1 THEN came to Jesus scribes [ A scribes responsibility was to write down or copy word for word what was said. It was not their duty or responsibility to change, altar or modify in any way what was written. However; it was the scribes who were the ones who modified the text of the old testament books to remove or alter what the Messiah would do and be. They changed him to become a political figure such that the people would not recognize the Savior when he did come. They removed the ordinances and covenants to their ways, ways in which they could control the people through "the Law". for this reason Jesus holds some of his strongest rebukes for the scribes because these were the very ones who were manipulating the text to have it read the way that they wanted - they were perverting that ways of God. ] and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, [ So the Lord is now in Galilee ] saying,

2 Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? [Among the Jews "Tradition" or oral law. Tradition signifies what is also called the oral law, which they distinguish from the written law: this last contains the Mosaic precepts, as found in the Pentateuch: the former, the traditions of the elders, i.e. traditions, or doctrines, that had been successively handed down from Moses through every generation, but not committed to writing. ] for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. [ On washing of hands, before and after meat, the Jews laid great stress: they considered eating with unwashed hands to be no ordinary crime; and therefore, to induce men to do it, they feigned that an evil spirit, called Shibta atby , who sits on the hands by night, has a right to sit on the food of him who eats without washing his hands, and make it hurtful to him! They consider the person who undervalues this rite to be no better than a heathen, and consequently excommunicate him. See many examples of this doctrine in Schoettgen and Lightfoot. ]

3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? [ So Jesus answers them back; you are accusing the disciples of violating the tradition (or the oral law) all while you are violating the written law. Which is worse? Of coarse they would know the answer - the violation of the written law. ]

4 For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother:[ This word was taken in great latitude of meaning among the Jews: it not only meant respect and submission, but also to take care of a person, to nourish and support him, to enrich. ]: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

5 But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift,[ "brq korban" an offering of approach; something consecrated to the service of God in the temple, by which a man had the privilege of approaching his Maker. ], by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;

6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias [ Isaiah see Isa. 29:13 ] prophesy of you, saying,

8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.[ The intent has to be in complete alignment with the acts. ].

9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

10 ¶ And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:

11  Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man;[ The Pharisees continue to ask the question "Why do the disciples eat with unwashed hands?" are here is the Lord's response.]; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. [ To fully understand this verse we need to understand that the principle or law of washing hands was part of the oral law or Tradition of the Elder as described in verse 2. So the Lords response was be careful of the oral law, not everything that comes out of the mouth of the Elders is pure, and so that which cometh out of the oral law which is corrupt would make them sinners. ]

12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?

13 But he answered and said, Every plant,[ "omnis plantatio" from the Greek text which would be rendered "Every plantation" This gives a different meaning, suggesting that the Pharisees, as a religious body, were now a plantation of trees, which God did not plant, water, nor own: therefore, they would be rooted up, not left to wither and die, but the fellers, and those who root up, (the Roman armies,) should come against and destroy them, and the Christian Church was to be planted in their place. Since the general dispersion of the Jews, this sect, I believe, has ceased to exist as a separate body, among the descendants of Jacob. It is of interest that the first of the apostolical constitutions begins this way: "qeou futeia h kaqolikh ekklhsia, kai ampelwn autou eklektov". meaning - "The Catholic Church is the plantation of God, and his chosen vineyard". ], which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.

14  Let them alone:[ "afete autouv",meaning give them up, or leave them. ]: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind,[ Probably the words may be understood as a sort of proverbial expression for-Don't mind them: pay no regard to them.-"They are altogether unworthy of notice." And if the blind lead the blind. ], both shall fall into the ditch.

15 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.

16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet [ "akmh" could also be translated as "Still"] without understanding?

17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? [ "eiv afedwna" meaning that which is not fit for nourishment is evacuated. Michaelis interrupted this verse as "Whatsoever enters into the mouth goes downward, and falls upon the ground." ]

18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

19 For out of the heart [ And iniquity is always conceived in the heart before it be spoken or acted upon. ] proceed evil thoughts,[ "dialogismoi ponhroi" wicked dialogues. Or the heart has it's own conversation or dialogue, with itself ], murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

20  These are the things which defile a man:[The Lord's summary of what causes corruption in a man. The Lord suggested here that what goes in the mouth goes to the stomach and then the intestines. some of what goes in is used for nourishment for the body, what is not needed is simply passed through. Those things that just pass through have no effect on the soul of a man. What does have effect on man's souls is what he allows to take place in his heart. ]: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

21 ¶ Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan [ Mark's account is more explicit and states "a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation". Parallel account found in Mark 7:25-30. So the importance here is that she is a Gentile and not a Jew. This is frequently the case in the Septuagint. Compare Genesis xlvi. 10, with Exod. vi. 15, where the same person is called a Phoenician in the one place, and a Canaanite in the other. See also the same version in Exod. xvi. 35; Josh. v. 12. ] came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, [ Mark's account has her falling at his feet as well. ] saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; [ this Gentile woman is certainly well acquainted with Israelite religion. She knows the messiah is the son of David. And, the statement "O Lord" is not simply a declarative as v. 27 makes it clear she is addressing Jesus as "Lord", so she may be referring to the doctrine of the Lord's incarnation per Isaiah. However, she may simply be calling him "lord" out of deference and respect. ] my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. [ The disciples were formerly told not to bother proselyting Gentiles, and Jesus seems to give her the opportunity to exercise her faith by not pushing her away, so the disciples apparently are confused as to why Jesus is tolerating the scene she is making. ]

24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. [ Jesus's reply to the disciples is that his ministry is to the lost sheep of Israel, he is not sent to the Gentiles, his calling is to those of the Abrahamic Covenant implicitly indicating she is not among these lost sheep, being a Gentile. ]

25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.[ A plee that she might be a part of the gospel and have the principles of it applied to her life. ].

26 But he [ Jesus ] answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. [ Jesus then directly confronts her informing her that it is not suitable to be giving the things of the covenant to those who are not of the covenant, doing so in an allegory of not feeding the dogs what is intended for the children. "the children's bread", Mark's account precedes this with "Let the children first be filled" ] I.V.Mark 7:26 [ This is a clear indication of to whom the Gospel was first to be taught - the Jews. Later as the acting President of the Church Peter declared that the gospel was to be preached to all man. see Acts 10. ]

27 And she said, Truth, Lord: [ she agrees with him ] yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. [ but does not let up on her request of him. She uses the same allegory with an appeal to have him just give her even the crumbs. Her repeal to him demonistrates that she has more than a casual understand of the details of the Law. ]

28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: [ So great is her faith that he cannot refuse her. So here we have a woman who is a gentile and comes to the Savior for a blessing. At first the Lord instructs her that it is not the time for him to perform miracles for the GEntiles, that is not his current mission. However; she has such great faith in him that he makes an exception and grants her wishes. ] be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

29 And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain,[ "to orov", THE mountain], and sat down there.

30 And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them: [ This was no small feat for many of these people. They are well away from the city - many would have had to literally carry their afflicted from the city - up the mountain. A small exercise of faith at the very least. ]

31 Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

32 ¶ Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

33 And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? [ Why this question? The disciples saw him feed the 5,000 so why would they even think to ask the question - What should we do? Possibly they know that after he feed the 5,000 he was challenged that Moses did better because he did it for 40 years I'm sure they had a bad taste in their mouths and did not want to repeat that. Why else would they ask what they are to do? They are still learning, he is the master, does he want to teach a different way - do something different... ]

34 And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.

35 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

36 And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

37 And they did all eat, and were filled:[ "ecortasqhsan"- or they were satisfied. Not only were their stomachs comforted from hunger but also their spirits were enriched with the Bread of life. ]: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.

38 And they that did eat were four thousand men, [ In John 6 there were 5,000 people here we don't really know how many other than there are 5,000 male - we can assume that the number is greater than before. ] beside women and children.

39 And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala. [ "Magdala", according to Mark's account the events start out with the multitude gathering to him at or around the "coasts of Decapolis", then he leaves and goes to Magdala according to Matthew, but Mark says "Dalmanutha". Easton's Bible Dictionary states:

Magdala - a tower, a town in Galilee, mentioned only in Matt. 15:39. In the parallel passage in Mark 8:10 this place is called Dalmanutha. It was the birthplace of Mary called the Magdalen, or Mary Magdalene. It was on the west shore of the Lake of Tiberias, and is now probably the small obscure village called el-Mejdel, about 3 miles north-west of Tiberias. In the Talmud this city is called "the city of colour," and a particular district of it was called "the tower of dyers." The indigo plant was much cultivated here.

Smith's Bible dictionary makes a similar statement, but is more cautious about trying to place it. It also says some of the most ancient Greek manuscripts place the name as "Magadan". If we assume that Magdala is in fact Magadan, then the site is on the western side of the sea of Galilee. ]