Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Mark 7:19 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 19. 19Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse describes food entering the stomach and passing out; its final Greek phrase may describe digestion or narratorial cleansing of all foods, so the KJV wording must not conceal the syntactic question.
Hands, vows, and the heart that actually defiles
This verse is one part of that explanation in Mark 7:1-23. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Mark 7:1-23
Read Mark 7:19 with 7:1-23. This verse describes food entering the stomach and passing out; its final Greek phrase may describe digestion or narratorial cleansing of all foods, so the KJV wording must not conceal the syntactic question. The complete unit's controlling movement is: Pharisees and scribes question disciples' handwashing; Jesus charges that tradition can evade care for parents, then teaches that defilement proceeds from the heart rather than food entering the body.
Follow the Context
- A handwashing challenge opens the dispute.
- Jesus uses Corban to expose tradition that can evade care for parents.
- Public and private teaching relocate defilement from food entering the body to harmful intentions proceeding from within.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging…”
In plain language: describes food entering the stomach and passing out; its final Greek phrase may describe digestion or narratorial cleansing of all foods, so the KJV wording must not conceal the syntactic question
Pharisees and scribes question disciples' handwashing; Jesus charges that tradition can evade care for parents, then teaches that defilement proceeds from the heart rather than food entering the body. Within that movement, this wording describes food entering the stomach and passing out; its final Greek phrase may describe digestion or narratorial cleansing of all foods, so the KJV wording must not conceal the syntactic question.
Why it matters: This wording carries a material narrative, lexical, textual, historical, theological, ethical, or misuse boundary.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The disputed final syntax does not permit either a KJV-only digestion reading or a narratorial 'all foods clean' reading to be presented as textually certain. Read Mark 7:19 with Mark 7:1-23. In context, the verse describes food entering the stomach and passing out; its final Greek phrase may describe digestion or narratorial cleansing of all foods, so the KJV wording must not conceal the syntactic question.
What Remains True
Jesus directs moral attention from ritual dispute and manipulative vows toward faithful care and the harmful intentions that proceed from within. At Mark 7:19, describes food entering the stomach and passing out; its final Greek phrase may describe digestion or narratorial cleansing of all foods, so the KJV wording must not conceal the syntactic question.
Teach It Back
Explain Mark 7:19's specific contribution to Mark 7:1-23: describes food entering the stomach and passing out; its final Greek phrase may describe digestion or narratorial cleansing of all foods, so the KJV wording must not conceal the syntactic question. Include the surrounding movement, one uncertainty or ethical boundary, and what the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Mark 7:1-23 — Jesus Debates Handwashing, Corban, and What DefilesSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The preferred reading follows Mark's immediate narrative and whole-book movement while keeping the material alternative visible: This is an internal Jewish dispute about tradition, vows, purity, and moral agency. In 7:19 the Greek closing phrase can describe the digestive process as purging food or function as a narrator's declaration about foods; punctuation and subject are interpretive, and Mark's implications must not erase Jewish food practice.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Mark 7:1-23, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, sentence relations, and material variants checked independently of the KJV.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Mark.txt, 7:1-23
Open the Mark Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Mark with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005–2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, older-English clarification, variants, background, and alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Mark PDF, printed pp. 1868–1901, 7:1-23 and attached translator/textual notes
Open the official NET Mark PDF ↗