What comes out: defilement
He does not address the specific charge concerning hand washing but challenges the validity of the oral Torah more generally. He supports his own accusation by means of an entirely different example from Pharisaic tradition, in which the Corban laws (e.g., m. Ned. 1:2–4; 9:7) conflicted with obedience to the Fifth Commandment (Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16) and with God’s penalty for one form of disobeying that Commandment (Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9), both of which he quotes in v. 4. The Corban practice in view was that of pledging money or other material resources to the temple to be paid upon one’s death. These funds could therefore not be transferred to anyone else but could still be used for one’s own benefit while one was still alive (v. 5). The situation turns ironic in that the Pharisees’ laws prevented compassionate help for others in need, including those, like parents, to whom one was most obliged. As Bruner observes, “There is a devotion to God that hurts God because it hurts people.