Mark 7:17

17 When he had left the people and gone home, his disciples asked him about this illustration.

Mark 7:17 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 7:17

And when he was entered into the house
Very probably at Capernaum, and it may be the house of Simon and Andrew, where he used to be when there:

from the people;
being separated from them, having dismissed and left them, when he and his disciples were by themselves alone:

his disciples asked him concerning the parable;
that saying of his to the people, which was somewhat dark and intricate to them; that nothing without a man going into him defiled him, but what comes out of him: this was asked by Peter, in the name of the rest; (See Gill on Matthew 15:15).

Mark 7:17 In-Context

15 Nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean. It's what comes out of a person that makes him unclean.

16 Let the person who has ears listen!"

17 When he had left the people and gone home, his disciples asked him about this illustration.

18 Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand? Don't you know that whatever goes into a person from the outside can't make him unclean?

19 It doesn't go into his thoughts but into his stomach and then into a toilet." (By saying this, Jesus declared all foods acceptable.)