Mark Chapter 7 verse 3 Holy Bible
(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands diligently, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders;
read chapter 7 in ASV
Now the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not take food without washing their hands with care, keeping the old rule which has been handed down to them:
read chapter 7 in BBE
(for the Pharisees and all the Jews, unless they wash their hands diligently, do not eat, holding what has been delivered by the ancients;
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For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
read chapter 7 in KJV
read chapter 7 in WBT
(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, don't eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders.
read chapter 7 in WEB
for the Pharisees, and all the Jews, if they do not wash the hands to the wrist, do not eat, holding the tradition of the elders,
read chapter 7 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 3. - Except they wash their hands oft. The Greek word here rendered "oft" is πυγμῇ: literally, with the fist, i.e. with the closed hand, rubbing one against the other. This word has caused a vast amount of criticism; and the difficulty of explaining it seems to have led to the adoption of a conjectural reading (πυκνῷς or πυκνῇ) rendered "oft;" crebro in the Vulgate. But the Syriac Peshito Version renders the Greek word by a word which means "diligently," and it is interesting and helpful, as a matter of exegesis, to know that it also renders the Greek word (ἐπιμελῶς) in Luke 15:8 by the same Syriac synonym, "diligently." The "clenched fist" implies vigor and resolution, and points to "diligence," and there are very high authorities in favor of this rendering, as, Epiphanius, Isaac Casaubon, and Cornelius a Lapide, to say nothing of our best modern expositors. It is also adopted in the Revised Version. Holding the tradition of the elders. The Pharisees pretended that this tradition had been orally delivered by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, and then transmitted orally down to their time. These oral precepts were afterwards embodied in the Talmud.
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(3) For the Pharisees, and all the Jews.--For the sake of the same class of readers, St. Mark adds another explanatory note. The custom of which he speaks was not, he says, peculiar to the Pharisees as a sect; it had passed, through their influence, to the whole body of the people.Oft.--The Greek MSS. present two readings, one of which this is the natural meaning; another, which means literally, "with the fist," and figuratively, "with might and main." The evidence is, on the whole, in favour of the former.
