Mark 7:10

Mark 7:10, in plain English

Jesus gives a specific example: 'Moses said to honor your father and mother, and that anyone who curses their parents should be put to death.' This command is as serious as it gets.

Why it's here

Jesus is about to show how their tradition actually contradicts one of the Ten Commandments. He starts by reminding them just how important this command is.

Who's speaking

Jesus quotes Moses to set up his argument.

Where it sits in the story

Jesus goes to the heart of the law — one of the Ten Commandments — to show that the Pharisees' traditions don't just add to God's word. They actually cancel it out.

The scholarly reading

Jesus provides a concrete example, citing Moses' command to 'honor your father and mother' (Exod 20:12/Deut 5:16) alongside the capital penalty for cursing parents (Exod 21:17/Lev 20:9). These represent the weightiest obligations in Jewish family ethics.

Language and setting

By selecting the fifth commandment — the bridge between duties to God (1-4) and duties to neighbor (6-10) — Jesus chooses the most universally recognized moral obligation to expose the tradition's corruption.

Voice

Jesus quotes Moses to establish the divine standard the Pharisees are violating.

Significance

Jesus grounds his argument in Moses himself: honor your parents is not a suggestion — the penalty for cursing them is death. This is the divine standard against which he will measure the Corban tradition.

8You have disregarded the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men.”

9He went on to say, “You neatly set aside the command of God to maintain your own tradition.

10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’

11But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God),

12he is no longer permitted to do anything for his father or mother.

Read all of Mark 7 — Jesus declares all foods clean and then crosses into Gentile territory to heal a woman's daughter. The walls are coming down.