He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Don’t you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can’t defile him, because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, making all foods clean?” He said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man.
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Mark 7:18-20 sits inside this longer paragraph.
When he had entered into a house away from the multitude, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Don’t you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can’t defile him, because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, making all foods clean?” He said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man. For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
Parallel Translations
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He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Don’t you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can’t defile him,
because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, making all foods clean?”
He said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man.
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And he sayd vnto them: Are ye so without vnderstondinge? Do ye not yet perceave that whatsoever thinge from with out entreth into a man it can not defyle him
because it entrith not in to his hert but into the belly: and goeth out into the draught that porgeth oute all meates.
And he sayde: that defileth a man which cometh oute of a man.
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And he sayde vnto them, What? are ye without vnderstanding also? Doe ye not knowe that whatsoeuer thing from without entreth into a man, cannot defile him,
Because it entreth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught which is the purging of all meates?
Then he sayd, That which commeth out of man, that defileth man.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (25)
- James 3:6 (v20) And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course…
- James 1:14-15 (v20) But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when…
- James 4:1 (v20) Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members?
- Matthew 15:16-17 (v18) So Jesus said, “Do you also still not understand? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then…
- Mark 7:15 (v20) There is nothing from outside of the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that…
Show all 25 cross-references
- Matthew 12:34-37 (v20) You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man…
- Matthew 15:17 (v19) Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then out of the body?
- Psalms 41:6 (v20) If he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood. His heart gathers iniquity to itself. When he goes abroad, he tells it.
- 1 Corinthians 6:13 (v19) “Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,” but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But the body is not for sexual immorality,…
- Hebrews 5:11 (v18) About him we have many words to say, and hard to interpret, seeing you have become dull of hearing.
- Isaiah 28:9-10 (v18) Whom will he teach knowledge? To whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts? For it…
- Micah 2:1 (v20) Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of…
- Matthew 16:11 (v18) How is it that you don’t perceive that I didn’t speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
- Luke 11:41 (v19) But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you.
- Luke 24:25 (v18) He said to them, “Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
- Acts 10:15 (v19) A voice came to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean.”
- Acts 11:9 (v19) But a voice answered me the second time out of heaven, ‘What God has cleansed, don’t you call unclean.’
- Romans 14:1-12 (v19) Now accept one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions. One man has faith to eat all things, but he who is weak eats only…
- Colossians 2:16 (v19) Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day,
- Colossians 2:21-22 (v19) “Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch” (all of which perish with use), according to the precepts and doctrines of men?
- Jeremiah 5:4-5 (v18) Then I said, “Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they don’t know the Yahweh’s way, nor the law of their God. I will go to the…
- Mark 4:13 (v18) He said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How will you understand all of the parables?
- John 3:10 (v18) Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things?
- 1 Corinthians 3:2 (v18) I fed you with milk, not with meat; for you weren’t yet ready. Indeed, you aren’t ready even now,
- Hebrews 7:6 (v20) but he whose genealogy is not counted from them has accepted tithes from Abraham, and has blessed him who has the promises.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v19 For that that goeth into the draught, purgeth all…
For that that goeth into the draught, purgeth all meats.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv18–20 18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so…
18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;
Ver. 18. Are ye so without understanding also?] What, no wiser at 17 years of age than ye were at seven? as rude and unskilful in the sixth year of your apprenticeship, as at the first onset? God requireth and expecteth a proportion of knowledge according to the means we have had, the time we have enjoyed them, the capacities and natural abilities that he had given us, and according to the places and stations wherein he hath set us to do him service. If the leaders of God’s people cause them to err, how should those that are led by them do otherwise than be destroyed? Hence this sharp reprehension.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On v18 Christ checks his disciples for understanding things no better.…
Christ checks his disciples for understanding things no better. Ignorance is more excusable in those who are strangers to God and Christ than in those that have relation to him. In our Saviour’s enumeration of those things which come out of the heart, several things are reckoned up which are the overt actions of the tongue, eye, hands; but our Saviour saith all these flow from the heart, for the actions of the outward man are but the imperate actions of the will, and things past the imaginations and understanding, before they come at the will, to be chosen or rejected. Here are but some sins reckoned instead of many, for it is true of all our evil actions, that they are first hatched in the heart, and are first entertained in our thoughts, in our understandings, then chosen by our wills, and then the bodily members are commanded by the soul to the execution of them. Mark reckoneth more than Matthew, but in both the enumerations are imperfect, and some sins are named instead of all. Nothing but sin defileth the man. Sin hath its first rise in the heart, and floweth from thence.
See Poole on "Mat 15:18", and following verses to Mat 15:20.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv18–20 Because it entereth not into his heart,.... Which is…
Because it entereth not into his heart,.... Which is the seat and fountain of all moral pollution; and if that is not defiled, no other part can be; and that that is not defiled by eating and drinking, unless in case of intemperance, is clear; because food and drink do not go into it:
but into the belly; it is taken in at the mouth, goes down the throat, and is received into the stomach, and from thence it passes through the bowels:
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and goeth into the draught; , "the private house", as the Jews call it, without going into the heart at all:
purging all meats; that which it leaves behind, is pure and nourishing; and whatever is gross and impure, is carried with it into the draught, so that nothing remains in the man that is defiling.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v19 Purging all meats - Probably the seat was usually…
Purging all meats - Probably the seat was usually placed over running water.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v19 Verse 19. Into the draught] See Clarke on Mt…
Verse 19. Into the draught] See Clarke on Mt 15:17.
Purging all meats?] For what is separated from the different aliments taken into the stomach, and thrown out of the body, is the innutritious parts of all the meats that are eaten; and thus they are purged, nothing being left behind but what is proper for the support of the body.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v19 19. into the draught] Comp. 2Ki_10:27, “And they.… brake…
19. into the draught] Comp. 2Ki_10:27, “And they.… brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draughthouse unto this day.” Draught = latrina, cloaca, from Icel. draf, dregs, dirt, connected with A.S. drabbe, dréfe. Comp. Shakespeare, Tim. of Ath. v. i. 105, “Hang them, or stab them, drown them in a draught.” “There was a godde of idlenesse, a goddesse of the draught or jakes.” Burton, Anat. of Mel.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v19 (19) It entereth not into his heart.—The words are…
(19) It entereth not into his heart.—The words are not in St. Matthew, and emphasise the contrast with what follows. The “heart” is, after the common Hebrew idiom, the symbol of the mind as well as the affections. (Comp. Pro_7:7; Pro_9:4; Pro_9:16; Pro_10:13, in all of which “understanding” stands for the Hebrew of “heart.”)
Purging all meats.—This also is peculiar to St. Mark, and presents some difficulties. In the commonly received text, the participle is in the neuter nominative, agreeing with the nominative to the verb “goeth out.” But in this construction it is difficult to see in what sense that which goeth into the mouth—itself an article of food, with no special character—can be said to purge or cleanse all other forms of food. The better MSS., however, give the participle in the masculine. This has been explained by many as a grammatical anomaly, and the participle being treated as if it agreed (though in a different case) with the word “draught” or “cesspool,” the latter is said to cleanse all meats, as removing the excreta, or impure parts, from them, and leaving only that which nourishes the body. A far better construction, both as to grammar and meaning, is found by making the word “purging,” or better, cleansing, agree with the subject of the verb “He saith,” in Mar_7:18—“He saith this . . . and in so saying, cleanseth all meats.” So taken, the words anticipate, in almost the same terms, the truth of Act_10:15, “What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.” The construction is tenable grammatically, has the support of high authority both ancient and modern, and obviously gives a much better sense. It is a possible conjecture that the words “cleansing all meats” may have been, at first, a marginal note (like the addition in Mar_7:16), attached to “He saith,” and have afterwards found their way into the text.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv18, 20 Vers. 18, 19. Our Lord had already, in his…
Vers. 18, 19. Our Lord had already, in his sermon on the mount, taught his disciples fully wherein purity or impurity of heart consists, and he might, therefore, with good reason, ask them how it was that they, even they who had been so favored by being constantly with him, had forgotten or misunderstood him. Our Lord"s illustration is physically accurate. The portion carried off is that which by its removal purifies what remains. The part which is available for nourishment is, in its passage through the system, converted into chyle, the matter from which the blood is formed. What is not available for nourishment passes away into the afedrwn , or draught, Purging all meats. The most approved reading here is undoubtedly the masculine (kayarizwn), and not the neuter (kayarizon). This change of reading compels a somewhat different construction. Accepting, therefore, the masculine as the true reading, the only possible rendering is that which makes this last clause a comment by the evangelist upon our Lord"s previous words, in which he indicates to the reader that our Lord intended by this illustration to show that no food, of whatever kind, when received with thanksgiving, can make a man unclean. The clause must, therefore, be connected with the preceding words, by the introduction of the words, in italics, "This he said, making all meats clean." The passage, thus rendered, becomes a very significant exposition of what has gone before. It is well worthy of notice that this explanation is to be found in St. Chrysostom (Homily on St. Matthew 15): O de Markov fhsizwn ta brwmata tauta elegen : "But Mark affirms that he said these things, making the meats clean." It may be added that this explanation agrees finely with the words in Act_10:15, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v19 Because it entereth
Because it entereth
Because it does not enter into the heart of him, but into the bowels is passed -- purifying all the food.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v20 He said
He said
"Jesus said"
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It is that which comes out of the person that defiles him
"What defiles a person is what comes out of him"
sensuality
not controlling one's lustful desires
come from within
Here the word "within" describes a person's heart. AT: "come from within a person's heart" or "come from within a person's thoughts" (See: Ellipsis)
out of the heart, proceed evil thoughts
Here "heart" is a metonym for a person's inner being or mind. AT: "out of the inner being, come evil thoughts" or "out of the mind, come evil thoughts" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
defile
heart
evil
sexual immorality
adultery
envy
deceive
slander
proud
fool
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v20 7:20-22 These verses summarize thirteen things that truly defile…
7:20-22 These verses summarize thirteen things that truly defile a person. These actions and vices all come from the heart.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.