Mark 7:4 Commentary - Whedon's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

4. Except they wash That is, except they baptize. A different word from the previous word rendered wash. So also in this verse the baptism of cups and pots, brazen vessels and tables. Tables The Greek word thus translated should be rendered couches; meaning the couches upon which they used to recline at meals. We cannot suppose these couches were wholly immersed in or under water, a process which would be very likely, if often performed, to be destructive to them. We cannot but believe that these, like the “divers washings” mentioned by Saint Paul in Heb 9:10, were sprinklings or affusion.