Mark 7

1 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem.

2 Now when they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is unwashed, hands, they found fault.

3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews don’t eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders.

4 They don’t eat when they come from the marketplace unless they bathe themselves, and there are many other things which they have received to hold to: washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and couches.)

5 The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?”

6 He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

7 They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8 “For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.”

9 He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.

10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’

11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban,”’” that is to say, given to God,

12 “then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother,

13 making void the word of God by your tradition which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”

14 He called all the multitude to himself and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand.

15 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.

16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”

17 When he had entered into a house away from the multitude, his disciples asked him about the parable.

18 He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Don’t you perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside can’t defile him,

19 because it doesn’t go into his heart, but into his stomach, then into the latrine, making all foods clean?”

20 He said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that defiles the man.

21 For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts,

22 covetings, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.

23 All these evil things come from within and defile the man.”

24 From there he arose and went away into the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He entered into a house and didn’t want anyone to know it, but he couldn’t escape notice.

25 For 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. She begged him that he would cast the demon out of her daughter.

27 But Jesus said to her, “Let the children be filled first, for it is not appropriate to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

28 But she answered him, “Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

29 He said to her, “For this saying, go your way. The demon has gone out of your daughter.”

30 She went away to her house, and found the child having been laid on the bed, with the demon gone out.

31 Again he departed from the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and came to the sea of Galilee through the middle of the region of Decapolis.

32 They brought to him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech. They begged him to lay his hand on him.

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

34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!”

35 Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke clearly.

36 He commanded them that they should tell no one, but the more he commanded them, so much the more widely they proclaimed it.

37 They were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”

Around Mark 7

Book context

MarkEditorial draft

Mark opens with “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1) and moves quickly from scene to scene, starting with Jesus announcing that God’s Kingdom is at hand (1:14 to 15). It explains Jewish terms such as “Corban” for its readers (7:11), which suggests an audience not all familiar with Jewish practice. A central saying is that the Son of Man came “to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:45). The text does not name its author; early tradition links it to John Mark and the preaching of Peter, and Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) places it in Rome around AD 63. Many scholars today regard Mark as the earliest Gospel.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · common interpretation · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

Mark 7 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

Scribes and Pharisees have come from Jerusalem, and they are watching how the disciples eat. Some eat with unwashed hands, against the tradition of the elders. Jesus turns the question around. They honor tradition and set aside God’s commandment, and he gives the example of Corban, a vow that excuses a person from supporting father or mother.

Then he calls the whole crowd and says that nothing going into a person defiles them, but what comes out does. In the house he explains it to his disciples, and Mark adds that this makes all foods clean. Evil thoughts, theft, murder, deceit and pride, he says, come from within, out of the heart.

He goes north to the region of Tyre. A Gentile woman falls at his feet for her little daughter. He speaks of children and dogs, and she answers, “Yes, Lord. Yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” He tells her the demon has gone, and she finds her child on the bed.

A deaf man is brought to him near Galilee. Jesus sighs, says “Ephphatha!” and the man speaks clearly.

Background

The washings Mark describes were customs passed down by the elders, which many Pharisees treated as binding alongside the written law. Mark explains them for readers who may not be Jewish. Jesus’s words about food are read in different ways: many Christians see the end of the Old Testament food laws here, while others stress that his main point is about the heart. His reply to the Syrophoenician woman is difficult, and readers explain it differently. Tyre and Sidon were non-Jewish cities on the coast. See Leviticus 11 and Isaiah 29:13.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 26 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes