Has any version translated Mark 7:3 literally?

[franklinmonroe]

Some comments of my observations --

(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. (2011 NIV) ​

Actually, the NIV is a highly literal rendering with the exception of "give their". "Cerimonial" gives the sense of the motive for the washing.

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(The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions. (2007 NLT) ​

A very interpretive rendering (as expected). There is no parallel in the Greek for "poured", "water", or "cupped" (although it might be assumed that washing would including the use of water; and the water might be poured since the Greek is not baptizo here. But the NLT seems to be the only popular version to risk addressing the action in it's main text.

Also, there is no corresponding Greek for "especially" or "ancient". Of course, it is lacking the words "For" and "elders" (or their equivalents). I kinda like the distinction made between ordinary Jews and the Pharisees (even though it removes the word "all"). I think that "all Jews" really refers only to pious Jews, not to every ethnically Jewish person.

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(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders, (ESV) ​

The ESV simply avoids the difficulty. The modern reader may think that the mothers of Pharisees taught them proper hygiene rather than it being a religious act.

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(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing the traditions of the elders; (NASB) ​

"Carefully" does not quite give the sense that it was a ceremonial or ritualistic act.
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For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. (KJV)​

"Oft" merely denotes frequency.
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(For the Pharisees, in fact all the Jews, will not eat unless they wash their hands ritually, keeping the tradition of the elders. (HCSB)​

This seems to be a sound rendering (although I don' care for the inserted "in fact"). "Ritually" is not the literal "with the fist" but lacking the exact method it may be as close as we can get.
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(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they perform a ritual washing, holding fast to the tradition of the elders. (NET) ​

The NET disappoints by leaving out the word "hands", leaving the reader to wonder what is included in the washing.

 

[rsr]

A few more (my apologies if they've already been mentioned and I missed them):

For the Pharisees and all Jewish people do not eat unless they wash their hands up to the elbow, keeping the tradition of the elders. -- Tree of Life Bible

For the Pharisees and all the Jews, don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders. -- World English Bible

For the Pharisees and all of the Jews do not eat unless [merely for ceremonial reasons] they wash their hands [diligently up to the elbow] with clenched fist, adhering [carefully and faithfully] to the tradition of [practices and customs handed down to them by] their forefathers [to be observed]. -- Amplified Bible

 

[Jerome]

"Ritually" is not the literal "with the fist" but lacking the exact method it may be as close as we can get.

I just had to chuckle when I looked up 'ritual' in Websters:

an oft-repeated action or series of actions performed in accordance with tradition

 

[franklinmonroe]

A few more (my apologies if they've already been mentioned and I missed them):

Thanks, rsr! And now three more with "fist" --

… by not eating unless they wash their hands with the fist,
(Christian Counselor's NT by Jay E. Adams, 1977)

... do not eat unless they wash their hands with a fist
(NT Transline by Michael Magill, 2002)

… if they cannot wash their hands with the fist, using the clinched fist to scrub the open hand, they do not eat
(Power NT by William J. Moreford, 1998)​

Five more that use "wrist" --

... never eat without first washing their hands up to the wrist,
(Riverside NT by William G. Ballentine, 1923)

... don't eat without washing their hands up to the wrist,
(An American Translation in Language of Today by William F. Beck, 1963)

...do not eat unless they wash the hands up to the wrist
(NT by George Betts Swann, 1947)

... do not eat without washing their hands up to the wrist
(New Evangelical Translation NT by God's Word to the Nations, 1988)

... would not eat anything unless they first scrubbed their hands up to the wrists
(Essential NT by Dennis Beatty, 2004)​

Another as "elbow"--

… never eat without washing their hands up to the elbow;
(Unvarnished NT by Andy Gaus, 2007)​

 

[rsr]

For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands with their fist, holding the tradition of the elders. -- English Majority Text Version, Paul Esposito, 2002

Mar 7:3 for the Pharisees and all the Jews unless [with a fist they washed hands] they do not eat, holding the tradition of the elders. -- Apostolic Bible Polyglot interlinear, Charles VanderPool, 2003.

 

[franklinmonroe]

For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands with their fist, holding the tradition of the elders. -- English Majority Text Version, Paul Esposito, 2002

Mar 7:3 for the Pharisees and all the Jews unless [with a fist they washed hands] they do not eat, holding the tradition of the elders. -- Apostolic Bible Polyglot interlinear, Charles VanderPool, 2003.

I am familiar with the EMTV but have not been able to obtain a copy for myself, but I had not heard of the VanderPool version.

To answer the OP question, indeed a great many (especially independent) versions have attempted to translate the verse literally. It does seem that Mark is simply relating a matter-of-fact method, not using an idiom to represent the process.

Why then do the more popular committee versions avoid a literal rendering? Several of these versions have reputations as being literal (NASB, ESV, etc.). Since most of them include a footnote here anyway, why not translate literally and put the explanation in the footnote?