Mar 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching [for] doctrines the commandments of men.

This is one of the most unusual translations in the KJV because it ignores the line in Isaiah 29:13 that Christ 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, you can see how it can be translated the same. The word translated as "worship" primarily means "fear." The word translated as "in vain" also means "falsely" so we easily get "but falsely do they fear me, teaching [my] instructions like human orders." The translation of the full verse of Isaiah, which is quoted in here and in the previous verse (and that we saw before in Matt 15:7-9 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.

"In vain" is from the Greek matên (maten)which means "in vain," "fruitless," "at random," "idly," and "falsely."

"Do they worship" is from sebomai (sebomai), which means "full of awe," "feel fear" or "feel shame," before God, "fear to do," 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.


"Teaching" is from didaskô (didasko), which means "to teach," "to instruct," "to indicate," "to explain," and "to give sign of."

"Doctrines" is from didaskalia (disaskalia) which means "teachings," "instruction," "elucidation," and "official instruction."

"Commandments" is from entalma, which means "to order). The Greek, entalma, only appears here and is not a standard word in Greek. It is translated as a local form of entolê which means "injunction," "order," and "command."

"Of men" is from anthropos , which means "men," people," and "humanity."

Mar 7:6 Well has Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honor me with [their] lips, but their heart is far from me.

This verse is a reference to Isaiah 29:13 where there was originally a bit of contrasting wordplay that is not part of the Greek here in Mark. This contrasting wordplay is in the Greek in Mat 15:8, (analysis here) which is why I tend to think Matthew is closer to the original words. Christ loved to play on contrasting idea. It seems unlikely he would have not used such wordplay when it was in the text he was referencing. In the original Hebrew, the contrast is near (nagash) and far (rachaq), the nearness of lips that honor with the distance of the hearts. In Matthew's version, the contrast is between near (engizô) and far (apecho, "to be absent", porrho "at a distance"). Here in Mark, only the idea of distant and absence is preserved, not the contrasting idea of nearness.

Since we looked at the wordplay in the earlier discussion of Matthew, let us look at this verse from the perspective of Christ's use of symbols because it is also interesting in that regard.

Christ symbols refer to three aspect of our temporal lives: the physical, mental, and emotional. Hear, lips represent the mental and hearts represent the emotion. This follows from the idea that language and ideas form our mental world while our relationships with others form our emotional world.

Christ sees all three aspect of our temporal existence as important, but he describes life as a process that starts with the physical, moves to the mental, goes to the emotional, which ends at the spiritual. Christ describes the problem of life as getting stuck in one of these areas, creating an imbalance in our lives and a lack of progress. Our lives become worth less when we get so attached to life's physical aspects (physical pleasure) or its mental aspects (conceptual ideas) or its emotional aspects (social praise) that we cannot move on another aspect of life. Of course, the idea is to prepare for the bigger transition from the temporal to the spiritual.

However, there is also the sense in Christ's words that our personal emotional relationships are closer to our relationship to God. We cannot really understand God with our minds. He is too far beyond us. However, we can understand God through our relationships. This is why Christ teaches the the "pure of heart" will see God. This is the same idea using the same symbol of the heart for relationships. Of course, both Greek and Hebrew use the heart symbolically as the seat of emotions, though in Greek, it is specifically the seat of the feelings (courage, love), while the belly is the seat of the lower, more base desires (sex, food).

"Hypocrites" is from hupokrites (hupokrites) which is a great example of a word that has taken its English meaning from the Bible and its religious interpretation rather than the original Greek and Christ's original sense. The word means "one who answers," and is used in Greek to mean "interpreter" or "actor." Christ used it to mean that the scribes and Pharisees were just re-interpreting the law and play-acting their religion.

"Come near" is from the Greek engizô (eggizo) which means "to bring near," "to approach," and "to be on the point of" (doing someing). It is from the Hebrew, nagash, which means to "draw near" and "approach," but which is also used to describe sexual intercourse. Maybe combining "make advances" and "make love" into a single word might capture it.

"Honour" is from the Greek timaô , (timao) which means "to revere," "to honor," and "to value." In the original Hebrew, it is from kabad, which means "to be heavy," "to be rich," and "to be honored." Though the Greek word doesn't have the same sense of "weight" as the Hebrew, weight is often connected in Greek with value. In a commodity based society, value and weight were the same. We say that we give "weight" to an arguments in the same sense that the ancients would give "weight" to the rules of a leader or a God.

"Are far " is from the Greek, apecho ("to be absent") porrho ("at a distance"). The Hebrew is rachaq , which means "to be or become distant."

Mar 6:50 Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.
Alternative: "Don't be afraid. It is I. Don't be alarmed."

I found Matthew's Gospel was surprising consistent in terms of every chapter having a specific focus or topic. Mark is not proving to be as consistent in terms of theme. This chapter began as a discussion of society and our social interactions, but it seems to have changed. The focus has changed from society to our physical needs in the last verse. In this verse, that theme is continued, asking us simply to stop being afraid of the physical universe. What happens is art of God's plan. We do not need to fear it. It all has purpose and meaning.

Perhaps the larger lesson here is that God is in everything: society and physical reality. If we simply accept God's plan, we can deal with each challenge as it comes without fear or concern. Life isn't meant to be a bowl of cherries. It is meant to challenge us so we can grow. Fear stands in the way of us learning from each setback and sadness.

"Be of good cheer" is from tharseô (tharseo), which means "fear not," "have courage," "have confidence," "have no fear," and "make bold."

"It is" is from eimi (eisi), which means "to be,""to exist," "to be the case," and "is possible."

"Afraid" is from phobeô, (phobeo) which means "to put to flight, "terrify," "alarm," "to stand in awe," and "to be afraid."

Mar 6:38 How many loaves do you have? Go and see.

Bread, wine, and house are the central to Christ's symbolism representing our temporal world: bread for the physical, wine for the mental, and the house for the emotional aspects of our lives. Unlike our mental or emotional life, aspect of our physical life can be counted and measured. Our physical possessions can be held, protected, and kept safe.

Bread, like wine, is Christ's symbol for transformation. The seed creates the plant. The plant duplicates the seed into grain. The grain becomes dough. Dough becomes bread. Bread is converted to body. The physical world exists in a process of transformation. Everything is temporary. Everything is limited.

Transformation is also multiplication. Through the cycle, the seed is duplicated, yielding fruit on good ground, in Christ's words, a hundred fold. The miracle of the physical world is that though each stage is temporary, it is productive.

The word Christ uses for "see" here also is often used to me "understand."


"How much" is from posos (posos), which means "of what quantity," [in distance] "how far." [of number] how far," [of time] "how long," [of value] "how much," "how great," "how many," and "how much."

"Loaves" is from artos (artos), which means specifically a "cake of whole wheat break," and generally "loaf," and "bread."

"Do you have" is from echô (echo), which means "to have," "to hold," "to possess," "to keep," "to have charge of," "to maintain," "to hold fast," "to bear," "to keep close," "to keep safe," and "to have means to do."

"Go" is from hupagô (hupago), which means "to lead under," "to bring under," "to bring a person before judgment," "to lead on by degrees," "to take away from beneath," "to withdraw," "to go away," "to retire," "to draw off," and "off with you."

"See" is from eido (eido), which is another word that means "to see," "to examine," and "to know." It has more the sense of understanding.

Mar 6:37 Give them to eat.

Perhaps the simplest of all instructions and something that is done naturally in personal relationships. When someone comes to your house, you offer them food. Here, Christ applies this same rule to the gathering of a large group of people in the desert. He sees the natural world as his home and he sees his relationship with all people as personal.

While Christ warns us about seeking status and recognition from anonymous society, taking from society, the same rule does not apply to giving to society. We ask God not other people to provide our food from the environment (the first request of the Lord's prayer), however we all work to feed ourselves by working together in the social network. We are all debtors to God, but in human society we play both roles as givers and takers. Christ sees this balance as giving so that we can receive. We give first. We offer value for others.

Since this chapter in Mark is all about our relationships with others in society, Christ is merely instructing us on what is natural. If we see a need, we should first seek to fill it.

"Give" is from didômi (didomi), which means "to give," "to grant," "to hand over," and "to describe."

"Eat" is from phago (phago), which is a form of the word, phagein, which means to eat," "to eat up," and "to devour." A synonym for esthiô (esthio).

Mar 6:31 Come you yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while.

Alternative: Come here everyone, separately, on your own, into an isolated place and regain a little strength.

I find it interesting that the word translated as "place" or "position" as is also a metaphor for "opening" and "opportunity." Our place is indeed the opening for our opportunities.

In the normal English translation, the sense in the Greek of separating ourselves as individuals, privately, apart from society is somewhat lost. I am reminded of how Christ teaches us to pray, off by ourselves, not in groups, but privately, in a closet. There is a sense that our work in society weakens us, but our time alone, with Christ, refreshes our strength.

This chapter began with the idea that our personal power, at least as a prophet, works only outside our family, in society. We go out into society, to do our work, becoming part of a new group. We are sometimes rejected, but we have to shake it off and march on. To regain our strength, we have to separate ourselves from society, take time for ourselves, with God alone.

"Come" is from deute (deute), which means "come here" and "come hither." It is an imperative form, indicating a command.

"Apart" is from kata (kata), which means "downwards," "down from," "down into," "against," "down toward," "opposite," "separately," "individually," "at a time," "towards," "in accordance with," "concerning," "corresponding with," "during the course of a period," and "severally."

The untranslated word that follows "apart" is idios (idios), which means "one's own," "pertaining to one's self," "private," "personal," "personally attached," "separate distinct," "strange," "unusual," "peculiar," and "appropriate."

"Desert" is from erêmoô (eremos), which means "strip bare," "desolate," "lay waste," "bereave," "abandon," "desert," "leave alone," and "keep isolated."

"Place" is from topos (topos), which means "place," "region," "position," "part [of the body]," "district," "room," and "topic." It is also a metaphor for "opening," "occasion," and "opportunity."

"Rest" is from anapauô (anapauo), which means "to make to cease," "stop or hinder," "put an end to," "bring to a close," "take rest," "sleep," "lie fallow," "regain strength," and "rest or settle [on an object]."

"Awhile" is from oligos (oligos), which means "little," "small," and "weak."