Mark 7:19

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

because it entereth not into his heart, but into his stomach, and, into the draught, is passed - purifying all foods?

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
Food does not go into a person's mind. It goes into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body." (When Jesus said this, he meant there is no food that is wrong for people to eat.)

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
because it entrith not in to his hert but into ye belly: and goeth out into the draught that porgeth oute all meates.

International Standard Version
For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and is expelled as waste." (Thus he declared all foods clean.)he cleansed all foods">[fn]

New American Standard Bible
because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" (Thereby He declared all foods clean.)

New Century Version
It does not go into the mind, but into the stomach. Then it goes out of the body." (When Jesus said this, he meant that no longer was any food unclean for people to eat.)

Update Bible Version
because it does not go into his heart, but into his belly, and goes out into the toilet? [This he said], making all meats clean.

Webster's Bible Translation
Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all kinds of food.

Amplified Bible
since it does not enter his heart, but [only] his stomach, and [from there it] is eliminated?" (By this, He declared all foods ceremonially clean.)

English Standard Version
since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

World English Bible
because it doesn't go into his heart, but into his belly, and into the latrine, thus making all foods clean?"

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth into the vault, purging all meats.

Weymouth's New Testament
because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and passes away ejected from him?" By these words Jesus pronounced all kinds of food clean.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
for it hath not entrid in to his herte, but in to the wombe, and bynethe it goith out, purgynge alle metis.

English Revised Version
because it goeth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught? This he said, making all meats clean.

Berean Standard Bible
because it does not enter his heart, but it goes into the stomach and then is eliminated." (Thus all foods are clean.)

Contemporary English Version
It doesn't go into your heart, but into your stomach, and then out of your body." By saying this, Jesus meant that all foods were fit to eat.

American Standard Version
because it goeth not into his heart, but into his belly, and goeth out into the draught? This he said, making all meats clean.

Bible in Basic English
Because it goes not into the heart but into the stomach, and goes out with the waste? He said this, making all food clean.

Complete Jewish Bible
For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and it passes out into the latrine." (Thus he declared all foods ritually clean.)

Darby Translation
because it does not enter into his heart but into his belly, and goes out into the draught, purging all meats?

Etheridge Translation
because it entereth not into his heart, but into his belly, and is cast out in the purgation which all food purgeth ?

Murdock Translation
For it doth not enter into his heart, but into his belly, and is thrown into the digestive process, which carries off all that is eaten.

King James Version (1611)
Because it entreth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?

New Living Translation
Food doesn't go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer." (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God's eyes.)

New Life Bible
It does not go into his heart, but into his stomach and then on out of his body." In this way, He was saying that all food is clean.

New Revised Standard
since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

Geneva Bible (1587)
Because it entreth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught which is the purging of all meates?

George Lamsa Translation
Because it does not enter into his heart, but into his stomach, and then is thrown out through the intestines, thereby purifying the food.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Because it entereth not into his heart but goeth into his belly and goeth out into the privy, purging all meats?

Revised Standard Version
since it enters, not his heart but his stomach, and so passes on?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Because it entreth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purgyng all meates?

Good News Translation
because it does not go into your heart but into your stomach and then goes on out of the body." (In saying this, Jesus declared that all foods are fit to be eaten.)

Christian Standard Bible®
For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach

Hebrew Names Version
because it doesn't go into his heart, but into his belly, and into the latrine, thus making all foods clean?"

King James Version
Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?

Lexham English Bible
For it does not enter into his heart but into his stomach, and goes out into the latrine"—thus declaring all foods clean.

Literal Translation
This is because it does not enter into his heart, but into the belly, and goes out into the waste-bowl, purging all the foods.

Young's Literal Translation
because it doth not enter into his heart, but into the belly, and into the drain it doth go out, purifying all the meats.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For it entreth not in to his hert, but in to ye bely, and goeth out in to the draught, that purgeth all meates.

Mace New Testament (1729)
because that does not enter into his heart, but into the belly, whence it is discharg'd, the purest part of the food being left for nutrition.

New English Translation
For it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and then goes out into the sewer." (This means all foods are clean.)

New King James Version
because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?" [fn]

Simplified Cowboy Version
Whatever goes into a man goes into his stomach, not his heart. And what goes in the stomach, will end up at the bottom of the outhouse eventually.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.)

Legacy Standard Bible
because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and goes to the sewer?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.)

Contextual Overview

¹ And the Pharisees and certain of the Scribes who have come from Jerusalem gather themselves together unto him; ² and, observing certain of his disciples, that, with defiled hands, that is unwashed, they are eating bread, - - ³ For, the Pharisees, and all the Jews, unless with care they wash their hands, eat not, holding fast the tradition of the elders; ⁴ and coming from market, unless they sprinkle themselves, they eat not, - and, many other things, there are, which they have accepted to hold fast - immersions of cups and measures and copper vessels - - ⁵ and so the Pharisees and the Scribes, question, him - For what cause do thy disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but, with defiled hands, eat bread? ⁶ But, he, said unto them - Well, prophesied Isaiah concerning you, ye hypocrites, as it is written - This people, with the lips do honour me, while, their heart, far off, holdeth from me, - ⁷ But, in vain, do they pay devotions unto me, teaching for teachings, the commandments of men; ⁸ Having, dismissed, the commandment, of God, ye, hold fast, the tradition, of men. ⁹ And he was saying to them - Well, do ye set aside the commandment of God, that, your own tradition, ye may observe; ¹⁰ For, Moses, said - Honour thy father and thy mother, and - He that revileth father or mother, let him, surely die, -

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Matthew 15:17, 1 Corinthians 6:13, Colossians 2:21, Colossians 2:22

Cross-References

Genesis 7:2
Of all the clean beasts, shalt thou take to thee by sevens, a male and his female, - and, of the beasts that are not clean,, shall be two a male and his female.

Genesis 7:3
Also of the bird of the heavens, by sevens, male and female, - to keep alive a seed on the face of all the earth.

Genesis 7:6
Now, Noah, was six hundred years old, - when, the flood, came, even waters on the earth.

Genesis 7:9
two and two, went they in unto Noah, into the ark male and female,, - as God commanded Noah.

Job 12:15
Lo! He holdeth back the waters, and they dry up, or sendeth them out, and they transform the earth:

Jeremiah 3:23
Surely, to falsehood, pertain the hills The noisy throng on the mountains, - Surely, in Yahweh our God, is the salvation of Israel!

2 Peter 3:6
By which means, the world that then was, with water being flooded, perished;

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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; בית הכסא, "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.

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.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 19. Into the draught — Matthew 15:17; Matthew 15:17.

Purging all meats? — For what is separated from the different aliments taken into the stomach, and thrown out of the body, is the innutritious parts of all the meats that are eaten; and thus they are purged, nothing being left behind but what is proper for the support of the body.