THE TRADITIONS OF THE ELDERS. THE CANAANITISH WOMAN. FEEDING THE FOUR THOUSAND 1-20. Unwashed hands and the traditions of the elders (Mark 7:1). In this important controversy Jesus defined His position, (1) towards rabbinical traditions about the Law; (2) towards the Law itself. The first part of ou... [ Continue Reading ]
WERE OF JERUSALEM] RV 'come from Jerusalem.' The active hostility of the hierarchy, strikingly manifested by the sending of these emissaries, is explained by the fact (known to us only from the Fourth Gospel) that Jesus had already preached in Jerusalem, and defied the authorities there.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TRADITION OF THE ELDERS] The 'elders' are mainly the scribes, but include also the old heroes of the nation, Moses, Joshua, and the prophets, to whom certain of the rabbinical ordinances were ascribed. The scribes regarded their traditions as equal or superior in authority to the Law of God. For... [ Continue Reading ]
See Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT YE SAY, etc.] RV 'But ye say, Whoever shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is given _to God_ he shall not honour his father (or, his mother).' _It is_ A GIFT] Mk 'it is Corban.' 'Corban,' meaning originally a sacrifice or a gift to God, was... [ Continue Reading ]
HONOUR NOT HIS FATHER] RV 'shall not honour his father,' i.e. shall not be obliged to support his father.... [ Continue Reading ]
See Isaiah 29:13. The passage, which is paraphrased rather than quoted, appears in the same form in St. Mark.... [ Continue Reading ]
See Matthew 15:17, and prefatory remarks.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY BE BLIND LEADERS] referring to the scribes and Pharisees. It is a proverbial expression occurring again Luke 6:39.... [ Continue Reading ]
PETER] as usual he is spokesman of the Twelve. St. Mark (i.e. Peter), perhaps from modesty, does not mention Peter here. 17-20. Purity is to be sought in the soul, not in externals. See prefatory remarks.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CANAANITISH WOMAN (Mark 7:24). The two accounts are, however, independent.... [ Continue Reading ]
DEPARTED] RV 'withdrew.' The withdrawal was due to the hostility of the Pharisees, and the alienation of friends caused by the speech in the synagogue of Capernaum (John 6:66). Celsus (the heathen opponent of Christianity, 170 a.d.) blamed Christ's policy of withdrawal from danger as cowardly. Orige... [ Continue Reading ]
A WOMAN OF CANAAN] RV 'a Canaanitish woman.' She was one of that nation which the Jews had been bidden to exterminate, and was therefore more hateful than an ordinary heathen. St. Mark calls her 'a Greek, a Syrophœnician by race'; i.e. she spoke Greek, but belonged by race to those Syrians who dwelt... [ Continue Reading ]
SEND HER AWAY] viz. by granting her request and healing her daughter.... [ Continue Reading ]
The children are the Jews; the dogs are the Gentiles. Christ here speaks as a Jew, not yet revealing His true sentiments towards the Gentiles, for which see Matthew 8:11; John 4:23; Acts 10:28, etc. The rabbis often spoke of the Gentiles as dogs, e.g. 'He who eats with an idolater is like one who ea... [ Continue Reading ]
TRUTH, LORD; YET THE DOGS (RV 'Yea, Lord: for even the dogs') EAT THE CRUMBS, etc.] The ancients sometimes used, instead of a napkin, soft pieces of bread to wipe their hands upon. These fragments were then thrown to the dogs. MASTERS'] i.e. the Jews. The woman is humble. She is willing to be called... [ Continue Reading ]
O WOMAN, GREAT _is_ THY FAITH, etc.] Why did Jesus speak to her so harshly, and wait so long before granting her request? (1) To test the strength of her faith; (2) to teach her the lesson that persistence and importunity in prayer will finally meet their reward; (3) to teach the disciples that grea... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO THE SEA] According to St. Mark, to the E. side of it, where the population was mainly heathen. A MOUNTAIN] RV 'the mountain.'... [ Continue Reading ]
VARIOUS HEALINGS (Mark 7:31). St. Mark here inserts the healing of a deaf man with an impediment in his speech.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE GOD OF ISRAEL] implying that the multitudes were mainly heathen.... [ Continue Reading ]
FEEDING THE FOUR THOUSAND (Mark 8:1). The multitudes in this case being heathen (see Matthew 15:31), the miracle is no bare repetition of the feeding of the five thousand (Matthew 14:13). That symbolised the communication of Christ to Israel, but this symbolised His communication to the Gentile worl... [ Continue Reading ]
SEVEN BASKETS (Gk. _spurides_) FULL] In the other miracle there were 'twelve baskets (Gk. _kophinoi_) full.' The difference in the baskets is perhaps to be accounted for by the different nationality of the multitudes. The 'kophinos' was well known as the provision-basket of the Jews. Juvenal, the Ro... [ Continue Reading ]
MAGDALA] RV 'Magadan.' St. Mark says 'Dalmanutha.' Neither of these places can be located with certainty. According to Eusebius (4th cent.), Magadan was near Gerasa, i.e. on the E. side of the lake, and not, as might have been expected, on the W.... [ Continue Reading ]