Did Jews Rinse their hands ‘with a fist’ (Mark 7.3)?
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1-2019
Abstract
According to UBS and NA, Mark . says that Pharisees and other Jews do not eat unless they rinse their hands ‘with a fist’ (πυγμ). This notorious crux interpretum has resisted all efforts to give it a plausible meaning. The present article reviews these efforts and suggests that it is time to abandon this reading in favour of the variant reading πυκνά in the sense ‘repeatedly’. This translation best fits the practice described in the Mishnah and other rabbinic literature, in which devout Jews rinsed their hands twice before the meal, twice after, and often twice or more during.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
New Testament Studies
First Page
139
Last Page
147
Recommended Citation
Burkett, D. (2019). Did Jews Rinse their hands ‘with a fist’ (Mark 7.3)?. New Testament Studies, 65 (2), 139-147. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0028688518000358