Mark 7:23

Easy-to-Read Version

These evil things come from inside a person. And these are the things that make people unacceptable to God."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

King James Version (1611)
All these euill things come from within, and defile the man.

King James Version
All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

English Standard Version
All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

New American Standard Bible
"All these evil things come from within and defile the person."

New Century Version
All these evil things come from inside and make people unclean."

Amplified Bible
"All these evil things [schemes and desires] come from within and defile and dishonor the man."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

Legacy Standard Bible
All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man."

Berean Standard Bible
All these evils come from within, and these are what defile a man."

Contemporary English Version
All of these come from your heart, and they are what make you unfit to worship God.

Complete Jewish Bible
All these wicked things come from within, and they make a person unclean."

Darby Translation
all these wicked things go forth from within and defile the man.

Geneva Bible (1587)
All these euill things come from within, and defile a man.

George Lamsa Translation
All these evils go out from within, and they defile the man.

Good News Translation
all these evil things come from inside you and make you unclean."

Lexham English Bible
All these evil things come from within and defile a person."

Literal Translation
All these evil things pass out from within and defile the man.

American Standard Version
all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man.

Bible in Basic English
All these evil things come from inside, and make the man unclean.

Hebrew Names Version
All these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man."

International Standard Version
All these things come from within and make a person unclean."

Etheridge Translation
all these evils come from within, and they defile a man.

Murdock Translation
All these evil things come from within, and defile a man.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
All these euyll thynges come fro within, and defyle a man.

English Revised Version
all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man.

World English Bible
All these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man."

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
All these evils come from within, and defile the man.

Weymouth's New Testament
all these wicked things come out from within and make a man unclean."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Alle these yuels comen forth fro with ynne, and defoulen a man.

Update Bible Version
all these evil things proceed from inside, and defile the man.

Webster's Bible Translation
All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

New English Translation
All these evils come from within and defile a person."

New King James Version
All these evil things come from within and defile a man."

New Living Translation
All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you."

New Life Bible
All these bad things come from the inside and make the man sinful."

New Revised Standard
All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
all these wicked things, from within, come forth, and defile, the man.

Douay-Rheims Bible
All these evil things come from within and defile a man.

Revised Standard Version
All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man."

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
all these evyll thinges come from with in and defile a man.

Young's Literal Translation
all these evils do come forth from within, and they defile the man.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
All these euell thinges go from within, and defyle the man.

Mace New Testament (1729)
all these vices come from within, and are what defile the man.

Simplified Cowboy Version
All these evil things don't come from the outside, they come from a person's heart. That is what defiles them."

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

defile: Mark 7:15, Mark 7:18, 1 Corinthians 3:17, Titus 1:15, Jude 1:8

Reciprocal: Isaiah 55:7 - his thoughts

Cross-References

Genesis 7:1
Then the Lord said to Noah, "I have seen that you are a good man, even among the evil people of this time. So gather your family, and all of you go into the boat.

Genesis 7:8
All the clean animals, all the other animals on the earth, the birds, and everything that crawls on the earth

Genesis 7:9
went into the boat with Noah. These animals went into the boat in groups of two, male and female, just as God commanded.

Genesis 7:10
Seven days later the flood started. The rain began to fall on the earth.

Genesis 7:14
They and every kind of animal on the earth were in the boat. Every kind of cattle, every kind of animal that crawls on the earth, and every kind of bird were in the boat.

Genesis 7:15
All these animals went into the boat with Noah. They came in groups of two from every kind of animal that had the breath of life.

Genesis 7:17
Water flooded the earth for 40 days. The water began rising and lifted the boat off the ground.

Genesis 7:18
The water continued to rise, and the boat floated on the water high above the earth.

Genesis 7:20
The water continued to rise above the mountains. The water was more than 20 feet above the highest mountain.

Genesis 7:21
Every living thing on earth died—every man and woman, every bird, and every kind of animal. All the many kinds of animals and all the things that crawl on the ground died. Every living, breathing thing on dry land died.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

All these evil things come from within,.... All evil thoughts, words, and actions, take their rise from the inward parts of man; from his heart; which is sadly corrupted, and is the fountain from whence all these impure streams flow. And if these come from within, then not from without; they are not by imitation or are the mere effects of example in others: example may indeed, and often does, draw out the evil that is within; but it does not produce it there; if it was not there before, it could not draw it out from thence: and if all these evils come from within, then the inward part of man must be sinful and polluted, previous to the commission of these evil things; and from whence springs then that inward pollution? It is the fruit of original sin, of Adam's transgression; the consequence of which is, a corrupt nature, which is derived to all his posterity: for his nature being corrupted by sinning, and he having all human nature in him, the individuals of it could not be propagated by ordinary generation, without the pollution of sin cleaving to them; "who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one", Job 14:4. Nor has there ever been any instance to the contrary, but the man Christ Jesus; whose human nature was holy, it not descending from Adam by ordinary generation; otherwise, all men, as David was, are "shapen in iniquity, and conceived in sin", Psalms 51:5, and this is the source and spring of all sinful action, internal and external.

And defile the man; both soul and body; all the powers and faculties of the soul, and all the members of the body; or "make a man common": these show him to be one of the common people, a very sinful man; as such were reckoned, and therefore are called emphatically, "sinners": and are joined with "publicans", who were esteemed the worst of sinners: from all which it appears, that sin in thought, word, and deed, is the defiling thing, and is what ought to be carefully avoided; and not meats, and the manner of eating them, provided moderation is used.

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.