Note 4 at Mk. 7:3: As noted in the introductions to Matthew and Mark (pp. xiii & xv), Matthew was writing to the Jews to portray Jesus as the Messiah while Mark was addressing Gentiles as well as Jews. This can be clearly seen by contrasting Matthew's and Mark's account of this incident. Matthew gave no explanation of this Jewish custom of washings while Mark did. The Jewish readers of Matthew's gospel were very familiar with the background of this custom while the Gentile readers of Mark's gospel needed more detail.

Note 5 at Mk. 7:3: This washing of the hands before eating was definitely a tradition of the elders and not a commandment of the law. There were washings commanded under the Old Testament law (see ref. g at Mt. 15:2, p. 188) but they were for ceremonial cleansings of the priests as they ministered and for those priests who had been defiled by an unclean person or thing (Lev. 22:1-6). God never commanded the washing of the hands before eating except for the priests when eating of the holy food in the tabernacle.