Traditionally associated with John Mark, presenting Jesus with urgent narrative force, sharp conflict, concentrated teaching, and escalating revelation of His identity and mission.
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Mark 7
True Defilement and Boundary-Crossing Mercy
Jesus exposes hollow tradition, locates true defilement in the human heart, and extends cleansing, delivering, creation-restoring mercy beyond expected boundaries.
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Chapter Summary
Jesus exposes hollow tradition, locates true defilement in the human heart, and extends cleansing, delivering, creation-restoring mercy beyond expected boundaries.
Overview
Mark 7 argues that Jesus' authority reaches beyond ritual disputes to the true condition of humanity before God. Human tradition becomes evil when it replaces God's command. External washings cannot cleanse the heart. Defilement arises from inward corruption and expresses itself in sinful words, desires, and actions. Yet Jesus' mercy is not trapped within purity boundaries or ethnic expectations.
The Gentile woman's daughter is delivered, and the deaf man is restored, showing that the kingdom brings cleansing, deliverance, and new-creation restoration through Jesus.
Context
Likely mixed early Christian readers who needed to understand the difference between human tradition and God's command, the true source of uncleanness, and the expanding reach of Jesus' mercy beyond Israel's familiar boundaries.
Mark 7 moves from conflict with Pharisees and teachers of the law from Jerusalem, to Jesus' teaching of the crowd and private explanation to His disciples, then northward into the region of Tyre and the Decapolis, where Gentile and mixed-region mercy scenes unfold.
Jesus exposes hollow tradition, locates true defilement in the human heart, and extends cleansing, delivering, creation-restoring mercy beyond expected boundaries.
Traditionally associated with John Mark, presenting Jesus with urgent narrative force, sharp conflict, concentrated teaching, and escalating revelation of His identity and mission.
Likely mixed early Christian readers who needed to understand the difference between human tradition and God's command, the true source of uncleanness, and the expanding reach of Jesus' mercy beyond Israel's familiar boundaries.
Mark 7 moves from conflict with Pharisees and teachers of the law from Jerusalem, to Jesus' teaching of the crowd and private explanation to His disciples, then northward into the region of Tyre and the Decapolis, where Gentile and mixed-region mercy scenes unfold.
Social Pressure
- Jesus is challenged by religious authorities over purity traditions. His disciples are accused of eating with defiled hands. Jesus exposes religious hypocrisy, confronts tradition that nullifies God's command, teaches that defilement comes from the heart, then enters Gentile territory where ethnic, covenantal, purity, and social boundaries come into view.
The chapter assumes first-century Jewish concerns about ritual purity, handwashing traditions, food laws, temple-related vows, honoring parents, table boundaries, Gentile regions, demonic oppression, and physical disability. The Pharisaic concern is not mere hygiene but ceremonial tradition. Corban involved dedicating something to God in a way that could be used to evade responsibility toward parents. The Syrophoenician woman represents a Gentile outsider seeking mercy from Israel's Messiah.
Mark 7 clarifies that the kingdom Jesus brings does not merely reform external ritual but reaches the heart. Jesus fulfills the law's intent by exposing the true source of uncleanness and by refusing human traditions that cancel God's command. The Gentile deliverance and Decapolis healing anticipate the gospel's movement beyond Israel, while preserving the priority of Jesus' mission to Israel before the nations receive the overflow of messianic mercy.
Chapter Movement
Mark 7 moves from religious accusation over external defilement, to Jesus' indictment of tradition that nullifies God's word, to His teaching that evil comes from the human heart, and then to mercy that crosses into Gentile and Decapolis regions through deliverance and healing.
Discourse Insight
Theological exposition and fulfillment
Mark 7 clarifies the gospel by exposing why sinners need more than external religion. The problem is not merely dirty hands but defiled hearts. Human tradition cannot cleanse; religious performance cannot bring the heart near to God; pious loopholes cannot replace obedience. Jesus reveals the depth of sin and then shows the reach of mercy. He delivers a Gentile woman's daughter and restores a deaf and speech-impaired man, pointing toward a salvation that cleanses from within, reaches the nations, and restores what sin has broken.
Structural Flow
Religious authorities accuse Jesus' disciples of violating the tradition of the elders concerning handwashing.
Jesus applies Isaiah to the leaders, exposing worship that uses God-language while the heart remains far from God.
The Corban example shows how religious tradition can be used to evade obedience to God's command.
Jesus teaches that defilement comes from within, from the corrupt heart, not from food entering the body.
The Syrophoenician woman humbly receives the priority of Israel and yet trusts the abundance of Jesus' mercy for Gentile outsiders.
Jesus heals a deaf and speech-impaired man, fulfilling restoration imagery and causing the crowd to marvel that He does everything well.
Chapter Outline
- 7:1-5: Pharisees and scribes challenge Jesus because His disciples do not follow elder-tradition purity customs.
- 7:6-8: Jesus exposes the danger of lips near to God while the heart remains far from Him.
- 7:9-13: The Corban practice shows how religious systems can cancel obedience while sounding pious.
- 7:14-23: Jesus teaches the crowd and disciples that human uncleanness flows from inward evil, not food entering the body.
- 7:24-30: A Syrophoenician woman humbly trusts Jesus' mercy, and her daughter is delivered from an unclean spirit.
- 7:31-37: Jesus heals a deaf and speech-impaired man in the Decapolis, displaying restorative power that echoes prophetic hope.
Theological Argument
Mark 7 argues that Jesus' authority reaches beyond ritual disputes to the true condition of humanity before God. Human tradition becomes evil when it replaces God's command. External washings cannot cleanse the heart. Defilement arises from inward corruption and expresses itself in sinful words, desires, and actions. Yet Jesus' mercy is not trapped within purity boundaries or ethnic expectations.
The Gentile woman's daughter is delivered, and the deaf man is restored, showing that the kingdom brings cleansing, deliverance, and new-creation restoration through Jesus.
The chapter moves from accusation over external defilement to indictment of tradition, from public teaching to private heart diagnosis, from Israel's purity debate to Gentile-region mercy, and from hidden healing to public proclamation of Jesus' restorative goodness.
- 1.Religious tradition can become a rival authority to God's command.
- 2.External religious honor can conceal inward distance from God.
- 3.Worship becomes vain when human rules are taught as divine doctrine.
- 4.Piety that avoids obedience is rebellion disguised as devotion.
- 5.True defilement is moral and spiritual before it is external or ritual.
- 6.The human heart is the source of evil expression.
- 7.The disciples remain slow to understand Jesus' purity teaching.
- 8.Jesus' mission to Israel has priority, but his mercy is abundant enough to reach Gentile outsiders.
- 9.Faith may appear as humble persistence that receives Jesus' word and trusts his mercy.
- 10.Jesus' restorative power fulfills prophetic hope.
- 11.Jesus' works testify to divine goodness and new-creation restoration.
Theological Focus
- Tradition of the elders
- Command of God
- Hypocrisy
- Heart-distance from God
- Vain worship
- Human tradition versus divine authority
- Corban and evasion of obedience
- Honor father and mother
- True defilement
- The corrupt human heart
- Food and purity
- Jesus' authority to interpret purity
- Gentile outsider faith
- Priority of Israel and mercy to the nations
- Deliverance from impure spirits
- Jesus' hiddenness and unavoidable mercy
- Ephphatha and restoration
- The deaf hear and the mute speak
- Messianic secrecy and proclamation
- Human Tradition
- Authority of God's Word
- Heart Corruption
- True Purity
- Disciples' Dullness
- Gentile Mercy
- Faith and Humility
- Deliverance
- Restoration
- Prophetic Fulfillment
- Creation Goodness
- Scripture and Tradition
- Worship
- Human Depravity
- Sin
- Purity
- Covenantal Transition
- Christology
- Gentile Inclusion
- Faith
- Spiritual Warfare
- Healing and Restoration
- Mission to the Nations
Theological Themes
Tradition becomes spiritually destructive when it competes with or cancels God's command.
Jesus exposes worship that uses religious language while the heart remains far from God.
God's command has higher authority than inherited religious systems, communal customs, or pious loopholes.
Jesus locates defilement in the heart, showing that humanity's deepest problem is inward moral corruption.
Purity before God cannot be secured by external washing while evil proceeds from within.
Even Jesus' disciples need private correction to understand the radical nature of His teaching.
The Syrophoenician woman receives deliverance for her daughter, showing that messianic mercy overflows beyond Israel.
The Gentile woman's reply displays humble, persistent faith that trusts the abundance of Jesus' mercy.
Jesus' authority over impure spirits continues in Gentile territory.
The deaf and speech-impaired man is restored through Jesus' personal touch and command.
The deaf hearing and mute speaking resonate with Isaiah's restoration promises.
The crowd's declaration that Jesus has done everything well echoes the goodness of God's creative and restorative work.
Covenant Significance
Mark 7 shows Jesus fulfilling the law by exposing its true moral demand and rejecting traditions that nullify God's command. He does not treat impurity superficially. Instead, He reveals that the human heart is the source of defilement and that external ritual cannot cleanse inward corruption. The chapter also marks a significant widening of mercy. Israel remains first in redemptive priority, but the Syrophoenician woman's daughter receives deliverance, and the Decapolis healing shows restoration beyond ordinary Jewish boundaries.
Jesus is not abolishing holiness; He is revealing the deeper holiness that only He can bring.
Old Testament Connections
- God's command over human tradition - Jesus upholds the authority of God's command against religious practices that appear pious but evade obedience.
- Law fulfilled by heart diagnosis - Jesus exposes the heart as the true source of defilement, fulfilling the law's concern for holiness at its deepest level.
- Food purity reoriented - Mark's comment that Jesus declared all foods clean shows a major covenantal transition, yet the central burden remains heart corruption.
- Israel first, nations included - The children are fed first, but the crumbs of messianic mercy reach the Gentile outsider.
- Gentile-region deliverance - Jesus' authority over impure spirits extends beyond Israel's familiar covenant territory.
- Isaianic restoration - The healing of the deaf and speech-impaired man resonates with promises that the coming salvation of God will open deaf ears and loosen mute tongues.
- New-creation goodness - The crowd's words that Jesus has done everything well echo the goodness of divine creative and restorative action.
- Isaiah 29:13 - Jesus quotes Isaiah to expose worship that honors God with lips while hearts remain far from Him.
- Exodus 20:12 - The command to honor father and mother is central to Jesus' critique of Corban misuse.
- Deuteronomy 5:16 - The Decalogue command to honor parents is upheld against tradition-based evasion.
- Exodus 21:17 - Jesus cites the seriousness of dishonoring parents in the Mosaic law.
- Leviticus 11 - Food purity laws form the background for Mark's comment that Jesus declared all foods clean.
- Leviticus 15 - Broader purity concerns underlie the chapter's discussion of defilement.
- Deuteronomy 10:16 - The call to circumcise the heart supports the biblical theme that God desires inward covenant faithfulness.
- Jeremiah 17:9 - The deceitful and corrupt heart provides Old Testament background for Jesus' heart diagnosis.
- Ezekiel 36:25-27 - The promise of cleansing and a new heart answers the problem of inward defilement.
- Isaiah 35:5-6 - The deaf hearing and mute tongue shouting for joy anticipate restoration fulfilled in Jesus' healing.
- Genesis 1:31 - The crowd's statement that Jesus has done everything well echoes God's good creation and suggests restorative new-creation work.
- Genesis 12:3 - The Gentile woman's reception of mercy aligns with the promise that all nations will be blessed through Abraham's offspring.
Canonical Connections
Jesus applies Isaiah's critique of hollow worship to the religious leaders challenging Him.
Jesus upholds God's command to honor parents against tradition-based evasion.
Jesus' teaching that evil comes from within aligns with the Old Testament's diagnosis of the human heart.
Jesus' declaration concerning food anticipates the New Testament's wider teaching on clean and unclean.
The Syrophoenician woman anticipates the blessing of the nations through Israel's Messiah.
The woman's crumb imagery trusts that even the overflow of messianic provision is sufficient.
Jesus' deliverance of the Gentile woman's daughter continues His authority over unclean spirits.
The Decapolis healing echoes Isaiah's promise of restoration when God comes to save.
The crowd's declaration resonates with creation goodness and new-creation restoration.
Cross References
Gospel Clarity
Mark 7 clarifies the gospel by exposing why sinners need more than external religion. The problem is not merely dirty hands but defiled hearts. Human tradition cannot cleanse; religious performance cannot bring the heart near to God; pious loopholes cannot replace obedience. Jesus reveals the depth of sin and then shows the reach of mercy. He delivers a Gentile woman's daughter and restores a deaf and speech-impaired man, pointing toward a salvation that cleanses from within, reaches the nations, and restores what sin has broken.
Gospel Guardrails
- The gospel exposes false religion - Lips can honor God while the heart remains far from Him.
- The gospel upholds God's word - Jesus defends God's command against human tradition that cancels obedience.
- The gospel diagnoses the heart - Defilement comes from within, from the corrupt human heart.
- The gospel requires deeper cleansing - External washing cannot cleanse inward evil.
- The gospel overflows to outsiders - The Syrophoenician woman receives mercy for her daughter, anticipating Gentile inclusion.
- The gospel defeats unclean spirits - Jesus' authority delivers the woman's daughter from demonic oppression.
- The gospel restores creation-brokenness - Jesus opens deaf ears and loosens a bound tongue, fulfilling restoration hope.
- The gospel centers on Jesus' mercy and authority - Jesus alone can expose, cleanse, deliver, and restore.
- Do not present Mark 7 as permission for moral carelessness · Jesus gives a severe moral diagnosis of the heart.
- Do not present Jesus as anti-law · He upholds God's command against human tradition.
- Do not reduce defilement to external environment · Jesus identifies the heart as the source of evil.
- Do not reduce the gospel to external religious reform · sinners need inward cleansing and new hearts.
- Do not portray the Syrophoenician woman as entitled · her faith is humble, persistent, and receptive.
- Do not erase Israel's redemptive-historical priority · Jesus says the children are fed first.
- Do not limit mercy to insiders · the crumbs of Jesus' mercy reach Gentile outsiders.
- Do not preach the deaf man's healing apart from Isaiah-shaped restoration and Jesus' messianic identity.
Primary Emphasis
Mark 7 reveals Jesus as the authoritative interpreter of God's command, the exposer of hypocrisy, the one who diagnoses the heart, the bringer of covenantal purity transition, the deliverer of Gentile outsiders, and the restorative healer who opens ears and loosens tongues. He is not merely debating purity; He is revealing the depth of human defilement and the breadth of divine mercy in Himself.
Chapter Contribution
Mark 7 argues that Jesus' authority reaches beyond ritual disputes to the true condition of humanity before God. Human tradition becomes evil when it replaces God's command. External washings cannot cleanse the heart. Defilement arises from inward corruption and expresses itself in sinful words, desires, and actions. Yet Jesus' mercy is not trapped within purity boundaries or ethnic expectations.
The Gentile woman's daughter is delivered, and the deaf man is restored, showing that the kingdom brings cleansing, deliverance, and new-creation restoration through Jesus.
Doctrines in This Chapter
His word brings immediate restoration.
God’s command overrides human tradition.
Christ personally engages human brokenness.
Trust in Christ receives mercy.
Sin originates in the human heart.
Salvation extends beyond Israel.
Jesus fulfills prophetic promises of restoration.
True holiness requires heart transformation.
Jesus grants grace according to divine purpose.
Doctrinal Weight
Jesus places God's command above human tradition and condemns traditions that nullify the word of God.
True worship requires heart-nearness to God, not merely lip-honor or external observance.
Jesus identifies the human heart as the source of evil thoughts, desires, words, and actions.
Jesus' vice list includes sexual, relational, verbal, greedy, deceptive, prideful, and foolish evils proceeding from within.
Jesus reorients purity from external contact and ritual boundaries to the moral and spiritual condition of the heart.
Mark's comment that Jesus declared all foods clean signals a major transition in the relationship between Jesus' kingdom and food purity laws.
Jesus acts as authoritative interpreter of God's command, exposer of heart corruption, deliverer of Gentile outsiders, and restorer of the broken.
The Syrophoenician woman's daughter receives mercy, anticipating the gospel's extension beyond Israel.
The Gentile woman's humble answer displays persistent faith in the sufficiency of Jesus' mercy.
Jesus delivers the Gentile woman's daughter from an impure spirit by authoritative word.
Jesus opens deaf ears and loosens a speech-impaired tongue, displaying messianic restoration.
Mercy in Tyre and the Decapolis points toward the nations receiving the overflow of Israel's Messiah.
Reading Lenses
Theological exposition and fulfillment
- Mark 7 clarifies the gospel by exposing why sinners need more than external religion. The problem is not merely dirty hands but defiled hearts. Human tradition cannot cleanse; religious performance cannot bring the heart near to God; pious loopholes cannot replace obedience. Jesus reveals the depth of sin and then shows the reach of mercy. He delivers a Gentile woman's daughter and restores a deaf and speech-impaired man, pointing toward a salvation that cleanses from within, reaches the nations, and restores what sin has broken.
Key Greek Terms
Sense Pharisees
Definition A Jewish religious group known for concern with law, purity, and tradition.
References Mark 7:1, 7:3, 7:5
Lexicon Pharisees
Why it matters The Pharisees represent religious opposition concerned with tradition-based purity rather than heart-level obedience.
Cross-language bridge 1 link · View in lexicon
Form in passage Genitive · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Sense scribes, teachers of the law
Definition Experts in Scripture, law, and legal interpretation.
References Mark 7:1, 7:5
Lexicon scribes, teachers of the law
Why it matters Scribes from Jerusalem intensify the authority conflict around Jesus.
Form in passage Dative · Plural · Feminine What is this?
Sense common, defiled, ritually unclean
Definition Common or profane in a ritual sense; treated as defiled.
References Mark 7:2, 7:5
Lexicon common, defiled, ritually unclean
Why it matters The controversy begins with hands considered defiled by tradition, setting up Jesus' teaching on true defilement.
Form in passage Dative · Plural · Feminine What is this?
Sense unwashed
Definition Not washed according to the ritual expectation in context.
References Mark 7:2
Lexicon unwashed
Why it matters The issue is ceremonial tradition, not ordinary hygiene.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense tradition, handed-down teaching
Definition Instruction, practice, or teaching handed down from prior generations.
References Mark 7:3, 7:5, 7:8-9, 7:13
Lexicon tradition, handed-down teaching
Why it matters Tradition becomes the key rival authority when it replaces God's command.
Form in passage Genitive · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Sense elders
Definition Older leaders or respected authorities whose traditions were received.
References Mark 7:3, 7:5
Lexicon elders
Why it matters The tradition of the elders is treated by Jesus' opponents as a binding standard.
Individual words ἁγίων πόδας ἔνιψεν hagiōn podas enipsen · νίψωνται / βαπτισμοὺς nipsōntai / baptismous
Form in passage Aorist · Middle · Subjunctive · 3rd Person · Plural What is this?
Sense washings
Definition Ritual or ceremonial washings in the tradition discussed.
References Mark 7:3-4
Lexicon washings
Why it matters The washing customs illustrate the external purity concern Jesus critiques.
Form in passage Genitive · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Sense hypocrites
Definition Those whose outward appearance or speech masks inward contradiction.
References Mark 7:6
Lexicon hypocrites
Why it matters Jesus names the leaders' condition as hypocrisy, not merely mistaken interpretation.
Form in passage Present · Active · Indicative · 3rd Person · Singular What is this?
Sense honor
Definition To honor, value, or show proper respect.
References Mark 7:6, 7:10
Lexicon honor
Why it matters The people honor God with lips while failing to honor Him from the heart; they also fail to honor parents.
Form in passage Nominative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense heart, inner person
Definition The inner center of thought, desire, will, and moral response.
References Mark 7:6, 7:19, 7:21
Lexicon heart, inner person
Why it matters The heart is the location of both false worship and true defilement.
Sense far, distant
Definition Far away or distant.
References Mark 7:6
Lexicon far, distant
Why it matters The leaders' worship is exposed as heart-distance from God despite verbal honor.
Sense worship in vain
Definition Worship that is empty, fruitless, or unacceptable.
References Mark 7:7
Lexicon worship in vain
Why it matters Jesus warns that worship can be religiously active yet vain before God.
Individual words ἐντάλματα ἀνθρώπων entalmata anthrōpōn · φορτίζετε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους phortizete tous anthrōpous
Form in passage Accusative · Plural · Neuter What is this?
Sense human commands
Definition Humanly derived rules or precepts.
References Mark 7:7
Lexicon human commands
Why it matters Human rules become dangerous when taught as if they are God's doctrine.
Individual words ἐντολὴν καινὴν entolēn kainēn · βδέλυγμα ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ bdelygma enōpion tou theou
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense commandment of God
Definition God's authoritative command.
References Mark 7:8-9
Lexicon commandment of God
Why it matters Jesus contrasts God's command with human tradition.
Form in passage Aorist · Active · Participle · Plural What is this?
Sense leave aside, reject, nullify
Definition To set aside, reject, or disregard.
References Mark 7:8-9
Lexicon leave aside, reject, nullify
Why it matters Jesus accuses the leaders of setting aside God's command to keep human tradition.
Sense offering, dedicated gift
Definition Something dedicated to God as a gift.
References Mark 7:11
Lexicon offering, dedicated gift
Why it matters Corban is used as an example of religious dedication twisted into disobedience against parents.
Cross-language bridge 1 link · View in lexicon
Form in passage Present · Active · Participle · Plural What is this?
Sense nullify, invalidate
Definition To invalidate, cancel, or make void.
References Mark 7:13
Lexicon nullify, invalidate
Why it matters Human tradition can nullify God's word in practice.
Individual words ἀποδίδωμι λόγον apodidōmi logon · βδέλυγμα ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ bdelygma enōpion tou theou
Sense word of God
Definition God's authoritative word or command.
References Mark 7:13
Lexicon word of God
Why it matters Jesus accuses the leaders of nullifying the word of God by tradition.
Form in passage Present · Active · Participle · Plural What is this?
Sense defile, make common/unclean
Definition To make common or ritually/morally defiled.
References Mark 7:15, 7:18, 7:20, 7:23
Lexicon defile, make common/unclean
Why it matters Jesus redefines defilement around what proceeds from the heart.
Form in passage Nominative · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Sense without understanding, dull
Definition Lacking understanding or perception.
References Mark 7:18
Lexicon without understanding, dull
Why it matters Jesus rebukes the disciples' dullness in understanding true defilement.
Form in passage Present · Active · Participle · Singular What is this?
Sense cleanse, declare clean
Definition To cleanse or make clean.
References Mark 7:19
Lexicon cleanse, declare clean
Why it matters Mark notes that Jesus declared all foods clean, a significant covenantal transition.
Form in passage Accusative · Plural · Neuter What is this?
Sense foods
Definition Food or things eaten.
References Mark 7:19
Lexicon foods
Why it matters Food becomes the example through which Jesus clarifies that defilement is not caused by external intake.
Individual words διαλογισμοὶ πονηροί dialogismoi ponēroi · Λάζαρος ὁμοίως τὰ κακά Lazaros homoiōs ta kaka
Form in passage Nominative · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Sense evil thoughts, wicked reasonings
Definition Evil plans, thoughts, or inward reasonings.
References Mark 7:21
Lexicon evil thoughts, wicked reasonings
Why it matters Jesus begins the vice list with inward reasonings proceeding from the heart.
Form in passage Nominative · Plural · Feminine What is this?
Sense sexual immorality
Definition Sexual sin or immorality contrary to God's design.
References Mark 7:21
Lexicon sexual immorality
Why it matters Jesus includes sexual immorality among the evils proceeding from the heart.
Form in passage Nominative · Plural · Feminine What is this?
Sense thefts
Definition Acts of stealing.
References Mark 7:21
Lexicon thefts
Why it matters Theft is named as a heart-born evil that defiles.
Form in passage Nominative · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Sense murders
Definition Acts of killing or murder.
References Mark 7:21
Lexicon murders
Why it matters Murder is listed among the defiling evils proceeding from within.
Sense adulteries
Definition Violation of the marriage covenant through sexual sin.
References Mark 7:21
Lexicon adulteries
Why it matters Adultery is named as a defiling heart-born evil.
Form in passage Nominative · Plural · Feminine What is this?
Sense greed, covetousness
Definition Desire to have more; covetous grasping.
References Mark 7:22
Lexicon greed, covetousness
Why it matters Jesus includes greed among defiling evils, showing that respectable inner desires are not spiritually harmless.
Form in passage Nominative · Plural · Feminine What is this?
Sense wickedness, malice
Definition Active wickedness or malicious intent.
References Mark 7:22
Lexicon wickedness, malice
Why it matters Malice is part of the inward corruption Jesus exposes.
Form in passage Nominative · Singular · Masculine What is this?
Sense deceit, treachery
Definition Deceptive speech or action.
References Mark 7:22
Lexicon deceit, treachery
Why it matters Deceit proceeds from the heart and defiles a person.
Form in passage Nominative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense sensuality, lewdness, shameless conduct
Definition Unrestrained sensuality or shamelessness.
References Mark 7:22
Lexicon sensuality, lewdness, shameless conduct
Why it matters Jesus names shameless sensuality as a defiling expression of the heart.
Form in passage Nominative · Singular · Masculine What is this?
Sense evil eye, envy
Definition A resentful, envious, or morally corrupt gaze.
References Mark 7:22
Lexicon evil eye, envy
Why it matters Jesus includes corrupt desire and envy among heart-born evils.
Form in passage Nominative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense slander, blasphemy
Definition Defaming speech against God or others.
References Mark 7:22
Lexicon slander, blasphemy
Why it matters Sinful speech proceeds from the heart and defiles.
Form in passage Nominative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense pride, arrogance
Definition Proud self-exaltation.
References Mark 7:22
Lexicon pride, arrogance
Why it matters Jesus includes pride among the heart's defiling evils.
Form in passage Nominative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense folly, foolishness
Definition Moral foolishness or senselessness.
References Mark 7:22
Lexicon folly, foolishness
Why it matters Folly is not merely intellectual weakness but moral corruption proceeding from the heart.
Form in passage Genitive · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense Tyre
Definition A Phoenician coastal region associated with Gentile territory.
References Mark 7:24, 7:31
Lexicon Tyre
Why it matters Jesus' movement into the region of Tyre places Gentile mercy in the foreground.
Cross-language bridge 1 link · View in lexicon
Form in passage Aorist · Active · Infinitive What is this?
Sense be hidden, escape notice
Definition To be hidden or escape notice.
References Mark 7:24
Lexicon be hidden, escape notice
Why it matters Jesus wants hiddenness, yet His mercy and authority cannot be concealed.
Form in passage Nominative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense Greek, Gentile woman
Definition A Greek-speaking Gentile woman.
References Mark 7:26
Lexicon Greek, Gentile woman
Why it matters The woman's Gentile identity heightens the significance of her faith and Jesus' mercy.
Sense Syrophoenician
Definition A person from the Syrian-Phoenician region.
References Mark 7:26
Lexicon Syrophoenician
Why it matters The woman is explicitly identified as an outsider from a Gentile region.
Form in passage Accusative · Plural · Neuter What is this?
Sense children
Definition Children in the household imagery.
References Mark 7:27
Lexicon children
Why it matters The children represent Israel's priority in Jesus' mission.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Masculine What is this?
Sense bread
Definition Bread or food in table imagery.
References Mark 7:27
Lexicon bread
Why it matters The bread imagery connects messianic provision, Israel's priority, and Gentile mercy.
Form in passage Dative · Plural · Neuter What is this?
Sense little dogs, household dogs
Definition Small dogs or household dogs in table imagery.
References Mark 7:27-28
Lexicon little dogs, household dogs
Why it matters The imagery distinguishes children-first priority from outsider reception of crumbs, and the woman receives the saying with humble faith.
Sense crumbs, small scraps
Definition Small pieces or crumbs from the table.
References Mark 7:28
Lexicon crumbs, small scraps
Why it matters The woman's faith trusts that even crumbs of Jesus' mercy are sufficient for deliverance.
Sense word, saying, answer
Definition A word, saying, or response.
References Mark 7:29
Lexicon word, saying, answer
Why it matters Jesus grants the woman's request because of her humble, faith-filled answer.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Neuter What is this?
Sense demon
Definition An evil spirit opposed to God.
References Mark 7:26, 7:29-30
Lexicon demon
Why it matters Jesus' authority over demons extends to a Gentile woman's daughter even at a distance.
Form in passage Genitive · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense Decapolis, ten-city region
Definition A region of ten cities with strong Gentile cultural influence.
References Mark 7:31
Lexicon Decapolis, ten-city region
Why it matters The Decapolis setting continues the outward movement of Jesus' mercy beyond familiar Jewish spaces.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Masculine What is this?
Sense deaf, mute, dull
Definition Deaf or unable to hear; sometimes also mute depending on context.
References Mark 7:32, 7:37
Lexicon deaf, mute, dull
Why it matters The healing of the deaf man echoes prophetic promises of restoration.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Masculine What is this?
Sense speech-impaired, hardly speaking
Definition Having difficulty speaking.
References Mark 7:32
Lexicon speech-impaired, hardly speaking
Why it matters This rare term strongly connects with Isaiah 35:6 and messianic restoration.
Form in passage Present · Active · Indicative · 3rd Person · Plural What is this?
Sense beg, urge, plead
Definition To plead or urge earnestly.
References Mark 7:32
Lexicon beg, urge, plead
Why it matters Others bring the man to Jesus and beg for His healing touch.
Form in passage Aorist · Middle · Participle · Singular What is this?
Sense take aside
Definition To take someone aside privately.
References Mark 7:33
Lexicon take aside
Why it matters Jesus deals personally and tenderly with the man away from the crowd.
Form in passage Aorist · Active · Indicative · 3rd Person · Singular What is this?
Sense sigh, groan
Definition To sigh or groan deeply.
References Mark 7:34
Lexicon sigh, groan
Why it matters Jesus' sigh reveals compassionate engagement with human brokenness.
Sense opened
Definition To open fully.
References Mark 7:35
Lexicon opened
Why it matters The man's ears are opened at Jesus' command, fulfilling restoration imagery.
Form in passage Genitive · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense tongue, language
Definition The physical tongue or speech.
References Mark 7:33, 7:35
Lexicon tongue, language
Why it matters The tongue is released so the man can speak plainly.
Sense rightly, plainly, correctly
Definition In a right, correct, or plain manner.
References Mark 7:35
Lexicon rightly, plainly, correctly
Why it matters Jesus restores not only sound but right speech.
Cross-language bridge 1 link · View in lexicon
Form in passage Imperfect · Active · Indicative · 3rd Person · Plural What is this?
Sense proclaim, herald
Definition To announce publicly.
References Mark 7:36
Lexicon proclaim, herald
Why it matters The more Jesus commands silence, the more they proclaim, continuing Mark's secrecy-proclamation tension.
Individual words καλῶς προεστῶτες kalōs proestōtes · ἀφέντες πάντα aphentes panta · bebaiān poieisthai bebaios / poieō
Sense he has done all things well
Definition A statement recognizing the goodness and excellence of Jesus' works.
References Mark 7:37
Lexicon he has done all things well
Why it matters The crowd's confession points to Jesus' restorative goodness and echoes creation/new-creation themes.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense tradition, handed-down teaching
Definition A practice or teaching passed down.
References Mark 7:3, 7:5, 7:8-9, 7:13
Lexicon tradition, handed-down teaching
Why it matters The central conflict concerns human tradition being elevated over God's command.
Form in passage Present · Active · Participle · Plural What is this?
Sense defile, make common
Definition To make common, profane, or unclean.
References Mark 7:15, 7:18, 7:20, 7:23
Lexicon defile, make common
Why it matters Jesus redefines defilement as moral evil from the heart.
Form in passage Genitive · Plural · Masculine What is this?
Sense hypocrite
Definition One whose outward expression masks inward contradiction.
References Mark 7:6
Lexicon hypocrite
Why it matters Jesus identifies the religious leaders' problem as hypocrisy of heart and worship.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Feminine What is this?
Sense commandment
Definition A command with authority.
References Mark 7:8-9
Lexicon commandment
Why it matters Jesus contrasts God's commandment with human tradition.
Form in passage Present · Active · Participle · Plural What is this?
Sense nullify, invalidate
Definition To make void or cancel.
References Mark 7:13
Lexicon nullify, invalidate
Why it matters Human tradition can nullify God's word in practice.
Form in passage Present · Active · Participle · Singular What is this?
Sense cleanse, make clean
Definition To cleanse or make clean.
References Mark 7:19
Lexicon cleanse, make clean
Why it matters Mark says Jesus declared all foods clean, while emphasizing deeper heart purity.
Form in passage Nominative · Plural · Feminine What is this?
Sense sexual immorality
Definition Sexual sin contrary to God's design.
References Mark 7:21
Lexicon sexual immorality
Why it matters Jesus names sexual immorality as one expression of heart-born defilement.
Form in passage Nominative · Plural · Feminine What is this?
Sense greed, covetousness
Definition Grasping desire for more.
References Mark 7:22
Lexicon greed, covetousness
Why it matters Jesus identifies greed as defiling, exposing respectable inward sin.
Sense crumbs
Definition Small pieces from the table.
References Mark 7:28
Lexicon crumbs
Why it matters The woman trusts that even crumbs of Jesus' mercy are sufficient for deliverance.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Masculine What is this?
Sense deaf, mute
Definition Unable to hear; sometimes mute depending on context.
References Mark 7:32, 7:37
Lexicon deaf, mute
Why it matters Jesus' healing of the deaf man echoes restoration promises.
Form in passage Accusative · Singular · Masculine What is this?
Sense speech-impaired
Definition Having difficulty speaking.
References Mark 7:32
Lexicon speech-impaired
Why it matters The rare term connects strongly with Isaiah 35:6.
Form in passage Aorist · Active · Indicative · 3rd Person · Singular What is this?
Sense sigh, groan
Definition To sigh or groan deeply.
References Mark 7:34
Lexicon sigh, groan
Why it matters Jesus' sigh reveals compassionate engagement with human brokenness.
ἐφφαθά
Sense Be opened
Definition Aramaic command meaning 'Be opened.'
References Mark 7:34
Lexicon Be opened
Why it matters The command reveals Jesus' personal and effective authority to restore hearing and speech.
Sense open fully
Definition To open completely.
References Mark 7:35
Lexicon open fully
Why it matters The man's ears are opened at Jesus' command.
Form in passage Imperfect · Active · Indicative · 3rd Person · Plural What is this?
Sense proclaim, herald
Definition To announce publicly.
References Mark 7:36
Lexicon proclaim, herald
Why it matters The crowd spreads the report despite Jesus' command to silence.
Key Aramaic Terms
ἐφφαθά
Sense Be opened
Definition Aramaic command meaning 'Be opened.'
References Mark 7:34
Lexicon Be opened
Why it matters The preserved command highlights Jesus' personal, authoritative healing word.
Lexicon data: MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML (CC0) · Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (CC BY 4.0) · Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon (CC BY 4.0) · STEPBible Data (CC BY 4.0) · Full details
Discourse Connectives (55)
grounds / explanation 7strong contrast / correction 4purpose clause 4conditional (subjunctive / open) 5content marker or causal 6continuation or mild contrast 10additive / emphatic 19
| v.1 | ΚαὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.2 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together.ὅτιthatcontent marker or causalIf ὅτι follows a verb of speaking/knowing/believing, it introduces content. If it follows a statement, it introduces a reason. |
| v.3 | γὰρForgrounds / explanationAsk: what claim is this 'for' grounding? That claim is the main point.ἐὰνonlyconditional (subjunctive / open)ἐάν + subjunctive signals an open condition: 'if (as may be the case)...' |
| v.4 | καὶandadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together.δὲnowcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast.ἐὰνonlyconditional (subjunctive / open)ἐάν + subjunctive signals an open condition: 'if (as may be the case)...' |
| v.5 | ΚαὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together.ἀλλὰbutstrong contrast / correctionAsk: what is being set aside? What is being asserted instead? |
| v.6 | δὲAndcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast.ὅτι·that:content marker or causalIf ὅτι follows a verb of speaking/knowing/believing, it introduces content. If it follows a statement, it introduces a reason.ὅτιthatcontent marker or causalIf ὅτι follows a verb of speaking/knowing/believing, it introduces content. If it follows a statement, it introduces a reason.δὲbutcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.7 | δὲnowcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.8 | γὰρforgrounds / explanationAsk: what claim is this 'for' grounding? That claim is the main point. |
| v.9 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together.ἵναthatpurpose clauseἵνα clauses often contain the theological payoff: 'so that God might...' |
| v.10 | γὰρforgrounds / explanationAsk: what claim is this 'for' grounding? That claim is the main point. |
| v.11 | δὲhowevercontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast.ἐὰνifconditional (subjunctive / open)ἐάν + subjunctive signals an open condition: 'if (as may be the case)...'ἐὰνifconditional (subjunctive / open)ἐάν + subjunctive signals an open condition: 'if (as may be the case)...' |
| v.12 | καὶandadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.14 | ΚαὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.15 | ἀλλὰbutstrong contrast / correctionAsk: what is being set aside? What is being asserted instead? |
| v.16 | Εἴifconditional clauseAsk whether Paul treats the 'if' as assumed true (1st class) or merely hypothetical. |
| v.17 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.18 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together.ὅτιthatcontent marker or causalIf ὅτι follows a verb of speaking/knowing/believing, it introduces content. If it follows a statement, it introduces a reason. |
| v.19 | ὅτιbecausecontent marker or causalIf ὅτι follows a verb of speaking/knowing/believing, it introduces content. If it follows a statement, it introduces a reason.ἀλλ᾽butstrong contrast / correctionAsk: what is being set aside? What is being asserted instead? |
| v.20 | δὲnowcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast.ὅτιthatcontent marker or causalIf ὅτι follows a verb of speaking/knowing/believing, it introduces content. If it follows a statement, it introduces a reason. |
| v.21 | γὰρforgrounds / explanationAsk: what claim is this 'for' grounding? That claim is the main point. |
| v.24 | Καὶandadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together.δὲalsocontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.25 | ἀλλ᾽Butstrong contrast / correctionAsk: what is being set aside? What is being asserted instead?γὰρforgrounds / explanationAsk: what claim is this 'for' grounding? That claim is the main point. |
| v.26 | δὲNowcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast.ἵναthatpurpose clauseἵνα clauses often contain the theological payoff: 'so that God might...' |
| v.27 | γάρforgrounds / explanationAsk: what claim is this 'for' grounding? That claim is the main point. |
| v.28 | δὲButcontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast.γὰρforgrounds / explanationAsk: what claim is this 'for' grounding? That claim is the main point. |
| v.29 | ΚαὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.30 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.31 | ΚαὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.32 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together.ἵναthatpurpose clauseἵνα clauses often contain the theological payoff: 'so that God might...' |
| v.33 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.34 | καὶandadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.35 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
| v.36 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together.ἵναthatpurpose clauseἵνα clauses often contain the theological payoff: 'so that God might...'δὲhowevercontinuation or mild contrastNote where δέ appears in a μέν...δέ pair — that structure is a deliberate contrast. |
| v.37 | καὶAndadditive / emphaticClause-initial καί in Paul often links equal-weight clauses that should be read together. |
Discourse data: STEPBible TAGNT (CC BY 4.0)
Verb Aspect (118 main verbs)
completed 19ongoing 31resultant 3imperative 8subjunctive 8background 12infinitive 11participle 26
| v.1 | συνάγονταιsynágōgatheredpresent passive indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthἐλθόντεςérchomaicomeaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.2 | ἰδόντεςhoráōsawaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἐσθίουσινesthíōeatingpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truth |
| v.3 | νίψωνταιníptōwashaorist middle subjunctivesubjunctiveSubjunctive mood — conditional, purpose, or contingentἐσθίουσινesthíōeatpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthκρατοῦντεςkratéōobservingpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.4 | βαπτίσωνταιwashaorist middle subjunctivesubjunctiveSubjunctive mood — conditional, purpose, or contingentἐσθίουσινesthíōeatpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthπαρέλαβονparalambánōreceivedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionκρατεῖνkratéōobservepresent active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
| v.5 | ἐπερωτῶσινeperōtáōaskedpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthπεριπατοῦσινperipatéōlivepresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthἐσθίουσινesthíōeatpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truth |
| v.6 | εἶπενépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἐπροφήτευσενprophēteúōprophesiedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionγέγραπταιgráphōwrittenperfect passive indicativeresultantPerfect indicative — completed action with present resultτιμᾷtimáōhonorspresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthἀπέχειispresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truth |
| v.7 | σέβονταίsébomaiworshippresent middle indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthδιδάσκοντεςdidáskōteachingpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.8 | ἀφέντεςabandoningaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionκρατεῖτεkratéōhold topresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truth |
| v.9 | ἔλεγενlégōsaidimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionἀθετεῖτεsetting asidepresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthτηρήσητεtēréōyou might keepaorist active subjunctivesubjunctiveSubjunctive mood — conditional, purpose, or contingent |
| v.10 | εἶπενépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionΤίμαtimáōhonorpresent active imperativeimperativeImperative mood — command or exhortationκακολογῶνkakologéōspeaks evil ofpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionτελευτάτωteleutáōlet him diepresent active imperativeimperativeImperative mood — command or exhortation |
| v.11 | λέγετεlégōsaypresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthεἴπῃépōsaysaorist active subjunctivesubjunctiveSubjunctive mood — conditional, purpose, or contingentὠφεληθῇςōpheléōbenefit ~ receivedaorist passive subjunctivesubjunctiveSubjunctive mood — conditional, purpose, or contingent |
| v.12 | ἀφίετεpermitpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthποιῆσαιpoiéōdoaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
| v.13 | ἀκυροῦντεςmaking voidpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionπαρεδώκατεparadídōmihanded downaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionποιεῖτεpoiéōdopresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truth |
| v.14 | προσκαλεσάμενοςproskaléomaicalledaorist middle participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἔλεγενlégōsaidimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionἈκούσατέlisten toaorist active imperativeimperativeImperative mood — command or exhortationσύνετεsyníēmiunderstandaorist active imperativeimperativeImperative mood — command or exhortation |
| v.15 | εἰσπορευόμενονeisporeúomaigoingpresent middle participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionδύναταιdýnamaicanpresent middle indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthκοινῶσαιkoinóōdefileaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbἐκπορευόμενάekporeúomaicome outpresent middle participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionκοινοῦνταkoinóōdefilepresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.17 | εἰσῆλθενeisérchomaiwentaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἐπηρώτωνeperōtáōaskedimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past action |
| v.18 | λέγειlégōsaidpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthνοεῖτεnoiéōseepresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthεἰσπορευόμενονeisporeúomaigoespresent middle participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionδύναταιdýnamaicanpresent middle indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthκοινῶσαιkoinóōdefileaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
| v.19 | εἰσπορεύεταιeisporeúomaigopresent middle indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthἐκπορεύεταιekporeúomaigoes outpresent middle indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthκαθαρίζωνkatharízōdeclared ~ cleanpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.20 | ἔλεγενlégōsaidimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionἐκπορευόμενονekporeúomaicomes outpresent middle participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionκοινοῖkoinóōdefilespresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truth |
| v.21 | ἐκπορεύονταιekporeúomaicomepresent middle indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truth |
| v.23 | ἐκπορεύεταιekporeúomaicomepresent middle indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthκοινοῖkoinóōdefilepresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truth |
| v.24 | ἀναστὰςset outaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἀπῆλθενwent awayaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionεἰσελθὼνeisérchomaienteredaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἤθελενthélōwantimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionγνῶναιginṓskōknowaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbἠδυνήθηdýnamaicouldaorist passive indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionλαθεῖνlanthánōescape noticeaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
| v.25 | ἀκούσασαheardaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionεἶχενéchōhadimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionἐλθοῦσαérchomaicameaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionπροσέπεσενprospíptōfellaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.26 | ἠρώταerōtáōbeggedimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionἐκβάλῃekbállōcast ~ outaorist active subjunctivesubjunctiveSubjunctive mood — conditional, purpose, or contingent |
| v.27 | ἔλεγενlégōsaidimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionἌφεςletaorist active imperativeimperativeImperative mood — command or exhortationχορτασθῆναιchortázōfedaorist passive infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbλαβεῖνlambánōtakeaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbβαλεῖνthrowaorist active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
| v.28 | ἀπεκρίθηansweredaorist passive indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionλέγειlégōsaidpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthἐσθίουσινesthíōeatpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truth |
| v.29 | εἶπενépōsaidaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionὕπαγεhypágōgopresent active imperativeimperativeImperative mood — command or exhortationἐξελήλυθενexérchomaigone outperfect active indicativeresultantPerfect indicative — completed action with present result |
| v.30 | ἀπελθοῦσαwentaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionεὗρενheurískōfoundaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionβεβλημένονlyingperfect passive participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἐξεληλυθόςexérchomaigoneperfect active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting action |
| v.31 | ἐξελθὼνexérchomaileavingaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἦλθενérchomaiwentaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.32 | φέρουσινphérōbroughtpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthπαρακαλοῦσινparakaléōbeggedpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthἐπιθῇepitíthēmilay ~ onaorist active subjunctivesubjunctiveSubjunctive mood — conditional, purpose, or contingent |
| v.33 | ἀπολαβόμενοςtook ~ asideaorist middle participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἔβαλενputaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionπτύσαςptýōspittingaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἥψατοtouchedaorist middle indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed action |
| v.34 | ἀναβλέψαςlooking upaorist active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionἐστέναξενstenázōsighedaorist active indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionλέγειlégōsaidpresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthΕφφαθαephphatháephphathaaorist passive imperativeimperativeImperative mood — command or exhortationΔιανοίχθητιdianoígōopenedaorist passive imperativeimperativeImperative mood — command or exhortation |
| v.35 | ἠνοίγησανopenedaorist passive indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἐλύθηlýōremovedaorist passive indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionἐλάλειlaléōspeakimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past action |
| v.36 | διεστείλατοdiastéllomaiorderedaorist middle indicativecompletedAorist indicative — punctiliar or completed actionλέγωσινlégōtellpresent active subjunctivesubjunctiveSubjunctive mood — conditional, purpose, or contingentδιεστέλλετοdiastéllomaiorderedimperfect middle indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionἐκήρυσσονkērýssōproclaimedimperfect active indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past action |
| v.37 | ἐξεπλήσσοντοekplḗssōastonishedimperfect passive indicativebackgroundImperfect indicative — continuous or repeated past actionλέγοντεςlégōsayingpresent active participleparticipleParticiple — verbal adjective, supporting actionπεποίηκενpoiéōdoneperfect active indicativeresultantPerfect indicative — completed action with present resultποιεῖpoiéōmakespresent active indicativeongoingPresent indicative — ongoing, habitual, or general truthἀκούεινhearpresent active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verbλαλεῖνlaléōspeakpresent active infinitiveinfinitiveInfinitive — verbal noun or complementary verb |
Verb forms indicate aspect — not interpretive weight. Consult context before drawing conclusions about emphasis.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Word Pictures (Robertson)
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (1930–31) — public domain
Formation Focus
The reader must understand that Jesus exposes false religion at its root: human tradition cannot replace God's command, and external purity cannot cleanse a corrupt heart. Only the mercy and authority of Christ can bring true cleansing, deliverance, and restoration.
God's people must stop hiding behind tradition, reputation, external religion, and blame-shifting. They must submit to Scripture, confess heart corruption, seek Christ's cleansing mercy, and rejoice that His grace reaches outsiders and opens what sin and brokenness have closed.
Scripture-governed obedience, heart-level repentance, humility, mercy toward outsiders, honest confession of inward evil, reverent worship, faithful family obedience, and restored hearing and speech under Christ.
Practice Response
- Audit inherited practices by asking whether they serve or replace God's word.
- Confess any form of worship that has become lip-service without heart-nearness.
- Identify pious excuses used to avoid costly obedience.
- Pray through Jesus' list of heart-born evils with honest repentance.
- Stop treating sin as merely external influence and bring the heart before Christ.
- Teach holiness as inward transformation, not merely visible conformity.
- Pray for Christ's mercy for those outside expected religious boundaries.
- Bring afflicted children and loved ones to Jesus with humble persistence.
- Ask Jesus to open ears to hear His word and loosen tongues to speak His praise.
- Proclaim Jesus' works with understanding, not uncontrolled spectacle.
Warnings and Misreadings
- Mark 7 gives a severe warning against religious hypocrisy, tradition elevated above Scripture, worship that is verbal but not heartfelt, pious excuses for disobedience, and external purity that ignores inward corruption. It also warns disciples against dullness and warns covenant insiders not to presume that mercy cannot reach outsiders. The most dangerous defilement is not what touches the hands but what flows from the heart.
- The handwashing issue is merely about hygiene. - The issue is ceremonial tradition and religious authority, not ordinary cleanliness.
- Jesus rejects all tradition as evil. - Jesus rejects tradition when it replaces, cancels, or competes with God's command. The problem is not all received practice but human tradition treated as divine authority.
- The Pharisees were concerned with God's law while Jesus opposed the law. - Jesus upholds God's command against human tradition that nullifies it.
- Corban was wrong because giving to God is wrong. - The issue is using religious dedication as a loophole to avoid honoring parents.
- Jesus teaches that outward behavior does not matter. - Jesus teaches that outward evil matters because it proceeds from the corrupt heart.
- Defilement is only social or ritual, not moral. - Jesus identifies moral evil from the heart as what defiles a person.
- Declaring all foods clean is the only point of the passage. - That is an important covenantal implication, but Jesus' central diagnosis is the corrupt human heart.
- Jesus insults the Syrophoenician woman harshly. - Jesus' saying tests and reveals the order of redemptive priority: Israel first, then Gentiles. The woman humbly trusts that the overflow of His mercy is enough.
- The woman's cleverness manipulates Jesus. - Her answer expresses humble faith in the abundance of Jesus' mercy.
- Gentile inclusion cancels Israel's priority. - Jesus preserves the children-first order while granting mercy to the Gentile outsider.
- The deaf man's healing is merely a medical miracle. - It is healing, but it also carries strong Isaianic restoration resonance.
- The secrecy command means the healing should not be understood as revelation. - Mark's secrecy motif guards Jesus' identity from spectacle-driven misunderstanding while still allowing the reader to see who He is.
Discipleship Questions
- Where have I treated inherited tradition as though it carried the same authority as God's word?
- Do my lips honor God while my heart remains distant from Him?
- What religious habits may be hiding disobedience rather than producing obedience?
- Where am I using spiritual language to avoid practical responsibility?
- Do I blame external influences while ignoring the evil that proceeds from my heart?
- Which sins in Jesus' list do I minimize because they are inward, respectable, or socially hidden?
- Do I seek external cleanliness while resisting heart repentance?
- Am I humble enough to receive Jesus' word even when it humbles my expectations?
- Do I believe the mercy of Christ is abundant enough for outsiders, difficult cases, and those far from covenant privilege?
- Where do I need Jesus to open my ears to hear and loosen my tongue to speak rightly?
- Does my proclamation of Jesus flow from understanding or merely excitement?
- How does this chapter challenge both legalism and moral carelessness?
Pastoral Applications
- Preaching - Preach Mark 7 as a chapter about the authority of God's word, the corruption of the human heart, and the boundary-crossing mercy of Jesus, not as a generic anti-tradition speech.
- Church Leadership - Leaders must regularly test policies, customs, and expectations by Scripture so that tradition serves obedience rather than replaces it.
- Worship - Use Isaiah's indictment to examine whether worship is becoming verbal performance without heart nearness to God.
- Family Discipleship - The Corban example teaches that public spirituality cannot excuse neglect of family obedience, especially honoring parents.
- Biblical Counseling - Jesus' heart diagnosis is essential for counseling. Sin cannot be reduced to environment, circumstance, trauma, or external contamination, though those factors may be real pressures.
- Personal Holiness - Use Jesus' vice list for sober self-examination, naming both outward acts and inward dispositions.
- Gospel Clarity - Teach that external reform cannot cleanse the heart. The gospel must reach deeper than behavior management.
- Missions - The Syrophoenician woman points toward the mercy of Christ reaching beyond expected boundaries without erasing the order of redemptive history.
- Prayer - Bring children and oppressed loved ones to Jesus with humble persistence, as the Gentile woman did.
- Disability and Compassion - The healing of the deaf man shows Jesus' tender personal attention to embodied suffering and social isolation.
- Formation - Ask Christ to open ears and tongues so disciples can hear His word and speak His praise faithfully.
Pastoral Trajectories
The controversy begins with elder tradition, but Jesus drives the issue back to God's command.
Jesus exposes the distance between religious speech and heart allegiance.
The debate moves from unwashed hands to the evil that flows from the human heart.
Jesus shows that humanity's deepest problem is not external contact but inward evil.
The Syrophoenician woman receives mercy without denying Israel's priority.
Jesus tries to remain hidden in Tyre, yet need finds Him and mercy flows from Him.
The deaf man's ears and tongue are opened, and the crowd proclaims Jesus' goodness.
Jesus commands silence, yet the report spreads, highlighting both the power of His works and the danger of uncontrolled acclaim.
Motifs in This Chapter
Study kingdom reign, divine rule, and gospel kingdom proclamation across Scripture.
Follow faith, believing response, trust, and persevering allegiance across Scripture.
Trace how divine glory, revealed majesty, and Christ-centered exaltation move across Scripture.
Study holiness as divine character, covenant identity, and sanctified life across Scripture.
Trace servant identity, obedient mission, and suffering service across Scripture.
Study temple presence, worship, corruption, judgment, and renewal across Scripture.
The Biblical World
Chapter At A Glance
Mark 7 moves from religious accusation over external defilement, to Jesus' indictment of tradition that nullifies God's word, to His teaching that evil comes from the human heart, and then to mercy that crosses into Gentile and Decapolis regions through deliverance and healing.
Mark 7 shows Jesus fulfilling the law by exposing its true moral demand and rejecting traditions that nullify God's command. He does not treat impurity superficially. Instead, He reveals that the human heart is the source of defilement and that external ritual cannot cleanse inward corruption. The chapter also marks a significant widening of mercy. Israel remains first in redemptive priority, but the Syrophoenician woman's daughter receives deliverance, and the Decapolis healing shows restoration beyond ordinary Jewish boundaries.
Jesus is not abolishing holiness; He is revealing the deeper holiness that only He can bring.
Mark 7 clarifies the gospel by exposing why sinners need more than external religion. The problem is not merely dirty hands but defiled hearts. Human tradition cannot cleanse; religious performance cannot bring the heart near to God; pious loopholes cannot replace obedience. Jesus reveals the depth of sin and then shows the reach of mercy. He delivers a Gentile woman's daughter and restores a deaf and speech-impaired man, pointing toward a salvation that cleanses from within, reaches the nations, and restores what sin has broken.
Scripture-governed obedience, heart-level repentance, humility, mercy toward outsiders, honest confession of inward evil, reverent worship, faithful family obedience, and restored hearing and speech under Christ.
Focus Points
- Tradition of the elders
- Command of God
- Hypocrisy
- Heart-distance from God
- Vain worship
- Human tradition versus divine authority
- Corban and evasion of obedience
- Honor father and mother
- True defilement
- The corrupt human heart
- Food and purity
- Jesus' authority to interpret purity
- Gentile outsider faith
- Priority of Israel and mercy to the nations
- Deliverance from impure spirits
- Jesus' hiddenness and unavoidable mercy
- Ephphatha and restoration
- The deaf hear and the mute speak
- Messianic secrecy and proclamation
- Human Tradition
- Authority of God's Word
- Heart Corruption
- True Purity
- Disciples' Dullness
- Gentile Mercy
- Faith and Humility
- Deliverance
- Restoration
- Prophetic Fulfillment
- Creation Goodness
- Scripture and Tradition
- Worship
- Human Depravity
- Sin
- Purity
- Covenantal Transition
- Christology
- Gentile Inclusion
- Faith
- Spiritual Warfare
- Healing and Restoration
- Mission to the Nations
Cross References
Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, “Why do Your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat bread.” He answered them, “Why do You also disobey the commandment of God because of Your tradition?
Parallel tradition and defilement controversy
Jesus went out from there, and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, You son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!” But He answered her not a word. His disciples came and begged Him, saying, “Send her away; for she cries after us.”
Parallel Syrophoenician/Canaanite woman account
Now on the next day as they were on their journey, and got close to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about noon. He became hungry and desired to eat, but while they were preparing, He fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and a certain container descending to Him, like a great sheet let down by four corners on the earth,
Food purity and Gentile inclusion development
When there had been much discussion, Peter rose up and said to them, “Brothers, You know that a good while ago God made a choice among You that by my mouth the nations should hear the word of the Good News and believe. God, who knows the heart, testified about them, giving them the Holy Spirit, just like He did to us. He made no distinction between us and...
Gentile inclusion by grace
I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself; except that to Him who considers anything to be unclean, to Him it is unclean. Yet if because of food Your brother is grieved, You walk no longer in love. Don’t destroy with Your food Him for whom Christ died. Then don’t let Your good be slandered,
Food and kingdom ethics
If anyone among You thinks Himself to be religious while He doesn’t bridle His tongue, but deceives His heart, this man’s religion is worthless. Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
True religion and tongue/mercy
Let not many of You be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment. For we all stumble in many things. Anyone who doesn’t stumble in word is a perfect person, able to bridle the whole body also. Indeed, we put bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body.
Tongue and heart expression
He went with Him, and a great multitude followed Him, and they pressed upon Him on all sides. A certain woman, who had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and had suffered many things by many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better, but rather grew worse,
Uncleanness and healing by faith
In those days, when there was a very great multitude, and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Himself, and said to them, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have stayed with me now three days, and have nothing to eat. If I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come a long...
Gentile-region feeding sequel
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing; for waters will break out in the wilderness, and streams in the desert.
Old Testament restoration foundation
Passages
Chapter opening: Mark 7:1-23
With defiled, that is unwashen hands (κοιναις χερσιν, τουτ' εστιν ανιπτοις). Associative instrumental case. Originally κοινος meant what was common to everybody like the Koine Greek. But in later Greek it came also to mean as here what is vulgar or profane. So Peter in Ac 10:14 "common and unclean." The next step was the ceremonially unclean. The emissaries of the Pharisees and the scribes from Jerusalem had seen "some of the disciples" eat without washing their hands, how many we are not told.
Swete suggests that in going through the plain the disciples were seen eating some of the bread preserved in the twelve baskets the afternoon before across the lake. There was no particular opportunity to wash the hands, a very proper thing to do before eating for sanitary reasons. But the objection raised is on ceremonial, not sanitary, grounds.
Diligently (πυγμη). Instrumental case, with the fist , up to the elbow, rubbing one hand and arm with the other hand clenched. Aleph had πυκνα probably because of the difficulty about πυγμη (kin to Latin pugnus ). Schultess considers it a dry wash or rubbing of the hands without water as a ritualistic concession. The middle voice νιψωντα means their own hands. This verb is often used for parts of the body while λουω is used of the whole body ( Joh 13:10 ). On the tradition of the elders see on Mt 15:2 .
From the marketplace (απ' αγορας). Ceremonial defilement was inevitable in the mixing with men in public. This αγορα from αγειρω to collect or gather, was a public forum in every town where the people gathered like the courthouse square in American towns. The disciples were already ceremonially defiled. Wash themselves (βαπτισωντα). First aorist middle subjunctive of βαπτιζω, dip or immerse.
Westcott and Hort put ραντισωντα in the text translated "sprinkle themselves" in the margin of the Revised Version, because Aleph, B, and some of the best cursives have it. Gould terms ραντισωντα "a manifest emendation," to get rid of the difficulty of dipping or bathing the whole body. Meyer says: "The statement proceeds by way of climax: before eating they wash the hands always.
When they come from market they take a bath before eating." This is not the place to enter into any controversy about the meaning of βαπτιζω, to dip, ραντιζω, to sprinkle, and εχχεω, to pour, all used in the New Testament. The words have their distinctive meanings here as elsewhere. Some scribes felt a difficulty about the use of βαπτισωντα here. The Western and Syrian classes of manuscripts add "and couches" (κα κλινων) at the end of the sentence.
Swete considers the immersions of beds (βαπτισμους κλινων) "an incongruous combination." But Gould says: "Edersheim shows that the Jewish ordinance required immersions, βαπτισμους, of these vessels." We must let the Jewish scrupulosity stand for itself, though "and couches" is not supported by Aleph, B L D Bohairic, probably not genuine.
Well (καλως). Appositely here, but ironical sarcasm in verse 9 . Note here "you hypocrites" (υμων των υποκριτων).
Ye leave the commandment of God (αφεντες την εντολην του θεου). Note the sharp contrast between the command of God and the traditions of men. Jesus here drives a keen wedge into the Pharisaic contention. They had covered up the Word of God with their oral teaching. Jesus here shows that they care more for the oral teaching of the scribes and elders than for the written law of God. The Talmud gives abundant and specific confirmation of the truthfulness of this indictment.
Full well do ye reject the commandment of God that ye may keep your traditions (καλως αθετειτε την εντολην του θεου ινα την παραδοσιν υμων τηρησητε). One can almost see the scribes withering under this terrible arraignment. It was biting sarcasm that cut to the bone. The evident irony should prevent literal interpretation as commendation of the Pharisaic pervasion of God's word. See my The Pharisees and Jesus for illustrations of the way that they placed this oral tradition above the written law. See on Mt 15:7 .
Corban (κορβαν ο εστιν δωρον). See on Mt 15:5 . Mark preserves the Hebrew word for a gift or offering to God ( Ex 21:17 ; Le 20:9 ), indeclinable here, meaning gift (δωρον), but declinable κορβανας in Mt 27:6 , meaning sacred treasury. The rabbis ( but ye say , υμεις δε λεγετε) actually allowed the mere saying of this word by an unfaithful son to prevent the use of needed money for the support of father or mother.
It was a home thrust to these pettifogging sticklers for ceremonial punctilios. They not only justified such a son's trickery, but held that he was prohibited from using it for father or mother, but he might use it for himself.
Making void the word of God by your tradition (ακυρουντες τον λογον του θεου τη παραδοσε υμων). See on Mt 15:6 for the word ακυρουντες, invalidating, a stronger word than αθετειν, to set aside, in verse 9 . See both used in Ga 3:15 , 17 . Setting aside does invalidate.
And he called to him the multitude again (κα προσκαλεσαμενος παλιν τον οχλον). Aorist middle participle, calling to himself. The rabbis had attacked the disciples about not washing their hands before eating. Jesus now turned the tables on them completely and laid bare their hollow pretentious hypocrisy to the people. Hear me all of you and understand (ακουσατε μου παντες κα συνιετε). A most pointed appeal to the people to see into and see through the chicanery of these ecclesiastics. See on Mt 15:11 for discussion.
When he was entered into the house from the multitude (οτε εισηλθεν εις οικον απο του οχλου). This detail in Mark alone, probably in Peter's house in Capernaum. To the crowd Jesus spoke the parable of corban, but the disciples want it interpreted (cf. 4:10 ff., 33 ff. ). Mt 15:15 represents Peter as the spokesman as was usually the case.
Are ye so without understanding also? (Hουτως κα υμεις ασυνετο εστε;). See on Mt 15:16 . You also as well as the multitude. It was a discouraging moment for the great Teacher if his own chosen pupils (disciples) were still under the spell of the Pharisaic theological outlook. It was a riddle to them. "They had been trained in Judaism, in which the distinction between clean and unclean is ingrained, and could not understand a statement abrogating this" (Gould).
They had noticed that the Pharisees stumbled at the parable of Jesus ( Mt 15:12 ). They were stumbling themselves and did not know how to answer the Pharisees. Jesus charges the disciples with intellectual dulness and spiritual stupidity.
Making all meats clean (καθαριζων παντα τα βρωματα). This anacoluthon can be understood by repeating he says (λεγε) from verse 18 . The masculine participle agrees with Jesus, the speaker. The words do not come from Jesus, but are added by Mark. Peter reports this item to Mark, probably with a vivid recollection of his own experience on the housetop in Joppa when in the vision Peter declined three times the Lord's invitation to kill and eat unclean animals ( Ac 10:14-16 ).
It was a riddle to Peter as late as that day. "Christ asserts that Levitical uncleanness, such as eating with unwashed hands, is of small importance compared with moral uncleanness" (Vincent). The two chief words in both incidents, here and in Acts, are cleanse (καθαριζω). "What God cleansed do not thou treat as defiled" ( Ac 10:15 ). It was a revolutionary declaration by Jesus and Peter was slow to understand it even after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Jesus was amply justified in his astonished question: Perceive ye not? (ου νοειτε;). They were making little use of their intelligence in trying to comprehend the efforts of Jesus to give them a new and true spiritual insight.
Evil thoughts (ο διαλογισμο ο κακο). These come out of the heart (εκ της καρδιας), the inner man, and lead to the dreadful list here given like the crimes of a modern police court: fornications (πορνεια, usually of the unmarried), adulteries (μοιχαια, of the married), thefts (κλοπα, stealings), covetings (πλεονεξια, craze for more and more), murders (φονο, growing out of the others often), wickednesses (πονηρια, from πονος, toil, then drudge, bad like our knave , serving boy like German Knabe , and then criminal), deceit (δολος, lure or snare with bait), lasciviousness (ασελγεια, unrestrained sex instinct), evil eye (οφθαλμος πονηρος) or eye that works evil and that haunts one with its gloating stare, railing (βλασφημια, blasphemy, hurtful speech), pride (υπερηφανια, holding oneself above others, stuck up), foolishness (αφροσυνη, lack of sense), a fitting close to it all.
Into the borders of Tyre and Sidon (εις τα ορια Τυρου κα Σιδωνος). The departure from Capernaum was a withdrawal from Galilee, the second of the four withdrawals from Galilee. The first had been to the region of Bethsaida Julias in the territory of Herod Philip. This is into distinctly heathen land. It was not merely the edge of Phoenicia, but into the parts of Tyre and Sidon ( Mt 15:21 ).
There was too much excitement among the people, too much bitterness among the Pharisees, too much suspicion on the part of Herod Antipas, too much dulness on the part of the disciples for Jesus to remain in Galilee. And he could not be hid (κα ουκ ηδυνασθη λαθειν). Jesus wanted to be alone in the house after all the strain in Galilee. He craved a little privacy and rest.
This was his purpose in going into Phoenicia. Note the adversative sense of κα here= "but."
Whose little daughter (ης το θυγατριον αυτης). Diminutive with tender touch. Note "whose" and "her" like vernacular today. Having heard of him (ακουσασα περ αυτου). Even in this heathen territory the fame of Jesus was known. When the Sermon on the Mount was preached people were there from "the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon" ( Lu 6:17 ).
A Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by race (Hελληνισ, Συροφοινικισσα τω γενε). "A Greek in religion, a Syrian in tongue, a Phoenician in race" (Bruce), from Euthymius Zigabenus. She was not a Phoenician of Carthage. She besought (ηρωτα). Imperfect tense. She kept at it. This verb, as in late Greek, is here used for a request, not a mere question. Abundant examples in the papyri in this sense.
Let the children first be filled (αφες πρωτον χορτασθηνα τα παιδια). The Jews had the first claim. See the command of Jesus in the third tour of Galilee to avoid the Gentiles and the Samaritans ( Mt 10:5 ). Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles, but he gave the Jew the first opportunity ( Ro 2:9 f. ). See on Mt 15:24 f .
Even the dogs under the table (κα τα κυναρια υποκατω της τραπεζης). A delightful picture. Even the little dogs (κυναρια) under the table eat of the children's crumbs (εσθιουσιν απο των ψιχιων των παιδιων). Little dogs, little scraps of bread (ψιχιον, diminutive of ψιχος, morsel ), little children (παιδια, diminutive of παις). Probably the little children purposely dropped a few little crumbs for the little dogs.
These household dogs, pets of and loved by the children. Braid Scots has it: "Yet the wee dowgs aneath the table eat o' the moole o' the bairns." "A unique combination of faith and wit" (Gould). Instead of resenting Christ's words about giving the children's bread to the dogs (Gentiles) in verse 27 , she instantly turned it to the advantage of her plea for her little daughter.
For this saying (δια τουτον τον λογον). She had faith, great faith as Mt 15:28 shows, but it was her quick and bright repartee that pleased Jesus. He had missed his rest, but it was worth it to answer a call like this.
And the demon gone out (κα το δαιμονιον εξεληλυθος). This was her crumb from the children's table. The perfect active participle expresses the state of completion. The demon was gone for good and all.
Through the midst of the borders of Decapolis (ανα μεσον των οριων Δεκαπολεως). Jesus left Phoenicia, but did not go back into Galilee. He rather went east and came down east of the Sea of Galilee into the region of the Greek cities of Decapolis. He thus kept out of the territory of Herod Antipas. He had been in this region when he healed the Gadarene demoniac and was asked to leave.
And they bring unto him (κα φερουσιν αυτω). Another of Mark's dramatic presents. This incident only in Mark.
Took him aside (απολαβομενος αυτον). The secrecy here observed was partly to avoid excitement and partly to get the attention of the deaf and dumb demoniac. He could not hear what Jesus said. So Jesus put his fingers into his ears, spat, and touched his tongue. There was, of course, no virtue in the spittle and it is not clear why Jesus used it. Saliva was by some regarded as remedial and was used by exorcists in their incantations.
Whether this was a concession to the man's denseness one does not know. But it all showed the poor man that Jesus healed him in his own way.
Ephphatha (διανοιχθÂητ, be opened). Another one of Mark's Aramaic words preserved and transliterated and then translated into Greek. "Be thou unbarred" ( Braid Scots ). Jesus sighed (εστεναξεν) as he looked up into heaven and spoke the word εφφαθα. Somehow he felt a nervous strain in this complex case (deaf, dumb, demoniac) that we may not quite comprehend.
He spake plain (ελαλε ορθως). He began to speak correctly. Inchoative imperfect tense.
So much the more a great deal they published it (αυτο μαλλον περισσοτερον εκηρυσσον). Imperfect tense, continued action. Double comparative as occurs elsewhere for emphasis as in Php 1:23 "much more better" (πολλω μαλλον κρεισσον). See Robertson's Grammar , pp. 663f. Human nature is a peculiar thing. The command not to tell provoked these people to tell just as the leper had done ( Mr 1:44 f.
). The more Jesus commanded (οσον αυτοις διεστελλετο) them not to tell the more they told. It was a continuous performance. Prohibitions always affect some people that way, especially superficial and light-headed folks. But we have to have prohibitions or anarchy.
He hath done all things well (Καλως παντα πεποιηκεν). The present perfect active shows the settled convictions of these people about Jesus. Their great amazement (υπερπερισσως εξεπλησσοντο), imperfect passive and compound adverb, thus found expression in a vociferous championship of Jesus in this pagan land.