Mark 7:2 Meaning and Explanation
“And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The visitors notice that some of his disciples eat without the ceremonial handwashing, and they find fault.
What Does Mark 7:2 Mean?
Mark explains the offense for readers far from Judea: the hands were defiled only in the ritual sense — common, not consecrated by the prescribed washing. The complaint is not about dirt but about ceremony. The watchers have been studying the disciples, and in their eating they find the charge they came to find.
A fault-finding eye is never disappointed; it always finds. Yet notice where the critics look — at hands — and where Jesus will shortly point — at hearts. The scene opens one of his most searching teachings: cleanness before God is not first a matter of fingers and basins but of what fills the inner life and flows out of it.
Mark 7:2 in the Original Language
koinos (κοινός), 'defiled' -- literally common; ritually ordinary rather than physically dirty.
Frequently Asked Questions About Mark 7:2
What does Mark 7:2 mean?
The visitors notice that some of his disciples eat without the ceremonial handwashing, and they find fault.