Mark 7:19

because it does not enter his heart, but it goes into the stomach and then is eliminated.” (Thus all foods are clean.)

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Jesus speaks to his disciples in Mark 7 while correcting their misunderstanding of ritual purity laws. He delivers this explanation immediately after asking whether they grasp that external substances cannot defile a person.

The words — The Greek εἰσπορεῦται (eisporeuetai) literally means "it enters," describing the physical passage of food. The phrase εἰς τὴν καρδίαν (eis tēn kardian) translates to "into the heart," which Jesus negates to show the digestive tract bypasses moral consciousness entirely.

The thread — Matthew 15:17 records Jesus repeating this physiological sequence to the same audience. Luke 11:41 and 1 Corinthians 6:13 later cite the stomach-food relationship to establish different points about almsgiving and the temporary nature of the body.

Why it lands — The text states that food passes through the stomach and is eliminated, then concludes that all foods are clean. It requires readers to stop using dietary rules as measures of spiritual condition and to locate defilement in internal moral choices instead.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?

Cross-references

Matthew 15:17 “Do you not yet realize that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then is eliminated?
1 Corinthians 6:13 “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
Luke 11:41 But give as alms the things that are within you, and behold, everything will be clean for you.
Acts 10:15 The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
Acts 11:9 But the voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’
Romans 14:1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on his opinions.
Colossians 2:16 Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath.
Colossians 2:21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”?