“And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.”
And saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed — the observation that triggers the controversy is dietary-ritual: the disciples are eating without washing their hands in the prescribed manner. The that is, unwashed is Mark's explanatory aside, communicating that he is writing for a Gentile audience unfamiliar with Jewish purity practices. The offense is not hygienic (unsanitary hands) but ritual: the Pharisaic tradition required handwashing before meals as an extension of the priestly purity requirements into everyday life.
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