Mt 15:1-20. DISCOURSE ON CEREMONIAL POLLUTION. ( = Mr 7:1, 23).
The time of this section was after that Passover which was nigh at hand when our Lord fed the five thousand (Joh 6:4) --the third Passover, as we take it, since His public ministry began, but which He did not keep at Jerusalem for the reason mentioned in Joh 7:1.
1. Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of
Jerusalem--or "from Jerusalem." Mark
(Mr 7:1)
says they "came from" it: a deputation probably sent from the capital
expressly to watch Him. As He had not come to them at the last
Passover, which they had reckoned on, they now come to Him. "And," says
Mark
(Mr 7:2, 3),
"when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to
say, with unwashen hands"--hands not ceremonially cleansed by
washing--"they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except
they wash their hands oft"--literally, "in" or "with the fist"; that
is, probably washing the one hand by the use of the other--though some
understand it, with our version, in the sense of "diligently,"
"sedulously"--"eat not, holding the tradition of the elders"; acting
religiously according to the custom handed down to them. "And when they
come from the market"
(Mr 7:4)
--"And after market": after any common business, or attending a court
of justice, where the Jews, as WEBSTER and WILKINSON remark, after their subjection to the Romans,
were especially exposed to intercourse and contact with
heathens--"except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there
be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups and pots,
brazen vessels and tables"--rather, "couches," such as were used at
meals, which probably were merely sprinkled for ceremonial
purposes. "Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him,"
saying--as follows:
JFB.
Outline
Jesus discourses about human traditions. (1-9)
He warns against things which really defile. (10-20)
He heals the daughter of a Syrophenician woman. (21-28)
Jesus heals the sick, and miraculously feeds four thousand.
(29-39)
Painted sketch of Eastern Orientals Washing Hands
Important Topics for Bible Study
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