Mark 7:19 kjv
Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?
Mark 7:19 nkjv
because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"
Mark 7:19 niv
For it doesn't go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
Mark 7:19 esv
since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
Mark 7:19 nlt
Food doesn't go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer." (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God's eyes.)
Mark 7 19 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Acts 10:14-15 | "But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean do not call common.”" | Peter's vision declaring all food clean |
| Acts 11:8-9 | "But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ But a voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean no longer call common.’" | Peter's explanation of food vision |
| Rom 14:14 | "I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself..." | Christian liberty on food |
| Rom 14:17 | "For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." | Kingdom not about external acts |
| Col 2:16 | "Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath." | Freedom from food regulations |
| Col 2:20-22 | "Why, as if living in the world, do you submit to regulations: “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”... based on merely human commands and teachings?" | Criticism of human-made rules |
| 1 Tim 4:3-4 | "who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe... For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected..." | Denounces forbidding certain foods |
| Heb 9:9-10 | "...foods and drinks, and various washings, physical regulations... imposed until a time of reformation." | Old Covenant's temporary nature |
| Titus 1:15 | "To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure..." | Internal purity renders things pure |
| Matt 15:10-11 | "Then he called the crowd to him and said to them, 'Listen and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person...'" | Parallel teaching on defilement |
| Matt 15:18-19 | "But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality..." | Defilement originates from heart |
| Mark 7:20-23 | "And he said, 'What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft...'" | Elaboration on defilement source |
| Ps 51:10 | "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." | Prayer for inner moral purity |
| Prov 4:23 | "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." | Guarding the inner self |
| Jer 17:9 | "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" | Heart as source of corruption |
| Luke 6:45 | "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." | Heart's moral outflow |
| Lev 11:2-3 | "Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat." | Old Covenant dietary laws example |
| Deut 14:3 | "You shall not eat any abomination." | Prohibition of unclean food |
| Ezek 4:14 | "Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself. From my youth up till now I have never eaten what died of itself..." | Example of adherence to food laws |
| Acts 15:19-20 | "Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood." | Jerusalem Council ruling on Gentiles |
| Gal 2:11-12 | "But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles..." | Paul rebukes Peter on food custom |
Mark 7 verses
Mark 7 19 Meaning
Mark 7:19 profoundly explains why physical intake does not spiritually defile a person: food processes physically through the stomach and is then eliminated from the body, thus having no lasting impact on the moral or spiritual "heart." The crucial parenthetical phrase, likely Mark's editorial comment, states the powerful implication of Jesus' teaching: that He, by this declaration, effectively pronounced all foods clean and permissible, thereby abrogating the Old Testament dietary laws and shifting the focus of true purity from external observances to the internal condition of a person's heart.
Mark 7 19 Context
Mark 7 opens with the Pharisees and some scribes confronting Jesus regarding His disciples' failure to observe the traditional ritual washing of hands before eating (Mark 7:1-5), an extra-biblical custom for ceremonial purity. Jesus challenges their rigid adherence to human tradition, highlighting how it often overrides God's true commands (Mark 7:6-13). Following this debate, Jesus draws His disciples and the crowd closer to explain a fundamental principle that reshapes the understanding of purity. He declares that genuine defilement comes not from external things that enter a person, but from the wicked intentions and deeds that originate within the heart (Mark 7:14-16, 20-23). Mark 7:19 serves as Jesus’ rationale, explaining why what enters the body cannot truly defile one's spiritual being, thereby leading to the monumental conclusion about the cleansing of all foods, which the evangelist Mark explicitly notes for his readers. This passage signals a transformative shift in the very nature of God’s covenantal requirements, moving beyond ritual and dietary distinctions toward ethical purity and inward spiritual transformation.
Mark 7 19 Word analysis
because: This conjunction directly links Jesus' statement about food to His broader teaching on defilement in Mark 7:18. It provides the logical basis for the assertion that external things do not spiritually pollute a person.
it: This pronoun refers specifically to "whatever goes into him from outside" (Mark 7:18), primarily referring to food but broadly encompassing any external substance.
does not go into his heart: The term "heart" (Greek: kardia) in Scripture represents the inner core of a human being—the seat of moral choices, will, intellect, and spiritual life. Food, by its physical nature, bypasses this spiritual center. This emphasizes that defilement is a spiritual and moral matter, not a physical one related to ingestion.
but into his stomach: The "stomach" (Greek: koilia) here signifies the digestive system. This indicates the purely physical journey and transient nature of food once consumed. It contrasts sharply with the "heart" to illustrate that the impact is biological, not ethical or spiritual.
and then out into the sewer: The Greek term aphedrōn refers to a latrine or privy, a designated place for bodily waste. This vivid and explicit detail underscores the ephemeral and purely physical end of food within the body. It powerfully reinforces that food, upon being processed, is merely eliminated as waste, rendering it incapable of affecting one's spiritual or moral purity.
(Thus he declared all foods clean.): This parenthetical statement is highly significant as it is Mark's theological commentary on the consequence of Jesus' words.
- Thus: Implies a direct result or a logical deduction; "in doing so" or "by saying this."
- he declared: The Greek verb katharizōn, a present active participle, means "cleansing" or "declaring clean." It indicates that Jesus' teaching has the practical effect and authoritative pronouncement of rendering previously unclean foods pure.
- all foods: The phrase panta ta brōmata ("all things eaten" or "all foods") unambiguously includes all dietary items, explicitly overturning the distinctions of clean and unclean foods found in Mosaic Law (Leviticus 11).
- clean: Greek: kathara. This term directly counters the previous scriptural classifications, affirming the new spiritual reality ushered in by Christ's ministry.
"because it does not go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out into the sewer": This full phrase concisely outlines the physical digestive process to highlight its lack of spiritual impact. By tracing food's journey from ingestion to excretion, Jesus exposes the flawed premise of attributing spiritual impurity to what one eats. This teaching profoundly challenged the traditional Jewish emphasis on ceremonial food laws and purity rituals, which were central to their identity and religious practice. Instead, Jesus re-centered purity on the internal moral state of the individual, the "heart."
"(Thus he declared all foods clean.)": This parenthetical aside by Mark is a profound theological statement of radical implications for the early church. It interprets Jesus’ teaching as definitively abrogating the Old Testament dietary laws, a major barrier between Jews and Gentiles. It paves the way for the universal spread of the gospel, where communion in Christ is not hindered by food distinctions. This commentary served to clarify to Mark’s audience, particularly Gentile Christians, that the Old Covenant food laws no longer applied, a principle later affirmed by the Apostles (e.g., Acts 10, Romans 14, Galatians 2).
Mark 7 19 Bonus section
This verse stands as a key example of how Jesus fulfilled and transformed aspects of the Old Covenant law, moving beyond the literal interpretation of external statutes to their underlying spiritual and moral principles. It highlights the progressive revelation of God's truth through Christ. The shift from dietary laws to purity of heart opened the door for a truly universal church, where unity is found not in shared external rituals, but in the new creation in Christ. This principle provided the theological basis for resolving the early church's internal disputes concerning Gentile believers and their relationship to the Mosaic Law. It underscores that God's primary concern is for a pure heart and righteous living that flows from an inner spiritual reality.
Mark 7 19 Commentary
Mark 7:19 marks a pivotal theological pronouncement by Jesus, initiating a profound shift in understanding the essence of purity within God's relationship with humanity. Rather than upholding the external, ceremonial purity rituals, particularly the meticulously observed dietary laws and handwashing traditions cherished by the Pharisees, Jesus radically redefines defilement. He asserts that true contamination stems not from what goes into a person's body (like food) but from what originates within their heart (Mark 7:20-23). The digestive process merely handles physical sustenance and eliminates waste, thus demonstrating food's inability to pollute one's moral or spiritual being.
The interpretive comment "Thus he declared all foods clean" is Mark’s profound insight into the radical implications of Jesus’ teaching. It clarifies that Jesus, by asserting this spiritual principle, effectively abolished the Mosaic dietary regulations that had for centuries served as a boundary between the people of Israel and other nations. This declaration laid foundational groundwork for the Christian message of grace and the eventual inclusion of Gentiles into the covenant community without requiring adherence to the full Mosaic Law, especially its distinguishing dietary practices (Acts 10-11, 15). The essence of true righteousness, Jesus reveals, is a matter of the heart, which serves as the wellspring of either good or evil deeds. This truth calls believers to focus on the inner transformation wrought by God, rather than on outward appearances or external regulations.