Mark 7:18

Easy-to-Read Version

He said, "Do you still have trouble understanding? Surely you know that nothing that enters the mouth from the outside can make people unacceptable to God.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile him?

King James Version (1611)
And he saith vnto them, Are ye so without vnderstanding also? Doe yee not perceiue that whatsoeuer thing from without entreth into the man, it cannot defile him,

King James Version
And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;

English Standard Version
And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,

New American Standard Bible
And He said to them, "Are you so lacking in understanding as well? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the person from outside cannot defile him,

New Century Version
Jesus said, "Do you still not understand? Surely you know that nothing that enters someone from the outside can make that person unclean.

Amplified Bible
And He said to them, "Are you, too, so foolish and lacking in understanding? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile and dishonor him,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And He said to them, "Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him,

Legacy Standard Bible
And He *said to them, "Are you lacking understanding in this way as well? Do you not perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him,

Berean Standard Bible
"Are you still so dull?" He asked. "Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him,

Contemporary English Version
He answered, "Don't you know what I am talking about by now? You surely know that the food you put into your mouth cannot make you unclean.

Complete Jewish Bible
He replied to them, "So you too are without understanding? Don't you see that nothing going into a person from outside can make him unclean?

Darby Translation
And he says to them, Are *ye* also thus unintelligent? Do ye not perceive that all that is outside entering into the man cannot defile him,

Geneva Bible (1587)
And he sayde vnto them, What? are ye without vnderstanding also? Doe ye not knowe that whatsoeuer thing from without entreth into a man, cannot defile him,

George Lamsa Translation
And he said to them, So even you are puzzled. Do you not know that whatever enters into a man from outside cannot defile him?

Good News Translation
"You are no more intelligent than the others," Jesus said to them. "Don't you understand? Nothing that goes into you from the outside can really make you unclean,

Lexham English Bible
And he said to them, "So are you also without understanding? Do you not understand that everything that is outside that goes into a person is not able to defile him?

Literal Translation
And He said to them, Are you also so undiscerning? Do you not perceive that all that enters from the outside into the man is not able to defile him?

American Standard Version
And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth into the man, it cannot defile him;

Bible in Basic English
And he said to them, Have even you so little wisdom? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside is not able to make him unclean,

Hebrew Names Version
He said to them, "Are you so without understanding also? Don't you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can't defile him,

International Standard Version
He said to them, "Are you so ignorant? Don't you know that nothing that goes into a person from the outside can make him unclean?

Etheridge Translation
He said to them, How dull are even you ! Know you not, that nothing from without that entereth a man can defile him,

Murdock Translation
And he said to them: Are ye likewise so undiscerning? Do ye not know, that whatever from without entereth into a man, cannot defile him?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he sayde vnto them: Are ye also so without vnderstandyng? Do ye not yet perceaue, that whatsoeuer thing fro without, entreth into a man, it can not defyle hym,

English Revised Version
And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth into the man, it cannot defile him;

World English Bible
He said to them, "Are you so without understanding also? Don't you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can't defile him,

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And he saith to them, Are even ye so without understanding? Do ye not perceive, That whatsoever entereth into a man from without, cannot defile him,

Weymouth's New Testament
"Have *you* also so little understanding?" He replied; "do you not understand that anything whatever that enters a man from outside cannot make him unclean,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he seide to hem, Ye ben vnwise also. Vndurstonde ye not, that al thing without forth that entreth in to a man, may not defoule hym?

Update Bible Version
And he says to them, Are you so without understanding also? Do you not perceive, that whatever from outside goes into the man, [it] can't defile him;

Webster's Bible Translation
And he saith to them, Are ye so void of understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatever thing from without entereth into the man, [it] cannot defile him.

New English Translation
He said to them, "Are you so foolish? Don't you understand that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him?

New King James Version
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,

New Living Translation
"Don't you understand either?" he asked. "Can't you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you?

New Life Bible
He said to them, "Do you not understand yet? Do you not understand that whatever goes into a man cannot make him sinful?

New Revised Standard
He said to them, "Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And he saith unto them - Thus, are, ye also, without discernment? Perceive ye not that, nothing, from without, entering into the man, can defile him;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he saith to them: So are you also without knowledge? Understand you not that every thing from without entering into a man cannot defile him:

Revised Standard Version
And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him,

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And he sayd vnto the: Are ye so without vnderstondinge? Do ye not yet perceave yt whatsoever thinge from wt out entreth into a man it can not defyle him

Young's Literal Translation
and he saith to them, `So also ye are without understanding! Do ye not perceive that nothing from without entering into the man is able to defile him?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And he sayde vnto them: Are ye so then without vnderstondinge? Perceaue ye not yet, yt euery thinge which is without, and goeth in to the ma, can not defyle him?

Mace New Testament (1729)
and he said, are you likewise so void of understanding? don't you perceive that what passes from without into a man cannot defile him?

THE MESSAGE
Jesus said, "Are you being willfully stupid? Don't you see that what you swallow can't contaminate you? It doesn't enter your heart but your stomach, works its way through the intestines, and is finally flushed." (That took care of dietary quibbling; Jesus was saying that all foods are fit to eat.)

Simplified Cowboy Version
He asked them, "Are y'all that ignorant? Don't you understand that what goes into a person doesn't defile him?

Contextual Overview

¹ Some Pharisees and some teachers of the law came from Jerusalem and gathered around Jesus. ² They saw that some of his followers ate food with hands that were not clean, meaning that they did not wash their hands in a special way. ³ The Pharisees and all the other Jews never eat before washing their hands in this special way. They do this to follow the traditions they have from their great leaders who lived long ago. ⁴ And when these Jews buy something in the market, they never eat it until they wash it in a special way. They also follow other rules from their people who lived before them. They follow rules like the washing of cups, pitchers, and pots. ⁵ The Pharisees and teachers of the law said to Jesus, "Your followers don't follow the traditions we have from our great leaders who lived long ago. They eat their food with hands that are not clean. Why do they do this?" ⁶ Jesus answered, "You are all hypocrites. Isaiah was right when he wrote these words from God about you: ‘These people honor me with their words, but I am not really important to them. ⁷ Their worship of me is worthless. The things they teach are only human rules.' ⁸ You have stopped following God's commands, preferring instead the man-made rules you got from others." ⁹ Then he said, "You show great skill in avoiding the commands of God so that you can follow your own teachings! ¹⁰ Moses said, ‘You must respect your father and mother.' He also said, ‘Whoever says anything bad to their father or mother must be killed.'

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Mark 4:13, Isaiah 28:9, Isaiah 28:10, Jeremiah 5:4, Jeremiah 5:5, Matthew 15:16, Matthew 15:17, Matthew 16:11, Luke 24:25, John 3:10, 1 Corinthians 3:2, Hebrews 5:11

Reciprocal: Leviticus 11:8 - they are unclean Matthew 13:51 - Have Matthew 16:9 - ye not Mark 6:52 - they Mark 7:15 - nothing Mark 7:23 - defile Mark 9:32 - were Mark 16:14 - and upbraided Luke 8:9 - What Colossians 2:22 - to

Cross-References

Exodus 14:28
The water returned to its normal level and covered the chariots and horse soldiers. Pharaoh's army had been chasing the Israelites, but that army was destroyed. None of them survived!

Job 22:16
They were destroyed before it was their time to die. They were washed away by the flood.

Psalms 69:15
Don't let the waves drown me. Don't let the deep sea swallow me or the grave close its mouth on me.

Psalms 104:26
Ships sail over the ocean, and playing there is Leviathan, the great sea creature you made.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he saith unto them,.... With some warmth of spirit and resentment, at their stupidity:

are ye so without understanding also? As well as others, and to such a degree; and "yet", as Matthew expresses it, Matthew 15:16, so wretchedly stupid, and so long, and as much, as others:

do ye not perceive? common sense will tell you,

that whatsoever thing from, without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Matthew 15:16- :.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See this passage explained in the notes at Matthew 15:1-20.

Mark 7:1

Came from Jerusalem - Probably to observe his conduct, and to find matter of accusation against him.

Mark 7:2

Defiled hands - The hands were considered defiled or polluted unless they were washed previous to every meal.

Mark 7:3

Except they wash their hands oft - Our word “oft” means frequently, often. The Greek wore translated oft has been rendered various ways. Some have said that it means “up to the wrist” - unless they wash their hands up to the wrist. Others have said up to the elbow.” There is evidence that the Pharisees had some such foolish rule as this about washing, and it is likely that they practiced it faithfully. But the Greek Word πυγμή pugmē - means properly the “fist,” and the meaning here is, “Unless they wash their hands (rubbing them) with the fist” - that is, not merely dipping the finger or hands in water as a sign of ablution, but rubbing the hands together as a ball or fist, in the usual Oriental manner when water is poured over them. Hence, the phrase comes to mean “diligently, carefully, sedulously.” - Robinson, Lexicon. The idea is, unless they pay the utmost attention to it, and do it carefully and according to rule.

The tradition - What had been handed down; not what was delivered “by writing” in the law of Moses, but what had been communicated from father to son as being proper and binding.

The elders - The ancients; not the old men “then living,” but those who had lived formerly.

Mark 7:4

Market - This word means either the place where provisions were sold, or the place where men were convened for any purpose. Here it probably means the former.

Except they wash - In the original, “Except they baptize.” In this place it does not mean to immerse the whole body, but only the hands. There is no evidence that the Jews washed their “whole bodies” every time they came from market. It is probable that they often washed with the use of a very small quantity of water.

The washing of cups - In the Greek, “the baptism of cups.”

Cups - drinking vessels. Those used at their meals.

Pots - Measures of “liquids.” Vessels made of wood, used to hold wine, vinegar, etc.

brazen vessels - Vessels made of brass, used in cooking or otherwise. These, if much polluted, were commonly passed through the fire: if slightly polluted they were washed. Earthen vessels, if defiled, were usually broken.

Tables - This word means, in the original, “beds or couches.” It refers not to the “tables” on which they ate, but to the “couches” on which they reclined at their meals. See the notes at Matthew 23:6. These were supposed to be defiled when any unclean or polluted person had reclined on them, and they deemed it necessary to purify them with water. The word “baptism” is here used - in the original, “the baptism of tables;” but, since it cannot be supposed that “couches” were entirely “immersed” in water, the word “baptism” here must denote some other application of water, by sprinkling or otherwise, and shows that the term is used in the sense of washing in any way. If the word is used here, as is clear it is, to denote anything except entire immersion, it may be elsewhere, and baptism is lawfully performed, therefore, without immersing the whole body in water.

Mark 7:7

For doctrines - For commands of God binding on the conscience. Imposing “your” traditions as equal in authority to the laws of God.

Mark 7:8

Laying aside - Rejecting, or making, it give place to traditions; considering the traditions as superior in authority to the divine law. This was the uniform doctrine of the Pharisees. See the notes at Matthew 15:1-9.

The tradition of men - What has been handed down by human beings, or what rests solely on their authority.

Mark 7:9

Full well - These words are capable of different interpretations. Some read them as a question: “Do ye do well in rejecting?” etc. Others suppose they mean “skillfully, cunningly.” “You show great cunning or art, in laying aside God’s commands and substituting in their place those of men.” Others suppose them to be ironical. “How nobly you act! From conscientious attachment to your traditions you have made void the law of God;” meaning to intimate by it that they had acted wickedly and basely.

Mark 7:17

The parable - The “obscure” and difficult remarks which he had made in Mark 7:15. The word “parable,” here, means “obscure” and “difficult saying.” They could not understand it. They had probably imbibed many of the popular notions of the Pharisees, and they could not understand why a man was not defiled by external things. It was, moreover, a doctrine of the law that men were ceremonially polluted by contact with dead bodies, etc., and they could not understand how it could be otherwise.

Mark 7:18

Cannot defile him - Cannot render his “soul” polluted; cannot make him a “sinner” so as to need this purifying as a “religious” observance.

Mark 7:19

Entereth not into his heart - Does not reach or affect the “mind,” the “soul,” and consequently cannot pollute it. Even if it should affect the “body,” yet it cannot the “soul,” and consequently cannot need to be cleansed by a religious ordinance. The notions of the Pharisees, therefore, are not founded in reason, but are mere “superstition.”

The draught - The sink, the vault. “Purging all meats.” The word “purging,” here, means to purify, to cleanse. What is thrown out of the body is the innutritious part of the food taken into the stomach, and leaving only that which is proper for the support of life; and it cannot, therefore, defile the soul.

All meals - All food; all that is taken into the body to support life. The meaning is, that the economy or process by which life is supported “purifies” or “renders nutritious” all kinds of food. The unwholesome or innutritious parts are separated, and the wholesome only are taken into the system. This agrees with all that has since been discovered of the process of digestion and of the support of life. The food taken into the stomach is by the gastric juice converted into a thick pulp called chyme. The nutritious part of this is conveyed into small vessels, and changed into a milky substance called “chyle.” This is poured by the thoracic duct into the left subclavian vein and mingles with the blood, and conveys nutriment and support to all parts of the system. The useless parts of the food are thrown off.

Mark 7:20

Hat which cometh out of the man - His words; the expression of his thoughts and feelings; his conduct, as the development of inward malice, anger, covetousness, lust, etc.

Defileth the man - Makes him really polluted or offensive in the sight of God. This renders the soul corrupt and abominable in his sight. See Matthew 15:18-20.