There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
Parallel translations
- WEB There is nothing from outside of the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man.
- BSB Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him.”
- NKJV There is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.
- NASB there is nothing outside the person which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which come out of the person are what defile the person.”
- NLT It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus taught that nothing external defiles a person; defilement comes from within. It relocates true impurity from ritual to the heart.
Overview
Against the Pharisees' focus on outward ceremonial purity, Jesus declared that real defilement proceeds from inside a person. This teaching exposed the inadequacy of external religion to address the human problem. It points to the deeper need for inward cleansing that only the gospel can supply through a new heart.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Prov 4:23Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
- Lev 11:42–47Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.
- Titus 1:15Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
- Matt 12:34O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
- Heb 13:9Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
- Mark 7:18–23And 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;
- Rom 14:17For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
- Heb 9:10Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
- 1 Cor 10:25Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake:
- Matt 15:16And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
- Acts 10:28And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
- 1 Tim 4:3–5Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
- Acts 11:8–10But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.
- Acts 15:20–21But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
- Acts 10:14–16But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 7:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.