Asked by Pharisees why followers eat with unwashed hands, violating tradition. Jesus points to how the Pharisees negate one of the ten commandments.
Mark 7:12 And you suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
Mark 7:12 then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother.
No more. You let him go: nothing to perform for that father or that mother.
The world works better when children help their aging parents.
This verse uses two related words translated as "no more/no longer" and "ought/anything." The first is the adverbial form of the later, like the English "no more" and "no-thing." The double negatives here don't cancel each other out in Greek as the do in English, but make each other stronger.
In the word order Jesus used, the "no more" is more like the end of the previous verse, making the point that nothing more needs to be done. This is another good example of how spoken statements are sometimes challenging to render into properly written sentences. See this article on spoken versus written language. The verse puts a light-hearted, sarcastic comment at the end, which is typical of Jesus's humor. The ending of the last verse had a similar light-hearted note.
- OS -- Outdated Source -- The Greek word translated as "and" existed in the KJV Greek source but not the source we use today.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "suffer" does not capture the word's specific meaning.
- WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "his" should be something more like "that."
- OS -- Outdated Source -- The Greek word translated as "his" existed in the KJV Greek source but not the source we use today.
- IW - Inserted Word -- The word "then" doesn't exist in the source.
- WN --Wrong Number- The word "them" is translated as plural but the Greek word is singular.
- WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "their" should be something more like "that."
And -- (OS) There is nothing in the Greek that can be translated as "and" in the source we use today but it does exist in the source that the KJV translators used.
you - This is from the form of the following verb, second-person plural so "you all."
suffer -- (CW) The word translated as "suffer" primarily means "leaving," "to let go" or "to send away." This same word is usually translated as "leave", "forgive", "suffer," and "let" in the New Testament. In Mark 7:8, it was translated as "laying aside" and "let go."
him -- The word translated as "him" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English.
no more -- "No more" is an adverb that means "no more", "no longer", "no further" and generally, "not now." This word begins the sentence.
to -- This "to" is added because the infinitive form of the verb requires a "to" in English.
do -- The Greek word translated as "to do" has the primary meaning of "making" or producing" something or "causing" or "performing" as service. It describes a productive action. It is not as broad a word as the English "do", which covers all actions, productive or not.
ought -- The Greek word translated as "ought" also means "no one," "nothing," and other negatives nouns. Here it is neuter so "nothing." However, to avoid the English double-negative, we translate it as its opposite "anyone" or "anything" when used with another Greek negative.
for -- This word "for" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is a "to" for the English indirect object. However, the translator can choose other prepositions: "with," "in," "of," "as," "by," "for," "at," or "on" depending on the context.
his -- (WW) The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun. Without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
father -- "Father" is the Greek noun that means "father" or any male ancestor so "forefathers". It is the word that Christ uses to address his own Father.
or -- "Or" is translated from a Greek word that means primarily "or" but serves as "than" in a comparison. The same word could also be the exclamation "hi" or the adverb meaning "in truth."
his - (OS) The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun. Without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more. A "his" does exist in the source that the KJV translators used.
mother; -- "Mother" is the common Greek word for "mother" and "grandmothers," but it also means "the source" of something.
then -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "then" in the Greek source.
you - This is from the form of the following verb, second-person plural so "you all."
no longer -- "No longer" is an adverb that means "no more", "no longer", "no further" and generally, "not now." This word begins the sentence.
let -- The word translated as "let" primarily means "leaving," "to let go" or "to send away." This same word is usually translated as "leave", "forgive", "suffer," and "let" in the New Testament. In Mark 7:8, it was translated as "laying aside" and "let go."
them -- (WN) The word translated as "him" is the Greek word commonly translated as third-person pronouns in English. This word is not plural but singular.
do -- The Greek word translated as "to do" has the primary meaning of "making" or producing" something or "causing" or "performing" as service. It describes a productive action. It is not as broad a word as the English "do", which covers all actions, productive or not.
anything -- The Greek word translated as "ought" also means "no one," "nothing," and other negatives nouns. Here it is neuter so "nothing." However, to avoid the English double-negative, we translate it as its opposite "anyone" or "anything" when used with another Greek negative.
for -- This word "for" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English. The most common is a "to" for the English indirect object. However, the translator can choose other prepositions: "with," "in," "of," "as," "by," "for," "at," or "on" depending on the context.
their -- (WW) The word translated as "their" is the Greek definite article, "the," which usually precedes a noun. Without a noun, it has the sense of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this," "that," "these," "those") than the English "the." See this article for more.
father -- "Father" is the Greek noun that means "father" or any male ancestor so "forefathers". It is the word that Christ uses to address his own Father.
or -- "Or" is translated from a Greek word that means primarily "or" but serves as "than" in a comparison. The same word could also be the exclamation "hi" or the adverb meaning "in truth."
mother; -- "Mother" is the common Greek word for "mother" and "grandmothers," but it also means "the source" of something.
οὐκέτι [17 verses]( (adv) "No more" is ouketi, which means "no more", "no longer", "no further" and generally, "not now."
ἀφίετε [73 verses] ( verb 2nd pl pres ind act ) "You suffer" is aphiemi, which means "to let fall", "to send away", "give up", "hand over", "to let loose", "to get rid of", "to leave alone", "to pass by", "to permit," and "to send forth from oneself."
αὐτὸν [124 verses](pron/(adj sg masc acc)) "Him" is autos, is the masculine, accusative case of the third-person, singular adjective that is used as a pronoun. The word also means "the same,""one's true self," and "the soul" as opposed to the body. It also means "of one's own accord."
οὐδὲν [69 verses] ( adj sg neut acc ) "Ought" is oudeis which means "no one", "not one", "nothing", "naught", "good for naught," and "no matter."
ποιῆσαι [168 verses]( verb aor inf act ) "To do" is poieo, which means "to make", "to produce", "to create", "to bring into existence", "to bring about", "to cause", "to perform", "to render", "to consider", "to prepare", "to make ready," and "to do."
τῷ [821 verses] (article sg masc dat ) "His" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones."
πατρὶ [191 verses] ( noun sg masc dat ) "Father" is pater, which means "father", "grandfather", "author", "parent," and "forefathers." -- "Father" is the Greek noun that means "father" or any male ancestor so "forefathers". It is the word that Christ uses to address his own Father.
ἢ [92 verses](conj/adv) "Or" is e which is a particle meaning "either", "or," or "than." OR (exclam) "Or" is e which is an exclamation meaning "hi!" OR (adv) "Or" is e, which is an adverb meaning "in truth" and "of a surety".
τῇ ([821 verses]article sg femdat ) "His" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones." -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
μητρί, [27 verses]( noun sg fem dat ) "Mother" is meter, which means "mother", "grandmother", "mother hen", "source," and "origin." -- "Mother" is the common Greek word for "mother" and "grandmothers," but it also means "the source" of something.