Mark 7:14-23

¹⁴ When He had called all the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear Me, everyone, and understand:

¹⁵ There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.

¹⁶ If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”

¹⁷ When He had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.

¹⁸ So He said to them, “Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him,

¹⁹ because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?”

²⁰ And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.

²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

²² thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.

²³ All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”

Also found in Matthew 15:10-20.

The Lord was speaking against the Pharisees’ view that they needed to ritually cleanse themselves because of the off chance that they had inadvertently consumed some unclean thing. The Lord replied that it wasn’t what they took in that made them spiritually unclean, but what came out of their hearts.

called all the multitude (v.14) — The crowd must have receded in deference to the religious leaders, but Jesus gathered them to declare the hypocrisy of those leaders and the fallacy of their traditions.

nothing that enters a man (v.15) — food, physical matter

defiles (v.15) = lit. “common to everybody.” It was used to refer to the profane as opposed to the hallowed or sacred, so “ceremonially unclean.” The ritual of hand washing didn’t produce physical cleanliness but ceremonial cleansing.

things which come out (v.15) — non-physical things — actions, words, thoughts

When [the Lord] spoke of that which comes out of a man which defiles him, He was referring to the extra-biblical teachings of the Pharisees which defiled them in the sense that these teachers were, b their teachings which were in direct opposition to God’s Word, constituted false teachers, thus, not hallowed or set apart for God. — Wuest, page 148.

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This statement by Him Who is the Truth, destroys the belief that the natural heart is good, and makes foolish modern efforts to improve human nature. The assumption that only what goes into the heart defiles it is here denied; and the necessity of the creation of a new heart declared. — Williams, page 756.

Verse 16 does not appear in some of the better texts.

a house (v.17) = lit. “the house.” At home, probably in Peter’s house.

disciples (v.17) — Matthew says Peter asked, but this is no discrepancy because Peter often spoke for all the disciples.

asked (v.17) = lit. “went to asking.” They lost no time but asked as soon as they were in the house.

without understanding also (v.18) — like the multitudes

It was a cause of disappointment to Jesus that His own chosen pupils were still under the spell of the Pharasic theological tradition and outlook. … They had been trained in Judaism, in which the distinction between clean and unclean is ingrained, and could not understand a statement abrogating this. … The idea throughout is that ethical defilement is alone of importance, all other defilement, whether the subject of Mosaic ceremonial legislation or of scribe tradition, a trivial affair. — Wuest, pages 148-149.

thus purifying all foods (v.19) — Some commentators believe these words were not spoken by Jesus but were inserted by Mark to explain the Lord’s meaning. This view is supported by the fact that Mark began the next sentence with “And He said …”

eliminated (v.19) = lit. “goes out into the latrine”

evil thoughts (v.21) — base, wrong, wicked, reprehensible

covetousness (v.22) = greedy desire to have more

wickedness (v.22) = depravity, iniquity, not merely in the abstract, but active, dangerous, destructive, pernicious, wickedness in active opposition to the good, a desire of a person to pull everyone else down with him to destruction

lewdness (v.22) = unrestrained sexual instinct — lawless, insolence and wanton caprice

evil eye (v.22) = an eye actively looking out for activities that are injurious

blasphemy (v.22) = reviling, calumny, evil-speaking in general, malicious misrepresentation

foolishness (v.22) = lack of sense, folly, senselessness