Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Mark: Chapter 7].
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7:2 {With defiled, that is unwashen hands} (\koinais chersin,
tout' estin aniptois\). Associative instrumental case. Originally
\koinos\ meant what was common to everybody like the _Koin•_
Greek. But in later Greek it came also to mean as here what is
vulgar or profane. So Peter in Ac 10:14 "common and unclean."
The next step was the ceremonially unclean. The emissaries of the
Pharisees and the scribes from Jerusalem had seen "some of the
disciples" eat without washing their hands, how many we are not
told. Swete suggests that in going through the plain the
disciples were seen eating some of the bread preserved in the
twelve baskets the afternoon before across the lake. There was no
particular opportunity to wash the hands, a very proper thing to
do before eating for sanitary reasons. But the objection raised
is on ceremonial, not sanitary, grounds.
7:3 {Diligently} (\pugm•i\). Instrumental case, {with the fist},
up to the elbow, rubbing one hand and arm with the other hand
clenched. Aleph had \pukna\ probably because of the difficulty
about \pugm•i\ (kin to Latin _pugnus_). Schultess considers it a
dry wash or rubbing of the hands without water as a ritualistic
concession. The middle voice \nips•ntai\ means their own hands.
This verb is often used for parts of the body while \lou•\ is
used of the whole body (Joh 13:10). On the tradition of the
elders see on ¯Mt 15:2.
7:4 {From the marketplace} (\ap' agoras\). Ceremonial defilement
was inevitable in the mixing with men in public. This \agora\
from \ageir•\ to collect or gather, was a public forum in every
town where the people gathered like the courthouse square in
American towns. The disciples were already ceremonially defiled.
{Wash themselves} (\baptis•ntai\). First aorist middle
subjunctive of \baptiz•\, dip or immerse. Westcott and Hort put
\rantis•ntai\ in the text translated "sprinkle themselves" in the
margin of the Revised Version, because Aleph, B, and some of the
best cursives have it. Gould terms \rantis•ntai\ "a manifest
emendation," to get rid of the difficulty of dipping or bathing
the whole body. Meyer says: "The statement proceeds by way of
climax: before eating they wash the hands always. When they come
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Word Pictures in the New Testament
(Mark: Chapter 7)