Mark 7:15
in Mark 7Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
there is nothing from without the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man.
KJV
There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
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This verse in Mark 7
Commentary
15 notes on this verseWhen, then, on being cursed, I smite (with my tongue, ) how shall I be found to have followed the doctrine of the Lord, in which it has been delivered that "a man is defiled, not by the defilements of vessels, but of the things which are sent forth out of his mouth.
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.
This site's exposition
the things that come out of a man
Matthew Henry applies the saying to thoughts, affections, words and actions, which alone defile a person before God. Tertullian applies it to the tongue. A curse returned for a curse, he says, defiles the one who speaks it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Let us, then, his servants, follow our Lord and patiently submit to denunciations that we may be blessed! If, with slight forbearance, I hear some bitter or evil remark directed against me, I may return it, and then I shall inevitably become bitter myself. Either that, or I shall be tormented by unexpressed resentment. If I retaliate when cursed, how shall I be found to have followed the teaching of our Lord? For his saying has been handed down that one is defiled not by unclean dishes but by the words which proceed from his mouth.
Meantime they huff in our teeth the fact that Isaiah withal has authoritatively declared, "Not such a fast hath the Lord elected," that is, not abstinence from food, but the works of righteousness, which he there appends: and that the Lord Himself in the Gospel has given a compendious answer to every kind of scrupulousness in regard to food; "that not by such things as are introduced into the mouth is a man defiled, but by such as are produced out of the mouth; " while Himself withal was wont to eat and drink till He made Himself noted thus; "Behold, a gormandizer and a drinker: " (finally), that so, too, does the apostle teach that "food commendeth us not to God; since we neither abound if we eat, nor lack if we eat not.
(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 Church2 voices
Teaching 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.
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.
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
(ubi sup.) For the Jews, boasting themselves to be the portion of God, call common those meats which all men use, as shellfish, hares, and animals of that sort. Not even however what is offered to idols is unclean, in as far as it is food and God's creature; it is the invocation of devils which makes it unclean; and He adds the cause of it, saying, Because it entereth not into his heart. The principal seat of the soul according to Plato is the brain, but according to Christ, it is in the heart.
And calling the crowd again, he said to them: Listen to me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a man that entering into him can defile him. But the things that come out of a man, those are what defile a man. …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But, (2.) It is by the breaking out of the corruption that is in our hearts; the mind and conscience are defiled, guilt is contracted, and we become odious in the sight of God by that which comes out of us; our wicked thoughts and affections, words and actions, these defile us, and these only.
There is nothing from without a man,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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.
Modern Voices1 voice
Another savage trait of our time is the disposition to talk about material substances instead of about ideas. The old civilisation talked about the sin of gluttony or excess. We talk about the Problem of Drink—as if drink could be a problem. When people have …
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
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| οὐδέν | ouden | No [thing] | G3762 → | 232 times |
| ἐστιν | estin | there is | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ἔξωθεν | exothen | outside | G1855 → | |
| τοῦ | tou | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀνθρώπου | anthropou | man | G444 → | 549 times |
| εἰσπορευόμενον | eisporeuomenon | entering | G1531 → | 18 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| αὐτὸν | auton | him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ὃ | ho | which | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| δύναται | dunatai | is able | G1410 → | 207 times |
| κοινῶσαι | koinosai | to defile | G2840 → | 14 times |
| αὐτόν, | auton | him | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἀλλὰ | alla | but | G235 → | 635 times |
| τὰ | ta | the [things] | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἐκ | ek | out of | G1537 → | 911 times |
| τοῦ | tou | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀνθρώπου | anthropou | man | G444 → | 549 times |
| ἐκπορευόμενά | ekporeuomena | proceeding | G1607 → | 33 times |
| ἐστιν | estin | are | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| τὰ | ta | those which | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| κοινοῦντα | koinounta | are defiling | G2840 → | 14 times |
| τὸν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἄνθρωπον.¶ | anthropon | man. | G444 → | 549 times |
οὐδένNo [thing]
oudenG3762 →232 times
ἐστινthere is
estinG1510 →2333 times
ἔξωθενoutside
exothenG1855 →
τοῦof the
touG3588 →19766 times
ἀνθρώπουman
anthropouG444 →549 times
εἰσπορευόμενονentering
eisporeuomenonG1531 →18 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
αὐτὸνhim
autonG846 →5565 times
ὃwhich
hoG3739 →1405 times
δύναταιis able
dunataiG1410 →207 times
κοινῶσαιto defile
koinosaiG2840 →14 times
αὐτόν,him
autonG846 →5565 times
ἀλλὰbut
allaG235 →635 times
τὰthe [things]
taG3588 →19766 times
ἐκout of
ekG1537 →911 times
τοῦthe
touG3588 →19766 times
ἀνθρώπουman
anthropouG444 →549 times
ἐκπορευόμενάproceeding
ekporeuomenaG1607 →33 times
ἐστινare
estinG1510 →2333 times
τὰthose which
taG3588 →19766 times
κοινοῦνταare defiling
koinountaG2840 →14 times
τὸνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
ἄνθρωπον.¶man.
anthroponG444 →549 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
Proverbs 4:23Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
it leads to
- Luke 6:45
The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 12:34–35
You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.
- Mark 7:21–23
For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- Psalms 139:23–24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.
- Proverbs 13:3
He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.
- Luke 6:45
Through
Matthew 12:34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.
it leads to
- Matthew 15:18
But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ephesians 4:29
Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen.
- Matthew 15:18
Through
Titus 1:15To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
it leads to
- Romans 14:14
I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
- Romans 14:14
Where this verse is studied
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Studies3
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About Mark
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Bede, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Bede, On the Gospel of Mark; GK Chesterton, All Things Considered, Humanitarianism and Strength (1908); 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; Tertullian, Of Patience; Tertullian, ON PATIENCE 8; Tertullian, On Fasting; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Mark and Theophylact of Ohrid, Catena Aurea by Aquinas.