Mark 7:1-3

Contemporary English Version

The Teaching of the Ancestors

(Matthew 15.1-9)

7 Some Pharisees and several teachers of the Law of Moses from Jerusalem came and gathered around Jesus. ²They noticed that some of his disciples ate without first washing their hands.^[a]

³The Pharisees and many others obey the teachings of their ancestors. They always wash their hands in the proper way^[b] before eating.

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Footnotes

7.2 without first washing their hands: The Jewish people had strict laws about washing their hands before eating, especially if they had been out in public.
7.3 in the proper way: The Greek text has “with the fist,” but the exact meaning is not clear. It could mean “to the wrist” or “to the elbow.”