because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thereby He declared all foods clean.)
Parallel translations
- WEB because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, thus purifying all foods?”
- KJV Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?
- BSB because it does not enter his heart, but it goes into the stomach and then is eliminated.” (Thus all foods are clean.)
- NKJV because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?”
- NLT 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.)
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
Food passes through the body without touching the heart, so Jesus thereby declared all foods clean. It signals the end of ceremonial dietary distinctions.
Overview
Jesus explained that food affects only the digestive system, not the moral heart, and Mark adds that this declared all foods clean. This anticipates the new covenant reality later confirmed to Peter in Acts 10 and taught by Paul. The ceremonial food laws, having served their purpose, find their fulfillment and end in Christ, who cleanses the heart itself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Matt 15:17Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then out of the body?
- 1 Cor 6:13“Foods for the belly, and the belly for foods,” but God will bring to nothing both it and them. But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
- Col 2:21–22“Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch”
- Luke 11:41But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you.
- Col 2:16Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day,
- Rom 14:1–12Now accept one who is weak in faith, but not for disputes over opinions.
- Acts 10:15A voice came to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean.”
- Acts 11:9But a voice answered me the second time out of heaven, ‘What God has cleansed, don’t you call unclean.’
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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 7:19 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.