And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
Parallel translations
- WEB He said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man.
- BSB He continued: “What comes out of a man, that is what defiles him.
- NKJV And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.
- NASB And He was saying, “That which comes out of the person, that is what defiles the person.
- NLT And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you.
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 stated plainly that what comes out of a person is what defiles him. It locates the source of moral corruption in the human heart.
Overview
Returning to His main point, Jesus declared that defilement originates within and proceeds outward. The problem of sin is internal, not a matter of external contact. This truth exposes the futility of merely ritual religion and prepares for the catalog of sins that flow from the heart.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Jas 3:6And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
- Jas 1:14–15But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
- Jas 4:1From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
- Mark 7:15There 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.
- Matt 12:34–37O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
- Ps 41:6And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.
- Mic 2:1Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
- Heb 7:6But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.
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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 7:20 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.