Mark 7:21

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

Mark 7:21 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 7:21

For from within, out of the heart of man
The inside of man is very bad, his inward part is not only wicked, but wickedness itself, yea, very wickedness, ( Psalms 5:9 ) , in him dwells no good thing naturally, his heart is wicked, and desperately so; it is full of evil; and out of the abundance of it, proceed the evil things hereafter mentioned; all its powers and faculties are vitiated, there is no place clean; the understanding and judgment are dreadfully corrupted; the mind and conscience are defiled; the affections are inordinate; not only the thought, but every imagination of the thought of the heart is evil, and that continually: what good thing therefore, can come out of such a Nazareth as this? Nothing, but what follows: for from hence

proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders;
which several things are related in Mt. 15:19 see the note on "Mt 15:19";
only the order here is a little different; "murders", which are here mentioned last, are there put after "evil thoughts".

Mark 7:21 In-Context

19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated ?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.)

20 And He was saying, "That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.

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

22 deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy , slander, pride and foolishness.

23 "All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

Footnotes

• [a]. I.e. acts of sexual immorality