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Mark 7

Mark7

American Standard Version · Public Domain

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1 And there are gathered together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem,

2 and had seen that some of his disciples ate their bread with defiled, that is, unwashen, hands.

3 (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands diligently, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders;

4 and when they come from the marketplace, except they bathe themselves, they eat not; and many other things there are, which they have received to hold, washings of cups, and pots, and brasen vessels.)

5 And the Pharisees and the scribes ask him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with defiled hands?

6 And he said unto them, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, But their heart is far from me.

7 But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men.

8 Ye leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.

9 And he said unto them, Full well do ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your tradition.

10 For Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother; and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death:

11 but ye say, If a man shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is Corban, that is to say, Given to God;

12 ye no longer suffer him to do aught for his father or his mother;

13 making void the word of God by your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things ye do.

14 And he called to him the multitude again, and said unto them, Hear me all of you, and understand:

15 there is nothing from without the man, that going into him can defile him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man.

16

17 And when he was entered into the house from the multitude, his disciples asked of him the parable.

18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Perceive ye not, that whatsoever from without goeth into the man, it cannot defile him;

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

20 And he said, That which proceedeth out of the man, that defileth the man.

21 For from within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries,

22 covetings, wickednesses, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness:

23 all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man.

24 And from thence he arose, and went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered into a house, and would have no man know it; and he could not be hid.

25 But straightway a woman, whose little daughter had an unclean spirit, having heard of him, came and fell down at his feet.

26 Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. And she besought him that he would cast forth the demon out of her daughter.

27 And he said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread and cast it to the dogs.

28 But she answered and saith unto him, Yea, Lord; even the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.

29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the demon is gone out of thy daughter.

30 And she went away unto her house, and found the child laid upon the bed, and the demon gone out.

31 And again he went out from the borders of Tyre, and came through Sidon unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the borders of Decapolis.

32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to lay his hand upon him.

33 And he took him aside from the multitude privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue;

34 and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.

35 And his ears were opened, and the bond of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.

36 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it.

37 And they were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well; he maketh even the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

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Mark 7

Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Mark 7. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.

Chapter Summary

In this chapter: The traditions of the elders. (1–13). What defiles the man. (14–23). The woman of Canaan's daughter cured. (24–30). Christ restores a man to hearing and speech. (31–37).

vv1-13

One great design of Christ's coming was, to set aside the ceremonial law; and to make way for this, he rejects the ceremonies men added to the law of God's making. Those clean hands and that pure heart which Christ bestows on his disciples, and requires of them, are very different from the outward and superstitious forms of Pharisees of every age. Jesus reproves them for rejecting the commandment of God. It is clear that it is the duty of children, if their parents are poor, to relieve them as far as they are able; and if children deserve to die that curse their parents, much more those that starve them. But if a man conformed to the traditions of the Pharisees, they found a device to free him from the claim of this duty.

vv14-23

Our wicked thoughts and affections, words and actions, defile us, and these only. As a corrupt fountain sends forth corrupt streams, so does a corrupt heart send forth corrupt reasonings, corrupt appetites and passions, and all the wicked words and actions that come from them. A spiritual understanding of the law of God, and a sense of the evil of sin, will cause a man to seek for the grace of the Holy Spirit, to keep down the evil thoughts and affections that work within.

vv24-30

Christ never put any from him that fell at his feet, which a poor trembling soul may do. As she was a good woman, so a good mother. This sent her to Christ. His saying, Let the children first be filled, shows that there was mercy for the Gentiles, and not far off. She spoke, not as making light of the mercy, but magnifying the abundance of miraculous cures among the Jews, in comparison with which a single cure was but as a crumb. Thus, while proud Pharisees are left by the blessed Saviour, he manifests his compassion to poor humbled sinners, who look to him for children's bread. He still goes about to seek and save the lost.

Cross References

Mark 7
v6Matthew 15:7-9allusion

Direct parallel in Matthew where Jesus exposes the scribes and Pharisees' hypocrisy using Isaiah.

Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin

v6Isaiah 29:13quotation

Isaiah passage quoted by Jesus regarding hypocritical lip-service and human-mandated traditions.

Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin

v10Exodus 20:12quotation

The Fifth Commandment quoted by Jesus to expose the Pharisees' tradition of Corban.

Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin

v10Exodus 21:17quotation

Mosaic law prescribing death for cursing parents, cited by Jesus to counter Pharisees.

Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin

v24Matthew 15:21-28thematic

Matthew's parallel narrative of the Syrophoenician woman's extraordinary faith and daughter's healing.

Supported by JFB

v21Matthew 15:19thematic

Matthew's parallel catalog of evil things proceeding directly from the human heart.

Supported by John Calvin

v25Matthew 15:22thematic

Parallel details her cry, addressing Jesus as "Son of David," omitted in Mark's account.

Supported by JFB

v32Isaiah 35:5fulfillment

Messianic prophecy of ears of the deaf being unstopped, fulfilled in Jesus' miracle.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v32Isaiah 35:6fulfillment

Messianic prophecy that the tongue of the dumb shall sing, fulfilled in this healing.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v4Hebrews 9:10thematic

Apostolic teaching on carnal ordinances and divers washings imposed until the time of reformation.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v7Colossians 2:22thematic

Paul's warning against doctrines and commandments of men regarding food and rituals.

Supported by Matthew Poole

v21Genesis 6:5thematic

First biblical diagnosis of the human heart's total corruption, echoing Jesus' statement.

Supported by Matthew Henry

v27Matthew 7:6thematic

Jesus' teaching on not casting pearls before swine, echoing the term "dogs."

Supported by JFB

v27Matthew 10:5contrast

Prohibition against going to Gentiles, illustrating why the woman's healing was an exception.

Supported by JFB