Mark 7:20 kjv
And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
Mark 7:20 nkjv
And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.
Mark 7:20 niv
He went on: "What comes out of a person is what defiles them.
Mark 7:20 esv
And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him.
Mark 7:20 nlt
And then he added, "It is what comes from inside that defiles you.
Mark 7 20 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Mark 7:15 | Nothing outside a person can defile him by going into him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him. | Precedes and clarifies internal defilement. |
| Mark 7:21-23 | For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft... All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person. | Lists the specific heart issues that defile. |
| Matt 15:11 | It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person. | Parallel account emphasizing internal origin. |
| Matt 15:18-20 | 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, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. | Links heart to speech and specific evils. |
| Prov 4:23 | Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. | The heart as the source of all life's issues. |
| Jer 17:9 | The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? | Depravity of the natural human heart. |
| 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. | Fruits of the heart; inner reveals outer. |
| Ps 51:10 | Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. | Prayer for inner purity and transformation. |
| 1 Sam 16:7 | For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart. | God's focus on the internal nature of man. |
| Isa 29:13 | These people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me, and their worship of Me is a human commandment learned by rote. | Critiques external piety without heart devotion. |
| Matt 23:25-28 | Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence... you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. | Condemns outward show concealing inner corruption. |
| Rom 8:6-8 | For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. | Conflict between fleshly mind (internal defilement) and Spirit. |
| Gal 5:19-21 | Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. | Enumerates evil works stemming from within the fallen nature. |
| Col 3:5-9 | Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry... Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices. | Exhorts putting off internal sins as part of new life. |
| Tit 1:15 | To the pure, all things are pure, but to defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. | Internal state of purity/defilement determines perception. |
| Heb 9:9-10 | (Concerning gifts and sacrifices) which were offered, cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. | Old Covenant rituals provided only external purification, highlighting their limitations. |
| Acts 10:15 | And the voice came to him again a second time, "What God has made clean, do not call common." | God's declaration that former ceremonial food distinctions are abolished. |
| Rom 14:14 | I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. | Emphasis on personal conscience and rejection of ceremonial uncleanness. |
| 1 Tim 4:3-5 | Who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. | Affirms creation's goodness and negates ceremonial food restrictions. |
| Jas 1:21 | Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. | Call to remove moral filth/wickedness which is internal. |
| 2 Cor 7:1 | Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. | Encourages cleansing from both physical and spiritual (internal) defilement. |
| Eph 4:22-24 | ...to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. | Transformation involves shedding the old, corrupt inner nature and embracing the new. |
Mark 7 verses
Mark 7 20 Meaning
Mark 7:20 presents Jesus' radical redefinition of true defilement. He states that spiritual impurity does not originate from external things a person consumes or touches, nor from the neglect of outward ritual traditions, but rather from the thoughts, intentions, and desires that arise from within the human heart. This verse encapsulates Jesus' profound shift from a focus on ceremonial and external purity to one centered on moral and internal purity. It asserts that actions, words, and ultimate defilement are manifestations of a person's inner spiritual condition.
Mark 7 20 Context
Mark 7:20 is embedded within a significant confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees and scribes (Mark 7:1-23). The religious leaders criticized Jesus' disciples for not adhering to the "tradition of the elders," specifically regarding ritual handwashing before meals (Mark 7:5). This was not a commandment from the Mosaic Law but a widely practiced oral tradition intended to maintain ceremonial purity. Jesus responded by exposing their hypocrisy, arguing that they neglected God's clear commands (e.g., honoring parents) in favor of their own human traditions (Mark 7:6-13).
Following this initial rebuke, Jesus called the crowd to listen carefully and delivered the core teaching presented in Mark 7:15: "There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him." Verse 20 serves as a re-emphasis and restatement of this crucial principle to His disciples and the larger audience. His subsequent explanation in Mark 7:21-23 then clarifies what specifically comes out of the heart to defile a person, listing various evils like sexual immorality, theft, murder, etc.
Historically and culturally, Jewish society at the time placed great emphasis on purity laws derived from the Torah, supplemented by numerous interpretations and traditions developed by rabbinic authorities. These laws regulated every aspect of life, aiming to keep individuals and the community ritually clean for worship and daily living. Jesus' teaching here directly challenges this pervasive external focus on purity, asserting that God's primary concern is not with ritual or external practices, but with the moral and spiritual condition of the human heart. This was a direct polemic against the contemporary religious understanding that external adherence to rules could secure favor with God, even if the heart was far from Him. It also implicitly paved the way for the dissolution of dietary laws and other ceremonial aspects of the Mosaic Law under the New Covenant.
Mark 7 20 Word analysis
- And He said: The phrase `καὶ ἔλεγεν` (kai elegen) denotes an authoritative pronouncement from Jesus, indicating the gravity and importance of the statement that follows. It's a direct address, intended to clarify and instruct.
- What comes out: The Greek word is `τὸ ἐκπορευόμενον` (to ekporeuomenon), a present participle from `ἐκπορεύομαι` (ekporeuomai), meaning "to go forth from, to come out." The participle highlights a continuous, active process, emphasizing that these things originate from within and flow outward, not merely happen by external contact. It contrasts sharply with "what goes into" the mouth mentioned in Mark 7:15.
- of a person: `ἐκ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου` (ek tou anthrōpou). "Anthrōpos" (ἀνθρώπου) is the general term for a human being, indicating this teaching applies universally to all humanity, not just to a specific group. The emphasis is on the individual's inner being as the source.
- is what defiles him: The crucial declaration. The Greek term used is `κοινοῖ` (koinōi), from the verb `κοινόω` (koinoō), meaning "to make common, to defile, to make unclean, to pollute." This term directly contrasts with "clean" or "pure" (καθαρός - katharos). In Jewish ceremonial contexts, "koinos" denoted something profane, something that had lost its sacredness or was no longer ritually pure. By using `κοινοῖ`, Jesus intentionally shifts the concept of defilement from ritual uncleanness to moral and spiritual impurity, caused by an inner disposition.
- "What comes out of a person is what defiles him": This complete phrase powerfully articulates Jesus' core message. It identifies the inner man – the heart, thoughts, and intentions – as the true seat of spiritual defilement, completely externalizing sources of impurity. This turns the Pharisees' purity focus on its head, indicating that sin is not a matter of what we interact with outwardly, but what our heart generates inwardly. This truth undermines the entire system of human-made traditions designed for external cleansing, redirecting attention to the need for a purified heart before God. It highlights the pervasive impact of humanity's fallen nature, where evil originates from within, and calls for an internal spiritual transformation rather than mere outward conformity.
Mark 7 20 Bonus section
- Abolition of Dietary Laws: While not directly abolishing all food laws at this precise moment (Jesus often taught principles that would later find full theological development), Mark's parenthetical comment in Mark 7:19b – "Thus he declared all foods clean" – demonstrates that the evangelist understood Jesus' teaching to inherently pave the way for the later Christian practice of unrestricted diets, fully removing the Levitical food distinctions. This verse is thus foundational to understanding the New Covenant's freedom from many Old Testament ceremonial regulations.
- The True Temple: Jesus' teaching here also implicitly shifts the locus of defilement from the Temple (and its associated purity laws) or the external body to the individual human heart. This prefigures the New Testament understanding of believers as temples of the Holy Spirit, emphasizing internal spiritual condition over external sacred spaces or rituals.
- Pharisaical Hypocrisy: This verse is a direct condemnation of the superficiality and hypocrisy Jesus frequently exposed in the religious leadership of His time. Their meticulous observance of outward traditions, while neglecting inner righteousness, was severely challenged by this teaching, revealing their spiritual blindness.
Mark 7 20 Commentary
Mark 7:20 is a pivotal verse, presenting Jesus' radical redefinition of purity. He declared that genuine spiritual defilement originates from within the human heart, not from external food or ritual practices. This statement dismantled the prevailing understanding of purity, which was heavily reliant on adherence to ceremonial laws and the "tradition of the elders." Jesus argued that the outward acts, words, and defiling behaviors (as detailed in Mark 7:21-23) are mere symptoms or manifestations of the heart's true, unredeemed condition. His teaching fundamentally shifted the focus from the clean/unclean distinction of the Old Covenant's ceremonial laws to a deeper, moral and ethical understanding of sin and righteousness. It underscored humanity's innate sinfulness and the critical need for inner transformation, asserting that what God truly requires is not ritual purity but a pure heart.