Asked by Pharisees why followers eat with unwashed hands, violating tradition. This line continues the previous verse's quote of Isaiah.
Mark 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Mark 7:7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.
Fruitlessly, however, they feel fear for me, teaching teachings, rules of men.
The word translated as "worship" primarily means "feel fear." The word translated as "doctrines" and "teachings" is from the same root as the participle, "teaching," in the KJV, a word left out of the NIV. There is a sense in this verse that people fear God unnecessarily because of the teachings of men, that is, the Pharisees.
Men teach fear.
μάτην δὲ σέβονταί με, διδάσκοντες διδασκαλίας ἐντάλματα ἀνθρώπων:
Fruitlessly, however, they feel fear for me, teaching teachings, rules of men.
- WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "howbeit" should be something more like "however."
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "worship" is not the common word usually translated as "worship."
- IW - Inserted Word -- The word "for" doesn't exist in the source.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "commandments" is not the common word usually translated as "commandments."
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "however" is not shown in the English translation.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "worship" is not the common word usually translated as "worship."
- IW - Inserted Word -- The word "their " doesn't exist in the source.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "teaching" is not shown in the English translation.
- IP - Inserted Phrase-- The phrase "are merely" doesn't exist in the source.
Howbeit - (WW) The Greek word translated as "howbeit" joins phrases in an adversarial way. It is usually translated as "but" as it is in the parallel version of this verse in Matthew 15:9. Since this word always falls in the second position, translating it as "however" often captures its feeling better.
in vain - The word translated as "in vain," is an adverb that also means "fruitless", "at random", "idly," and "falsely." This word is only used here and in the parallel verse in Matthew 15:9.
they - This is from the plural form of the following verb.
do -- This English helping verb is used to create questions, commands, negative statements, and smooth word flow in translation from Greek
worship - (CW) "Worship" is from a verb that means "feel awe", "full of awe", "feel fear" or "feel shame," before God, "revere, "honor", "respect," and "worship". This verb is rarely used by Jesus but is used here because it is the Greek word used in the Greek Septuagint. Note that its primary meaning is to "feel awe" or "fear," not worship. In original Hebrew, the sense of fear is more direct. However, the sense of "honor" echoes and idea in the previous verse.
me, - "Me" is the regular first-person pronoun in Greek.
teaching - "Teaching" is a verb that means "to teach", "to instruct", "to explain," and "to give sign of." It is in the form of a participle, that is, an adjective form of the verb, so "teaching" or "explaining."
for -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "for" in the Greek source. There is no "for" in the Greek before this word. This word comes at the end of the verse in the Septuagint version.
doctrines - "Doctrines" is the noun form of the verb above, so it which means "teachings", "instruction", "explanations," and "official instruction."
the - There is no definite Greek article here, but in English we use the definitive article ("the") more commonly from the plural.
commandments - (CW) The Greek translated as "commandments" means " is a rare form of another Greek noun that means "injunction", "order," and "command." This form is used only here, in the parallel verse, Matthew 15:9., and in the Septuagint version. While Jesus often uses unusual word for wordplay, he also uses them to be consistent with the original scripture. Except for here, quoting the Septuagint, Jesus always used the common form of this noun.
of -- This word "of" comes from the genitive case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English.
men. The Greek word for "of men" means "man", "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men", "people", and "peoples".
missing "however" -- (MW) The untranslated word "howbeit" joins phrases in an adversarial way. It is usually translated as "but" as it is in the parallel version of this verse in Matthew 15:9. Since this word always falls in the second position, translating it as "however" often captures its feeling better.
They - This is from the plural form of the following verb.
do -- This English helping verb is used to create questions, commands, negative statements, and smooth word flow in translation from Greek
worship - (CW) "Worship" is from a verb that means "feel awe", "full of awe", "feel fear" or "feel shame," before God, "revere, "honor", "respect," and "worship". This verb is rarely used by Jesus but is used here because it is the Greek word used in the Greek Septuagint. Note that its primary meaning is to "feel awe" or "fear," not worship. In original Hebrew, the sense of fear is more direct. However, the sense of "honor" echoes and idea in the previous verse.
me, - "Me" is the regular first-person pronoun in Greek.
in vain - The word translated as "in vain," is an adverb that also means "fruitless", "at random", "idly," and "falsely." This word is only used here and in the parallel verse in Matthew 15:9.
their -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "their " in the Greek source.
missing "teaching" -- (MW) The untranslated word is a verb that means "to teach", "to instruct", "to explain," and "to give sign of." It is in the form of a participle, that is, an adjective form of the verb, so "teaching" or "explaining."
teachings - "Teachings" is the noun form of the verb above, so it which means "teachings", "instruction", "explanations," and "official instruction."
are merely -- (IP) There is nothing that can be translated as "are merely " in the Greek source. There is no "are merely " in the Greek before this word.
human - The Greek word for "human" means "man", "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men", "people", and "peoples".
rules- The Greek translated as "rules" means " is a rare form of another Greek noun that means "injunction", "order," and "command." This form is used only here, in the parallel verse, Matthew 15:9., and in the Septuagint version. While Jesus often uses unusual word for wordplay, he also uses them to be consistent with the original scripture. Except for here, quoting the Septuagint, Jesus always used the common form of this noun.
μάτην [2 verses](adv) "In vain" is from the Greek maten which means "in vain", "fruitless", "at random", "idly," and "falsely."
δὲ [446 verses](conj) "But" is from de which means "but" and "on the other hand." It is the particle that joins sentences in an adversarial way but can also be a weak connective ("and") and explanation of cause ("so"). --
σέβονταί [3 verses]( verb 3rd pl pres ind mp) "Do they worship" is from sebomai, which means "feel awe", "full of awe", "feel fear" or "feel shame," before God, "fear to do", "revere, "honour", "respect", "approve", and "worship". In Hebrew, the sense of fear is more direct. The single word, yir'ah, which means "fear", "awe," or "fear of God." In the original Hebrew, this line is translated in KJV as saying, that the fear of God comes from the teaching of men, not from God. The Greek could and should be translated this way as well.
με, [49 verses](pron 1st sg masc acc) "Me" is from eme, which means "I", "me", and "my".
διδάσκοντες [12 verses](part pl pres act masc nom) "Teach" is from didasko, which means "to teach", "to instruct", "to indicate", "to explain," and "to give sign of."
διδασκαλίας [2 verses](noun pl fem acc) "Doctrines" is from disaskalia which means "teachings", "instruction", "elucidation," and "official instruction."
ἐντάλματα [2 verses](noun pl neut acc) "Commandments" is from entalma, which means "to order". The Greek, entalma, only appears here and in the parallel verse, Mar 7:7. It is a form of entolê which means "injunction", "order," and "command."
ἀνθρώπων. [209 verses](noun pl masc gen) "Of man" is from anthropos, which is "man," and, in plural, "mankind." It also means "humanity" and that which is human and opposed to that which is animal or inanimate. -- The Greek word for "of man" in the singular means "person" and "humanity" and "people" and "peoples" in plural.
Septuagint Version
μάτην (adv) "In vain" is from the Greek maten which means "in vain", "fruitless", "at random", "idly," and "falsely."
δὲ "But" is from de which means "but" and "on the other hand." It is the particle that joins sentences in an adversarial way but can also be a weak connective ("and") and explanation of cause ("so"). --
σέβονταί ( verb 3rd pl pres ind mp) "Do they worship" is from sebomai, which means "feel awe", "full of awe", "feel fear" or "feel shame," before God, "fear to do", "revere, ""honour", "respect", "approve", and "worship". In Hebrew, the sense of fear is more direct. The single word, yir'ah, which means "fear", "awe," or "fear of God." In the original Hebrew, this line is translated in KJV as saying, that the fear of God comes from the teaching of men, not from God. The Greek could and should be translated this way as well.
με, (pron 1st sg masc acc) "Me" is from eme, which means "I", "me", and "my".
διδάσκοντες (part pl pres act masc nom) "Teach" is from didasko, which means "to teach", "to instruct", "to indicate", "to explain," and "to give sign of."
ἐντάλματα (noun pl neut acc) "Commandments" is from entalma, which means "to order". The Greek, entalma, only appears here and in the parallel verse, Matthew 15:9. It is a form of entolê which means "injunction", "order," and "command."
ἀνθρώπων. (noun pl masc gen) "Of man" is from anthropos, which is "man," and, in plural, "mankind." It also means "humanity" and that which is human and opposed to that which is animal or inanimate. -- The Greek word for "of man" in the singular means "person" and "humanity" and "people" and "peoples" in plural.
καὶ [1089 verses](conj/adv) "And" is kai, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "but." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even", "also," and "just."
διδασκαλίας [12 verses]( noun pl fem acc OR noun sg fem gen) "Teach" is from didasko, which means "to teach", "to instruct", "to indicate", "to explain," and "to give sign of."
This is one of the most unusual translations in the Bible because it ignores the line in Isaiah 29:13 that Jesus is quoting. That line is translated in the OT of KJV from the Hebrew as "their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men." If you look at the Greek source and compare it to the Septuagint Greek OT, you can see how this can be translated the same.
The translation of the full verse of Isaiah, which is quoted here and in the previous verse (and that we saw before in Matthew 15:8 and Matthew 15:9 in the same Greek) is:
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:
The point is that religious leaders tend to teach the fear of God rather than the love of God. They think of God's instruction as human laws, which we must obey out of fear of punishment. They don't see them as instructions given to us out of love and a desire for us to have the best lives possible. God is a father offering advice and direction out of love not a policeman or judge threatening us with the law. This is very much in line with Christ's teaching that the Sabbath was made for men, not men for the Sabbath.
In other words, God's instructions are not like the orders of a ruler. They are explanations of how the world works, that is, the universal rule. In a sense, they are the laws of nature. We cannot violate them without suffering the consequences any more than we can walk off a cliff without tangling with the law of gravity. God's instructions are about the nature of things not meaningless lines in the sand that he is forbidding us to cross. The commandments exist not to deprive us of pleasures but to enable us to have better lives.