Mark 7:11

But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is Corban, that is to say, Given to God; ye no longer suffer him to do aught for his father or his mother; making void the word of God by your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things ye do.

Corban ... "Corban is a Hebrew word, meaning `that which is brought near,' or `a gift or offering to God.'"[4] Sanner declared that:

If a son in anger vowed to make a gift (perhaps to the Temple) of possessions really needed for the support of his parents, the vow was binding thereafter, no matter what distress it caused ... It also became a barrier to some repentant son who regretted the vow and wished to break it. The Pharisees would not suffer him to do anything for his father and mother (Mark 7:12).[5]

There could have been no better example of nullifying the word of God by means of a human tradition than the case here cited by Jesus.

Many such like things ye do ... Christ fingered this one example out of many that could have been mentioned. In fact, the total corpus of the word of God had been countermanded and nullified by the hair-splitting traditions of the Pharisees.

THE SOURCE AND NATURE OF DEFILEMENT

In Mark 7:14-23, Christ addressed himself to the question of defilement, that being the charge against his disciples by the Pharisees. Before dealing with this, however, Christ exposed the casuistry and wickedness of the entire system of human traditions to which they were giving such strict attention and obedience. Indirectly, this was an answer to the Pharisees' charge, "because, by showing that the tradition of the elders can lead men to disregard the Law itself, he has shown that it must not be accepted without question."[6]

[4] E. Bickersteth, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1962), Vol. 16, p. 293.

[5] A. Elwood Sanner, op. cit., Vol. VI, p. 330.

[6] C. E. B. Cranfield, op. cit., p. 238.