Bible Strands
Mark 7:20
He continued: “What comes out of a man, that is what defiles him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to his disciples immediately after declaring that food passes through the body without defiling it. He addresses them at the moment of correcting their misunderstanding of ritual purity laws.
The words — The Greek term ἐκπορευὸμενον (ekporeuomenon) literally means "going forth" or "coming out." It anchors the verse's claim that moral defilement originates from internal human action rather than external contact.
The thread — This concept of internal origin for sin recurs in James 1:14, which locates temptation in one's own evil desires, and James 4:1, which traces quarrels to internal passions. The same directional logic appears in Mark 7:21, where evil thoughts and immoral acts are explicitly said to emerge from within the human heart.
Why it lands — The text demands that readers examine their own internal motivations rather than relying on external rituals to define moral standing. It requires a shift in ethical focus from outward compliance to inward accountability.
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
And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
Cross-references
- James 3:6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
- James 1:14 But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
- James 4:1 What causes conflicts and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from the passions at war within you?
- Mark 7:15 Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him.”
- Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
- Psalms 41:6 My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad.
- Micah 2:1 Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
- Hebrews 7:6 But Melchizedek, who did not trace his descent from Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.