Mark 7:21 kjv
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Mark 7:21 nkjv
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
Mark 7:21 niv
For it is from within, out of a person's heart, that evil thoughts come?sexual immorality, theft, murder,
Mark 7:21 esv
For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
Mark 7:21 nlt
For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,
Mark 7 21 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Prov 4:23 | Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. | Heart is source of life. |
| Jer 17:9 | The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? | Heart's inherent sinfulness. |
| Matt 15:18 | But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. | Parallels Mark 7:21-23, heart as source. |
| Matt 15:19 | For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery... | Explicit parallel list. |
| Luke 6:45 | A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. | Heart dictates words and actions. |
| Gen 6:5 | The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. | Pre-Flood pervasive sin of the heart. |
| Rom 7:18 | For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. | Inward struggle with sin. |
| Rom 8:7-8 | The sinful mind is hostile to God... those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. | Mind/heart opposed to God. |
| Gal 5:19-21 | The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. | Similar list of vices. |
| Eph 4:22 | You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. | Corrupting deceitful desires from within. |
| Jas 1:14-15 | But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. | Sin originates from desire. |
| Tit 1:15 | To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. | Inner corruption affecting perception. |
| Heb 4:12 | For the word of God is living and active... It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. | Word of God revealing heart's thoughts. |
| 1 Pet 4:3 | For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. | Similar vices associated with ungodly life. |
| 1 Jn 2:16 | For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. | Lust and pride as inner sin. |
| Psa 51:10 | Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. | Prayer for a new heart, acknowledging sin. |
| Ezek 36:26 | I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. | God's promise to transform the heart. |
| Zec 7:9-10 | Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless... do not plot evil against each other. | Old Testament commands reflecting inner malice. |
| Col 3:5-9 | Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry... You used to live in these ways when you lived in the life that now belongs to Christ. | Commands against inner sins. |
| 2 Cor 10:5 | We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. | Control of inner thoughts. |
| Mk 7:15 | Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them. | Immediate context, principle of inner defilement. |
| Matt 5:28 | But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. | Sin begins with thoughts/desires in the heart. |
| Heb 3:12 | See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. | Danger of unbelief stemming from the heart. |
Mark 7 verses
Mark 7 21 Meaning
Mark 7:21 profoundly states that defilement and moral impurity do not originate from external factors, but exclusively from within the human being—specifically, from the heart. Jesus provides a comprehensive list of vices, encompassing evil thoughts, sexual sins, criminal acts, deceit, sensuality, envy, pride, and folly, demonstrating that these inner depravities are what truly corrupt a person. This teaching directly challenges the prevailing emphasis on ritualistic purity and external observances, redefining defilement as an internal spiritual and moral condition rather than a physical or ceremonial one.
Mark 7 21 Context
Mark Chapter 7 begins with a confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees and some scribes from Jerusalem. They question why Jesus' disciples do not observe the tradition of ritual handwashing before eating, thereby defiling themselves according to Pharisaic custom. Jesus rebukes them for prioritizing human traditions over God's commands, illustrating their hypocrisy with the example of "Corban" (Mark 7:1-13). He then calls the crowd to listen and learn that external things entering a person do not defile them, but what comes out of them does (Mark 7:14-16). When later questioned by His disciples about this parable (Mark 7:17-18), Jesus patiently explains that food passing through the body does not make one unclean because it only affects the physical body, not the spirit. He declares all foods clean (Mark 7:19). The statement in Mark 7:20, "What comes out of a person is what defiles them," leads directly to Mark 7:21, which provides a detailed list of the inner evils that genuinely corrupt a person. This verse serves as the detailed elaboration and definitive clarification of Jesus' radical teaching on true purity, contrasting it sharply with the legalistic and external righteousness emphasized by the religious leaders of His day.
Mark 7 21 Word analysis
For: Greek gar. Connects the preceding statement (Mk 7:20: "What comes out of a person is what defiles them") with the specific enumeration that follows, serving as an explanatory particle. It signals that what follows is the reason or justification for the preceding assertion.
from within: Greek esōthen. An adverb signifying "from inside" or "from within." It stresses the origin of these evils, directly contrasting with the Pharisees' concern for external purity. It points to the core of a person.
out of the heart: Greek ek tēs kardias. Ek means "from" or "out of," emphasizing the source. Kardia (heart) in biblical anthropology refers not merely to the emotional center but to the seat of the will, intellect, desires, moral decisions, and the entirety of one's inner being. It is the control center of human personality, the root of all actions, whether good or evil.
of men: Greek tōn anthrōpōn. Refers to humanity in general. This teaching is a universal truth about the human condition, applying to all people, not just a specific group or religious sect. It underscores the innate sinfulness present in every human being.
proceed: Greek ekporeuontai. Present indicative, plural. Means "to come out," "to go forth," "to issue from." It conveys an active, ongoing process; these evils are not imposed but organically arise from within the heart.
evil thoughts: Greek dialogismoi kakoi. Dialogismoi refers to inward reasonings, deliberations, designs, or intentions, which can be good or evil. Kakoi means evil, bad, harmful, or corrupt. This highlights that sin begins not just in action, but in the internal process of plotting, conceiving, and dwelling on wickedness in the mind. It encompasses impure mental attitudes and intentions.
sexual immoralities: Greek porneiai. A broad term encompassing all forms of illicit sexual behavior: fornication, prostitution, unlawful sexual intercourse. It reflects a defilement of the body rooted in the heart's lust.
thefts: Greek klopai. Acts of stealing; taking what belongs to another. Demonstrates a lack of integrity and covetousness of the heart.
murders: Greek phonoi. The act of intentionally taking a human life. Jesus connects even anger to murder, showing its roots in the heart (Matt 5:21-22).
adulteries: Greek moicheiai. Sexual infidelity within marriage; violating the sacred covenant of marriage. Also stemming from lust within the heart (Matt 5:28).
covetings: Greek pleonexiai. An insatiable desire to have more; greed for wealth, possessions, or power. It is an internal craving that fuels other sins, fundamentally a desire that oversteps proper bounds.
wickednesses: Greek ponēriai. Malice, depravity, evil nature, inherent wickedness. It is a broad term for moral badness, signifying active mischief or maliciousness.
deceit: Greek dolos. Cunning, trickery, treachery, dishonesty. An inward intention to mislead or betray others, undermining trust.
sensuality: Greek aselgeia. Licentiousness, debauchery, unrestrained sexual indulgence, wantonness. Characterized by a flagrant disregard for moral standards, public decency, and the feelings of others.
envy: Greek ophthalmos ponēros (lit. "evil eye"). This idiom signifies envy, stinginess, jealousy, or malicious grudging towards another's good fortune. It is a malevolent desire that someone else not have what they have or that one should have it instead.
slander: Greek blasphēmia. Injurious speech, defaming, reviling, speaking evil of others, blasphemy against God. Words are an outward manifestation of the heart's contempt or malice.
pride: Greek hyperēphania. Haughtiness, arrogance, superiority complex, conceit. An inflated self-view that often despises others and sets itself against God.
foolishness: Greek aphrosynē. Senselessness, imprudence, moral foolishness, a lack of spiritual wisdom. It represents a state of being morally obtuse and insensible to what is right or wrong in God's eyes.
Mark 7 21 Bonus section
This verse highlights the comprehensive nature of sin's origin—it isn't just a breakdown in specific actions, but a deep-seated corruption of the very core of one's being. The transition from abstract "evil thoughts" to concrete sinful acts illustrates the process by which internal sin manifests externally. Jesus' identification of the "heart" as the source resonates with Old Testament wisdom that recognizes the heart as the spring of life (Prov 4:23) but also as deceitful and desperately sick (Jer 17:9). His teaching in Mark 7 is thus not entirely new, but a reaffirmation and deep exposition of timeless biblical truths about human depravity. It exposes the futility of human efforts to achieve righteousness through external compliance without addressing the inner disposition. The need for a "new heart" (Ezek 36:26) is therefore implicit and critical in light of this pervasive inner defilement described by Jesus.
Mark 7 21 Commentary
Mark 7:21 presents the culmination of Jesus' revolutionary teaching on purity and defilement. Rather than focusing on external rituals and dietary laws as sources of impurity, Jesus radically redefines defilement as something that originates from within the human heart. His list of twelve specific vices serves as a detailed indictment of the true sources of moral corruption, moving from internal thoughts and desires ("evil thoughts," "covetings," "pride," "foolishness") to external actions that violate God's law and harm others ("sexual immoralities," "thefts," "murders," "adulteries," "wickednesses," "deceit," "sensuality," "slander," "envy"). This teaching directly counters the prevailing Pharisaic emphasis on outward cleanliness, which often led to hypocrisy and a neglect of inward transformation. Jesus unveils that human nature, left to itself, is a wellspring of evil, and therefore, true purity requires not merely external observance but a profound internal change of the heart, which only God can provide. The thoroughness of the list underscores that every facet of human sin stems from this polluted internal source.