Mark 7:14
in Mark 7Once again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “All of you, listen to Me and understand:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he called to him the multitude again, and said unto them, Hear me all of you, and understand:
KJV
And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:
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This verse in Mark 7
Commentary
10 notes on this verseTeaching people to understand the dietary prescriptions of the Law not in a carnal manner, the Lord begins here to gradually reveal the meaning of the Law and says that nothing entering from outside defiles anyone, but what comes from the heart defiles.
This site's exposition
listen to Me and understand
on Mark 7:14-16
Once again Jesus called the crowd to Him, so this teaching is public and meant for every hearer. Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him overturns the premise of ceremonial food and hand purity at a stroke.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) The Jews regard and murmur about only the bodily purification of the law; our Lord wishes to bring in the contrary. Wherefore it is said, And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one, and understand; there is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him, but the things which come out of a man, those are they which defile a man; that is, which make him unclean. The things of Christ have relation to the inner man, but those which are of the law are visible and external, to which, as being bodily, the cross of Christ was shortly to put an end.
The Medieval Church1 voice
But the intention of the Lord in saying this was to teach men, that the observing of meats, which the law commands, should not be taken in a carnal sense, and from this He began to unfold to them the intent of the law.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Note, It is not enough for the common people to hear, but they must understand what they hear. When Christ would run down the tradition of the Pharisees about washing before meat, he strikes at the opinion which was the root of it. Note, Corrupt customs are best cured by rectifying corrupt notions.
) lest he should have seemed to stir them up to faction and discontent at their governors; but addressed it as a reproof to the persons concerned: for the rule is, Suum cuique--Let every one have his own.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And when he, had called all the people unto him,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
When he had called all the people - But instead of παντα, all, παλιν, again, is the reading of BDL, later Syriac in the margin, Coptic, Ethiopic, Saxon, Vulgate, all the Itala but one. Mill and Griesbach approve of this reading.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
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.
A commentator
J.C. Ryle1816–1900
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition) (1857)
proposed
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.
How the passage was read
On Mark 7:1-23On 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
12 Greek wordsEvery 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.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| προσκαλεσάμενος | proskalesamenos | having called to [Him] | G4341 → | 28 times |
| πάλιν | palin | again | G3825 → | 139 times |
| τὸν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὄχλον | ochlon | crowd | G3793 → | 175 times |
| ἔλεγεν | elegen | He was saying | G3004 → | 1325 times |
| αὐτοῖς· | autois | to them; | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἀκούσατέ | akousate | do listen to | G191 → | 425 times |
| μου | mou | Me | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| πάντες | pantes | all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| σύνετε. | sunete | do understand. | G4920 → | 26 times |
ΚαὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
προσκαλεσάμενοςhaving called to [Him]
proskalesamenosG4341 →28 times
πάλινagain
palinG3825 →139 times
τὸνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
ὄχλονcrowd
ochlonG3793 →175 times
ἔλεγενHe was saying
elegenG3004 →1325 times
αὐτοῖς·to them;
autoisG846 →5565 times
ἀκούσατέdo listen to
akousateG191 →425 times
μουMe
mouG3165 →1936 times
πάντεςall
pantesG3956 →1235 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
σύνετε.do understand.
suneteG4920 →26 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Isaiah 6:9And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
it leads to
- Matthew 13:14–15
In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
- Luke 8:10
He replied, “The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing,…
- Mark 4:12
so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.’”
- John 12:40
“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they cannot see with their eyes, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.”
- Acts 28:26–27
‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
- Matthew 13:14–15
Through
Matthew 15:10Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand.
it leads to
- Mark 7:14–15
Once again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “All of you, listen to Me and understand:
- Mark 7:14–15
Through
Acts 8:30So Philip ran up and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.
it leads to
- Luke 24:44–45
Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets,…
- John 5:39
You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,
- Luke 24:44–45
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Mark
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels, Mark; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark (lightly modernized text, Grace Gems edition); John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pseudo-Chrysostom, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.