Mark 7:19

19 For it doesn't go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated." [a] (As a result, He made all foods clean.[b])

Mark 7:19 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 7:19

Because it entereth not into his heart
Which is the seat and fountain of all moral pollution; and if that is not defiled, no other part can be; and that that is not defiled by eating and drinking, unless in case of intemperance, is clear; because food and drink do not go into it:

but into the belly;
it is taken in at the mouth, goes down the throat, and is received into the stomach, and from thence it passes through the bowels:

and goeth into the draught;
(aokh tyb) , "the private house", as the Jews call it, without going into the heart at all:

purging all meats;
that which it leaves behind, is pure and nourishing; and whatever is gross and impure, is carried with it into the draught, so that nothing remains in the man that is defiling.

Mark 7:19 In-Context

17 When He went into the house away from the crowd, the disciples asked Him about the parable.
18 And He said to them, "Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don't you realize that nothing going into a man from the outside can defile him?
19 For it doesn't go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated." (As a result, He made all foods clean.)
20 Then He said, "What comes out of a person-that defiles him.
21 For from within, out of people's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders,

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Lit goes out into the toilet
  • [b]. Other mss read is eliminated, making all foods clean."
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