Mark 7:19

19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"

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 had entered a house away from the crowd, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.

18 So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him,

19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?"

20 And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.

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

Footnotes

• [a]. NU-Text ends quotation with eliminated, setting off the final clause as Mark's comment that Jesus has declared all foods clean.