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Mark 7:18

in Mark 7

“Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth into the man, it cannot defile him;

KJV

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;

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This verse in Mark 7

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
And he saith unto them,.... With some warmth of spirit and resentment, at their stupidity: are ye so without understanding also? As well as others, and to such a degree; and "yet", as Matthew expresses it, Mat 15:16, so wretchedly stupid, and so long, and as much, as others: do ye not perceive? common sense will tell you, that whatsoever thing from, without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; See Gill on Mat 15:16.

This site's exposition

His disciples inquired about the parable

on Mark 7:17-19

In the house Jesus explains that food cannot defile a man, because it does not enter his heart. Mark then adds his own comment, Thus all foods are clean.

This site's exposition

Are you still so dull?

John Gill hears some warmth in the question. Matthew 15:16 frames it as surprise that the disciples still lacked understanding after so long with him. Theophylact of Ohrid notes that Jesus first rebukes them and then explains what was hidden.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church2 voices

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Catena Aurea by Aquinas · Written before 1107.

The Lord begins by chiding them, wherefore there follows, Are ye so without understanding also? Then the Lord shows them what was hidden, saying, Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot make him common?

A commentator

Theophylact of Ohrid

Commentary on Mark · Written before 1107.

proposed

As for the apostles, who understood the Lord's speech more deeply and approached to ask Him about the "parable," that is, about this veiled speech (a parable is a veiled speech), the Lord first rebuked them, saying: "Are even you so lacking in understanding?" but …

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

The corruption of human nature is a universal disease. It affects not only a man's heart, will, and conscience, but his mind, memory, and understanding. The very same person who is quick and clever in worldly things, will often utterly fail to comprehend the simplest truths of Christianity. He will often be unable to grasp the plainest reasonings of the Gospel. He will see no meaning in the clearest statements of evangelical doctrine. They will sound to him either foolish or mysterious.
The corruption of human nature is a universal disease. It affects not only a man's heart, will, and conscience, but his mind, memory, and understanding. The very same person who is quick and clever in worldly things, will often utterly fail to comprehend the simplest truths of Christianity. He will often be unable to grasp the plainest reasonings of the Gospel. He will see no meaning in the clearest statements of evangelical doctrine. They will sound to him either foolish or mysterious. He will listen to them like one listening to a foreign language, catching a word here and there, but not seeing the drift of the whole. "The world by wisdom knows not God." (1 Cor. 1:21.) It hears, but does not understand. We must pray daily for the teaching of the Holy Spirit, if we would make progress in the knowledge of divine things. Without Him, the mightiest intellect and the strongest reasoning powers will carry us but a little way. In reading the Bible and hearing sermons, everything depends on the spirit in which we read and hear. A humble, teachable, child-like frame of mind is the grand secret of success. Happy is he who often says with David, "Teach me Your statutes." (Psalm 119:64.) Such an one will understand as well as hear. We see, in the second place, from this passage, that the heart is the chief source of defilement and impurity in God's sight . Moral purity does not depend on washing or not washing — touching things or not touching them — eating things or not eating them, as the Scribes and Pharisees taught. "There is nothing from outside a man, that entering into him can defile him — but the things which come out of him, these are what defile the man." There is a deep truth in these words which is frequently overlooked. Our original sinfulness and natural inclination to evil are seldom sufficiently considered.

How the passage was read

On Mark 7:1-23

On Mark 7:1-23

Mark explaining Jewish practice to outsiders

Mark pauses mid-story to explain handwashing to his readers: “the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not” (7:3-4). A Gospel writer translating Jewish practice for outsiders is this layer's own method inside the canon. The washing is netilat yadayim, a ritual pouring over the hands before bread, extending priestly purity to the ordinary table; the Mishnah gives it a whole tractate (Yadayim 1:1), and its schools debated the meal's washings in detail (Berakhot 8:2 records a Hillel-Shammai dispute over the order of washing and mixing the cup). The korban vow Jesus then confronts, property locked away from one's parents by a dedication formula, is explained in this site's note on Numbers 30.

Verse 19's closing phrase, which most translations render “thus he declared all foods clean,” asks for plain honesty at the point of contact: observant Judaism keeps the food laws (kashrut) to this day and does not read the verse as ending them; the Christian church, reading Mark with Acts 10 and 15, historically has. The entry states the difference as difference. What both readings share is the verse's own center: defilement is not conquered at the lips but at the heart, “for from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts.”

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Sources: Mishnah Yadayim 1:1 (the handwashing rite) · Mishnah Berakhot 8:2 (the schools on the meal's washings)

The words behind it

22 Greek words

Every Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

16 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Matthew 15:16–17“Do you still not understand?” Jesus asked.8 worksHebrews 5:11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing.6 worksLuke 24:25Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken!6 worksMatthew 16:11How do you not understand that I was not telling you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”5 worksIsaiah 28:9–10Whom is He trying to teach? To whom is He explaining His message? To infants just weaned from milk? To babies removed from the breast?5 worksJohn 3:10“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and you do not understand these things?4 works
The other 10 cross-references, with their words ▾
Jeremiah 5:4–5Then I said, “They are only the poor; they have played the fool, for they do not know the way of the LORD, the justice of their God.4 works1 Corinthians 3:2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready,4 worksMark 4:13Then Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand any of the parables?4 worksMark 16:14Later, as they were eating, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.4 worksMark 7:23All these evils come from within, and these are what defile a man.”4 worksMark 9:32But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.3 worksMatthew 16:9Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?3 worksMark 6:52for they had not understood about the loaves, but their hearts had been hardened.3 worksMatthew 13:51Have you understood all these things?” “Yes,” they answered.2 worksLeviticus 11:8You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Hebrews 5:11

    We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 13:15

      For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts,…

    • 2 Peter 3:16

      He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest…

    • Acts 28:27

      For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts,…

    • John 16:12

      I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it.

    • Luke 24:25

      Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

  • Through

    Luke 24:25

    Then Jesus said to them, “O foolish ones, how slow are your hearts to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

    it leads to

    • Mark 9:19

      “O unbelieving generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me.”

    • Hebrews 5:11–12

      We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing.

    • Mark 16:14

      Later, as they were eating, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

Where this verse is studied

About Mark

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Public domain.
Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Public domain.
Mark: the study guide →Read Mark 7 →

This page draws on J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.

Read on in Mark 7 →