Following are a number of back-translations of Mark 7:5:
Uma: “That’s why the Parisi people with the religion teachers denounced Yesus, they said: ‘Why are your (sing.) disciples not following the customs of our elders? They eat, [but] they haven’t washed-hands first.'” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
Yakan: “Therefore the Pariseo and the teachers of the religious law asked Isa, they said, ‘Why do your disciples not follow the teachings of our (incl.) forefathers? Why do they eat even though they have not washed their hands causing-them-to-be-clean?'” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Because of this those Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, they said, ‘Why have your disciples abandoned the doctrines handed down by our ancestors because why is it that they up and eat without washing?'” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “Therefore those Pharisees and teachers of the law, they inquired of Jesus, ‘Why don’t your (sing.) disciples follow the customs we inherited from our ancestors? There they are eating and they did not first follow the right way to wash-hands.'” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Tagbanwa: “That’s why Jesus was questioned by the Pariseo and explainers of law. ‘Why,’ they said, ‘don’t those disciples of yours obey our (incl.) inherited customs? They ate without first washing their hands according to what we (incl.) have inherited.'” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
The Greek that is a transliteration of the Hebrew Pərūšīm and is typically transliterated into English as “Pharisee” is transliterated in Mandarin Chinese as Fǎlìsài (法利賽 / 法利赛) (Protestant) or Fǎlìsāi (法利塞) (Catholic). In Chinese, transliterations can typically be done with a great number of different and identical-sounding characters. Often the meaning of the characters are not relevant, unless they are chosen carefully as in these cases. The Protestant Fǎlìsài can mean something like “Competition for the profit of the law” and the Catholic Fǎlìsāi “Stuffed by/with the profit of the law.” (Source: Zetzsche 1996, p. 51)
In Finnish Sign Language it is translated with the sign signifying “prayer shawl”. (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
Scot McKnight (in The Second Testament, publ. 2023) translates it into English as Observant. He explains (p. 302): “Pharisee has become a public, universal pejorative term for a hypocrite. Pharisees were observant of the interpretation of the Covenant Code called the ‘tradition of the elders.’ They conformed their behaviors to the interpretation. Among the various groups of Jews at the time of Jesus, they were perhaps closest to Jesus in their overall concern to make a radical commitment to the will of God (as they understood it).”
Living Water is produced for the Bible translation movement in association with Lutheran Bible Translators. Lyrics derived from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).
Instead of kai ‘and’ at the beginning of the verse, of the majority of editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus, Soden, and Vogels have epeita ‘then.’
Instead of koinais ‘common’ of all modern editions of the Greek text, Textus Receptus has aniptois ‘unwashed.’
kata tēn paradosin ‘in accordance with the tradition’: this is the only place in Mark in which the preposition kata is used with this meaning.
esthiousin ton arton ‘they eat bread,’ i.e. ‘they eat, they eat food’ (in general).
Translation:
Asked him may be ‘asked Jesus,’ if the reference is otherwise not clear in the receptor language.
For scribes see 1.22 and for disciples 2.15.
Not live…, but eat may cause complications, unless translated with care, e.g. ‘not live according to what their fathers told them; rather, they eat with hands….’
Defiled is the same word as used in 7.2.
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on the Gospel of Mark. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1961. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Verses 7:3–7:4 is background information about the tradition of ceremonial washing among the Jews. Verse 7:5 now continues the main story from 7:2b. Some languages have a way to show that the author has finished giving background information and has now resumed the main story. If that is true in your language, you should use that here.
7:5a
So: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as So here introduces what the Pharisees and teachers of the law said. They said this as a result of what they saw in 7:2. Here is another way to show this connection:
Because of what they saw
Other English versions do not have a conjunction here. You should connect 7:5 to 7:2 in a way that is natural in your language.
the Pharisees: See the note on Pharisees at 7:1a.
scribes: See the note on scribes at 7:1a. See also teacher of the law in the Glossary.
questioned: The word questioned here introduces a rhetorical question. It is not a request for information. Use a natural way in your language to introduce the speech that follows.
7:5b–c
Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with defiled hands: In the Greek 7:5b–c is a single rhetorical question. The Berean Standard Bible divides the question into one rhetorical question and one statement. The Revised Standard Version translates it more literally:
Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?
This rhetorical question functions as a rebuke. The Jewish leaders were rebuking Jesus because he allowed his disciples to eat without first ritually washing their hands.
Here are several ways to translate this rebuke:
• As one or two rhetorical questions. For example:
Why is it that your disciples do not follow the teaching handed down by our ancestors, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands? (Good News Bible) -or-
Why don’t your disciples obey what our ancestors taught us to do? Why do they eat without washing their hands? (Contemporary English Version)
• As a statement. For example:
Your disciples should follow the teaching handed down by our fathers/elders instead of eating with unclean hands. -or-
Your disciples should follow our ancestors’ customs! They should not eat with unclean hands!
• As one question and one statement. For example, the God’s Word says:
Why don’t your disciples follow the traditions taught by our ancestors? They are unclean because they don’t wash their hands before they eat!
Use whichever form is most natural to express this rebuke in your language.
7:5b
Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders: The phrase walk according to…tradition means “follow a set of rules” or “obey some customs” that tell how people should live.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
Why is it that your disciples do not follow the teaching handed down by our ancestors…? (Good News Bible) -or-
Why don’t your disciples obey what our ancestors taught us to do? (Contemporary English Version)
disciples: See how you translated this term at 2:15b and 7:2a. See also disciple in the Glossary for more information.
the tradition of the elders: The phrase the tradition of the elders refers to the religious rules that the Pharisees taught.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
the rules of the elders -or-
the teachings of their forefathers
See the note at 7:3a.
elders: The word elders refers here to Jewish religious leaders of previous generations who taught these rules to the Jews of following generations.
Here are some examples of other ways to say elders:
ancestors (Good News Bible) -or-
forefathers
See the note at 7:3a.
7:5c
Instead: The Greek conjunction that the Berean Standard Bible translates as Instead indicates a strong contrast. The contrast is between what the Jewish leaders did and what Jesus’ followers did.
Here are some other ways to translate this conjunction:
Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with unwashed hands? (NET Bible) -or-
Why is it that your disciples do not follow the teaching handed down by our ancestors, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands? (Good News Bible)
Other versions do not translate this conjunction. Instead, the rhetorical question is expressed as two questions. For example, the Contemporary English Version says:
Why don’t your disciples obey what our ancestors taught us to do? Why do they eat without washing their hands?
You should use the form that is most natural in your language.
defiled: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as defiled means “unclean,” or “desecrated.” This is the same Greek word as in 7:2a. You should translate it the same way in both places.
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All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
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