Promises versus commands.

§150C, “Defilement—Traditional and Real.”
Matthew 15.3-6, Mark 7.9-13.

Mt 15.3 The One with all the answers told them, “Why do you also violate God’s command through your tradition? 4 God says, ‘Honor father and mother,’ and ‘Curse father or mother and die.’ 5 You say, ‘Whoever tells father or mother, “A gift, which from me you might gain…” ’ 6 need not honor his father, and you nullify God’s word through your tradition.”

Mk 7.9 He was telling them, “Good job, rejecting God’s command so you can set up your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Curse father or mother and die.’ 11 You say, ‘If a person tells father or mother, “Qorbán—a gift, which from me you might gain…” ’ 12 you forgive his doing nothing for father or mother, 13 nullifying God’s word in favor of the tradition you recommend—and you do many similar things.”

Here Jesus gives an example of how the Pharisees violated the Law with the Mishna.

The Mishna is a collection of the Pharisees’ legal rulings—what Muslims call fatwas, and what Jesus calls “the elders’ rituals.” The Pharisees believed God gave two Laws to Moses: the written ones in the bible, and “the Oral Law,” which was meant to be handed down from scholar to scholar. Eventually they were written down as the Mishna. Judaism still uses it (and its commentary, the Talmud) to interpret the Law—and Christians use the New Testament.

God (or Moses, depending on whether you’re reading Matthew or Mark) had told the Hebrews to honor their parents, (Ex 20.12, Dt 5.16) and that dishonoring them merited the death penalty. (Ex 21.17, Lv 20.9) We know the “honor your parents” command ’cause it’s one of the Ten. But most Christians have no idea there’s a “Curse father or mother and die” command. Most will just assume it’s one of those commands that “don’t count anymore because we live under grace.” Again, totally misunderstanding grace: If the commands didn’t count, God wouldn’t need to give us grace for breaking them. (1Jn 2.1) So yes, “Curse father or mother and die” is still valid—though in our society (and, actually, in Jesus’s too) it’s a felony if you ever try to enforce it.

So there’s two basic, obvious biblical commands. And then there’s what the elders taught.

In Mark Jesus says the word קָרְבָּן/qorbán, meaning “gift-offering.” It could be money, food, animals, valuables—anything you’ve decided you’re giving to God. The Law gives directions on how you’re to give these qorbánim to Yahweh. But by Jesus’s day, “Qorbán” had become an oath. All you had to do was mention the word in reference to something, and bam, it was as good as given. You were bound by it. It was as if it had been given to God that very instant.

There’s a whole section of the Mishna called ‏‏נְדָרִים/Nedarim, “Vows.” It deals with many of the ways the Pharisees ensnared themselves by casually saying “Qorbán” at things (or the related words ‏קוּנַּם/qonnám, ‏קוּנַּח/qonnákh, or ‏קוּנָּס/qonnás) or any other legally-binding word. Christians usually interpret the qorbán-sayer as someone who’s trying use the elders’ rituals in order to get out of taking care of parents. But in some cases you’d have someone who actually wanted to take care of his parents, and couldn’t because all his stuff was qorbán. Think of it like an asset that you can’t sell, and can’t get cash for—it does you no good either; you could starve to death in a house worth millions. Well, the Pharisees were just that strict about qorbán. After all, it’s in the Law: “If you make a vow to Yahweh your God… Yahweh your God will expect it of you.” (Dt 23.21) That’s why Jesus doesn’t recommend swearing anything. (Mt 5.33-37)

The Pharisees were understandably strict about vows, and ruled that a person who had said qorbán was not allowed to “do anything for father and mother,” (Mk 7.12) as Jesus pointed out. Jesus referred to something which I translated “A gift, which from me you might gain….” (Mt 15.5, Mk 7.11) Translators try to turn this into a proper sentence, and insert a meaning back into it, which they extrapolate from Mark 7.11-12. The NIV has, “Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God.” But the reason it’s a sentence fragment is because Jesus only quoted the beginning phrase, not the whole ruling. Hebrew custom was to refer to a book, passage, and ruling by its first few words. “A gift, which from me you might gain….” ends with the statement that if it’s qorbán, it doesn’t matter that you have starving parents; vows count more.

The Pharisees must have eventually recognized that Jesus was right, because we find these rulings in Nedarim 9.1:

R. Eliezer said, “Loose people for the sake of a father and mother’s honor.” The wise bind.

R. Zadok said, “Before loosing for him for the sake of his father and mother’s honor, loose for him for the sake of the place’s honor. If so, nothing is a vow.”

The wise praise R. Eliezer for his word where, regarding his father and mother, it loosed them for the sake of his father and mother’s honor.

“The wise bind” indicates that the Pharisees used to bind people to their oaths in such instances, but Rabbi Eliezer rightly ruled that honoring your parents takes precedence over rash vows. How much Eliezer’s ruling was influenced by Jesus’s teaching—or if it was at all—we really have no idea. But right is right.

The conservatives in our society would do as the Pharisees did: “Your word is your bond,” and you should rather starve to death than break your oaths. The liberals in our society would take the other extreme—relationships shatter every bond—and violate their word whenever it became inconvenient.

Neither are right. “Don’t vow at all,” Jesus teaches. (Mt 5.34) The scriptures teach us not to obligate ourselves when we can help it. We have no idea what the future will be, and have very limited control over its outcome. So stating definite plans about it is stupid. (Jm 4.13-17) And making definite plans with no thought for your loved ones, without submitting anything to one another, isn’t proper Christian behavior. We need to do what we say we’re going to do, and be truthful without having to obligate ourselves to oaths.

And of course when customs hurt other people—and definitely when they violate the scriptures—they need to be done away with. Customs and traditions and heritage are fine, so long that they facilitate relationships and bring us closer to God. But too often, they’re meant to uphold some sense of honor and pride—supposedly it’s a good thing that we’ve been behaving the same way for years, even if it’s a stupid way—and we lose all sense of proportion. Our honor and pride are never more important than our neighbors and parents and God.

Mt 15.3: ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· & the [one] having answered said to them, διὰ τί because of what [why] καὶ ὑμεῖς παραβαίνετε τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ θεοῦ also you all violate the command of the God διὰ τὴν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν; through the tradition of you all? 15.4: ὁ γὰρ θεὸς εἶπεν· for the God said: τίμα τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα, honor! the father and the mother καί· ὁ κακολογῶν πατέρα ἢ μητέρα and: the [one] speaking evil of father or mother, θανάτῳ τελευτάτω. to death, die. 15.5: ὑμεῖς δὲ λέγετε· & you all say: ὃς ἂν εἴπῃ τῷ πατρὶ ἢ τῇ μητρί· whoever might say to the father or to the mother δῶρον ὃ ἐὰν ἐξ ἐμοῦ ὠφεληθῇς, [a] gift which, if out of me you might have gained… 15.6: οὐ μὴ τιμήσει τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ· not ever he will honor the father of him καὶ ἠκυρώσατε τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ and invalidate the word of the God διὰ τὴν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν. through the tradition of you all.

 

Mk 7.9: καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς· and he was saying to them: καλῶς ἀθετεῖτε τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ θεοῦ, [how] well you all reject the command of the God ἵνα τὴν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν στήσητε. that the tradition of you all, you might stand. 7.10: Μωϋσῆς γὰρ εἶπεν· for Moses said: τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα σου, honor! the father and the mother of you καί· ὁ κακολογῶν πατέρα ἢ μητέρα and: the [one] speaking evil of father or mother, θανάτῳ τελευτάτω. to death, die. 7.11: ὑμεῖς δὲ λέγετε· & you all say: ἐὰν εἴπῃ ἄνθρωπος τῷ πατρὶ ἢ τῇ μητρί· κορβᾶν, if [a] human might have said to the father or to the mother: qorbán [קָרְבָּן, gift offering] ὅ ἐστιν δῶρον, ὃ ἐὰν ἐξ ἐμοῦ ὠφεληθῇς, which is [a] gift which, if out of me you might have gained… 7.12: οὐκέτι ἀφίετε αὐτὸν οὐδὲν no longer you will all forgive him nothing ποιῆσαι τῷ πατρὶ ἢ τῇ μητρί, to do to father or to mother, 7.13: ἀκυροῦντες τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ invalidating the word of the God τῇ παραδόσει ὑμῶν ᾗ παρεδώκατε· [in favor of] the tradition of you all which you all recommend: καὶ παρόμοια τοιαῦτα πολλὰ ποιεῖτε. and many similar such [things] you all do.