Paragraph 7:6–13
In this paragraph, Jesus responded to the rebuke of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. But he did not explain to them directly why his disciples did not follow the tradition of the Jewish ancestors. Instead he told them that they fulfilled a prophecy from Isaiah about people who followed human traditions rather than God’s laws (7:6–8). He then gave a specific example of one of God’s laws that they prevented people from obeying. They did this by insisting that people follow the traditions of the ancestors (7:9–13) instead of God’s law.
7:6a
Jesus answered them: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Jesus answered them is literally “And he said to them” (as in the Revised Standard Version). Jesus was replying to the rhetorical question in 7:5. Because of this, a verb such as “replied” or “answered” may be more natural in some languages.
Isaiah: Isaiah is the name of a prophet. He lived many years before the time of Jesus. See how you translated Isaiah and “prophet” in 1:2a.
prophesied correctly about you: In this context, the verb prophesied means “gave a message from God.” This message (quoted from Isaiah 29:13) originally described the people living in Isaiah’s time. Jesus said that Isaiah prophesied about you (the Pharisees and teachers of the law). He meant that Isaiah’s message described the character of the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ time very accurately.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
make known the words from God about you
-or-
God’s message that Isaiah said about you
See prophet in the Glossary.
hypocrites: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as hypocrites refers literally to actors. Actors are like hypocrites because what they appear to be is not what they really are. Hypocrites often:
(a) acted in a way that did not fit what they said they believed.
(b) believed that they honored God, but they did not truly love and honor him.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
false servants of God (Translator’s Reference Translation)
-or-
people who only say they are righteous
In some languages people may use an idiom for this idea.
7:6b
it is written: Jesus often used the expression it is written when he quoted the Old Testament Scriptures. Some things to consider when you translate this expression are:
• Your language may already have a formula that is used to introduce a quotation from sacred writings. Consider if you could use that formula here, possibly with slight modification.
• In some languages you will need to make explicit that the quotation comes from Scripture. For example:
This is what is written in God’s word.
• If your language would express this using an active verb, you could say something like:
As we/people read in the Scriptures
-or-
This is what God caused him to write
See how you translated this expression in 1:2a.
General Comment on 7:6a–b
In some languages it may be more natural to combine or reorder some of the phrases in these verse parts. For example:
What Isaiah said/prophesied in God’s written words about hypocrites like you is true/correct
-or-
Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites in Scripture (God’s Word)
Notice that the God’s Word has made implicit the phrase “as it is written.” For an English audience, the phrase “in Scripture” implies that the prophecy was written, so both phrases are not necessary. Express this information in a natural way in your language.
7:6c–7b
These words are quoted from Isaiah 29:13.
7:6c–d
These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me: In Greek, the phrase with their lips occurs in a position of emphasis. The word order indicates that the main contrast is between external worship (with their lips) and internal reality (their hearts). In some languages, it may be possible to express this contrast by saying:
These people, it is only with their lips/words that they honor me, but their hearts are far from me.
Express this contrast in a way that is natural in your language.
7:6c
These people: When Isaiah originally spoke these words, the phrase These people referred to the Jewish people who acted like this. Jesus said that the Pharisees were also the people that Isaiah had spoken about.
The people to whom Jesus spoke and to whom Isaiah spoke were all Jewish. So in some languages it may be natural to translate this as:
You(plur) people
honor Me with their lips: The phrase honor Me with their lips is a figure of speech (metonymy) in which their lips stands for “their words.” This means that the Pharisees honored/praised God with their words.
If this figure of speech is not clear or natural in your language, you may:
• Substitute a similar figure of speech. For example:
These people praise me with their mouths/tongues
• Omit the figure of speech and express the meaning directly. For example:
You praise me in what you say
-or-
These people show honor to me with words (New Century Version)
Me: Jesus was quoting from the book of Isaiah, which was quoting the words of God. So the pronoun Me refers to God. In some languages it may be necessary to use indirect speech in order to make this clear. See the General Comment on 7:6b–7b after 7:7b for an example.
7:6d
but their hearts are far from me: This clause contrasts what the people say (7:6c) and their true, inner attitude toward God.
Here are some other ways to translate this:
All of you praise me with your words, but you never really think about me. (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
You say that you want to honor me, but you do not care about what truly honors me.
their hearts: In the New Testament, the word heart refers figuratively to the mind, emotions, and will of a person. It refers to the part of a person that he uses to think, feel, and make decisions. In some languages people refer figuratively to this part of a person as his mind, throat, liver, or stomach. They are not referring literally to that physical part of the body. You should use the expression in your language that is natural to refer to this spiritual part of a person.
far from Me: The words far from Me are a figurative expression that means that the people had turned away from God. They had turned away:
(a) with their minds and did not think of God,
(b) with their will and did not obey God,
(c) with their emotions and did not love God.
In your translation, try to find an expression that implies or suggests all of these things.
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
but their minds/livers/stomachs are far from me
-or-
but in their hearts/throats/thoughts, they have turned away from me
-or-
but they do not mean what they say
If one term expresses only part of the meaning, you may be able to use a combination of terms. For example:
they do not truly love me or think about me
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