous and perfect.

36. And he charged them that they should tell no man—Into this very region He had sent the man out of whom had been cast the legion of devils, to proclaim "what the Lord had done for him" (Mr 5:19). Now He will have them "tell no man." But in the former case there was no danger of obstructing His ministry by "blazing the matter" (Mr 1:45), as He Himself had left the region; whereas now He was sojourning in it.

but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it—They could not be restrained; nay, the prohibition seemed only to whet their determination to publish His fame.

37. And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well—reminding us, says Trench, of the words of the first creation (Ge 1:31, Septuagint), upon which we are thus not unsuitably thrown back, for Christ's work is in the truest sense "a new creation,"

he maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak—"and they glorified the God of Israel" (Mt 15:31). See on Mr 7:31.