Mark 7:18-19 18And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) [ESV]
The parenthetical phrase “(Thus he declared all foods clean)” is not in any of the original manuscripts; this has been added to God’s Holy Scriptures by men.
It’s not in any of the Greek or Aramaic texts whatsoever, and it’s not in any translation printed before the 20th century.
This parenthetical phrase, or a variation of it, has only been added to ‘contemporary’ bibles [e.g. ASV, BBE, CET, CSB, ESV, GNT, GWT, HCSB, NASB, NET, NIV, NLT, RSV, WNT] in the last 100 years or so.
We are being lied to! Whether it is deliberate or in ignorance, it’s still deception.
The Greek text for Mark 7:19 in the ‘Textus Receptus’ is as follows:
http://www.logosapostolic.org/bibles/textus_receptus_king_james/mark/mark07.htm
Mark 7:19
οτιG3754 CONJ ουκG3756 PRT-N εισπορευεταιG1531 V-PNI-3S αυτουG846 P-GSM ειςG1519 PREP τηνG3588 T-ASF καρδιανG2588 N-ASF αλλG235 CONJ ειςG1519 PREP τηνG3588 T-ASF κοιλιανG2836 N-ASF καιG2532 CONJ ειςG1519 PREP τονG3588 T-ASM αφεδρωναG856 N-ASM εκπορευεταιG1607 V-PNI-3S καθαριζονG2511 V-PAP-NSN πανταG3956 A-APN ταG3588 T-APN βρωματαG1033 N-APN
becauseG3754 CONJ notG3756 PRT-N enterG1531 V-PNI-3S hisG846 P-GSM intoG1519 PREP theG3588 T-ASF heartG2588 N-ASF butG235 CONJ intoG1519 PREP theG3588 T-ASF abdomenG2836 N-ASF andG2532 CONJ intoG1519 PREP theG3588 T-ASM privyG856 N-ASM dischargedG1607 V-PNI-3S purgingG2511 V-PAP-NSN allG3956 A-APN theG3588 T-APN foodG1033 N-APN
The Greek text from ‘Codex Sinaiticus’ says the same thing as the ‘Textus Receptus’ except for one word; εκβαλλετε is used instead of εκπορευεται: http://www.codex-sinaiticus.net
Mark 7:19 οτι ουκ ειϲπορευετε αυτου ειϲ την καρδιαν αλλ ειϲ την κοιλιαν και ειϲ τον αφεδρωνα εκβαλλετε καθαριζων παντα τα βρωματα.
Strong’s G1544, is εκβαλλετε/ekballo, which Thayer’s Greek Lexicon states as: to cast out; to drive out; to send out. This is used instead of Strong’s G1607, εκπορευεται/ekporeuomai which Thayer’s Greek Lexicon states as: to go forth, go out, depart. As you can see, these are very similar terms.
Again, the “Law–changing” words “(thus he declared all foods clean)”, were not spoken by Jesus, they are not in the original Greek! They are nowhere to be found in any manuscript! They have been added by contemporary men! It’s not a footnote, a side bar commentary, nor even noted as an opinion; it’s added right into the ‘verse’ itself, as if it were inspired Scripture! ‘Men’ added to the Word of God in order to promote man-made doctrine.
The English words “all” and “food” are in the Greek text. βρωματα/G1033, brōmata, which is translated as “food”, is from bibróskó/G977, which means “to eat”. This is in reference to the “bread” that the Pharisees were complaining was being eaten without first “properly” washing the hands (Mark 7:2, 3 & 5), which is a ‘man-made tradition’ and not a Command of the Almighty.
By the way, in five of the translations I listed above, the Greek word G740 ἄρτους/artous which is ‘bread’ in English, has been deleted from the Word of God, on purpose, twice! The topic of discussion is ‘bread eaten with unwashed hands’. The context is not meat/flesh, and whether or not pig, rat, camel or any other unclean animal is now ‘declared clean’; those words are NOT in the original text. By deleting words and adding words, the “translators” have purposefully steered the reader away from the true context and message of the Word of God, in order to promote their own man-made doctrine.
The parallel verse in Matthew verifies the actual context of what is truly being said in Mark 7:19.
What does the text say?
Matthew 15:17 “Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast-out into the draught (i.e. sink)?” (KJV)
Matthew 15:17 “Do ye not understand that all that is going into the mouth doth pass into the belly, and into the drain (i.e. sewer) is cast-forth?” (YLT)
To claim that this verse ‘(declares)’ that anything you can shove into your mouth, which goes through the human digestive system, and then gets discharged into the sink/sewer is now ritually, ceremonially or Lawfully “clean” to eat has no scriptural foundation, and is pure eisegesis.
Back to Mark 7:19; καθαριζον/G2511, that is katharizō, can be translated as ‘to cleanse’. However, what is completely ignored by mainstream theology, is the true definition of this word. In Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, the very first definition of G2511, katharizō is: to make clean, to cleanse – “from physical stains and dirt: e. g. food, Mark 7:19″. This is in direct correlation with ‘the washing of hands’ before eating in verses 2-4.
This verse has absolutely nothing to do with the God-ordained definitions of what are “clean” and “unclean” animals; it has EVERYTHING to do with the CONTEXT of the discourse: the tradition of washing hands from physical dirt before eating & elevating man-made traditions above God’s Commandments!
Mark 7:8-9 8You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!
The parallel account in Matthew blatantly exposes the translators’ errors, and reveals the TRUE context of Mark 7:19.
What does the text say?
“But to eat with unwashed hands does not ‘defile’ anyone.” | Matthew 15:20
Context, Context, Context!
There are 3 critical points that are never discussed by mainstream theology regarding this notion that Jesus “(declared all foods clean)” in Mark 7:19 ~
- First, are we to honestly believe that Jesus railed and condemned the Pharisees and Scribes in Mark 7:7-13 because they were voiding and overriding the Commandments of God, then Jesus himself voids and overrides the Commandments of God just 3 sentences later??? That would have been absolute hypocrisy and rebellion!
- Secondly, if Jesus is saying what the modern translators have ‘(declared)’ in Mark 7:19, that anything is now clean to eat, then the New Testament Scriptures are in contradiction, and we have to throw it all out. ‘Acts 10’ and ‘Acts 15’ declare the exact opposite of the parenthetical statement ‘(that all foods are now clean)’. Peter, who I assume knew what Jesus ‘(declared)’ in ‘Mark 7’, claimed in ‘Acts 10’ that he had never eaten anything common or unclean years after Jesus supposedly said this. Peter even told God, straight to His face three times, ‘NO, I will not eat unclean meat’! Peter claimed his doctrinal position in ‘Acts 10’ is that there’s still “unclean” animals to avoid years after the ‘Mark 7’ event!!!
- Then, in ‘Acts 15’, James the head of the Christian Church, claimed new believers in Christ “must not” eat blood or strangled meat! This food command is directly from the Law of Moses and obviously still valid in the mind of James and the Christian Council.
- Lastly, as a prophet of Israel, Jesus could not have changed or voided the Commandments of God ~
- Deuteronomy 12:32-13:4 32“Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it. 1“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the LORD your God
If Jesus had added to or taken away from the Commandments of the LORD, he would have violated the Law of Moses and been declared a sinner. He would have disqualified himself as Messiah, because he would have been teaching rebellion against the LORD God. Please read ‘Examining the Scriptures’ or watch it on YouTube at ‘Examining the Scriptures’.
Let’s take another quick look at “All Food” ~
In 30 A.D. Israel, the definition of “all food”, was what the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had ordained as “all food”. Every single Israelite (including Jesus and the Pharisee’s of ‘Mark 7’) knew what this definition was: besides all of the plants yielding seeds, it was ‘all’ of the “clean” animals listed in ‘Leviticus 11’.
Here in America, if I set a plate in front of you that had a chicken leg and a dog leg on it, and then asked you to eat ‘the food’ on the plate, what would you select? You would pick the chicken leg, yes? That’s because it’s the only thing on the plate that is considered ‘food’ in our culture. Similarly, for Jesus, his disciples, the Pharisee’s and every other Israelite, if someone had set bread, a pork chop and shrimp down on a table in front of them, and said which one is ‘food’, they ‘ALL’ would have picked the bread, and only the bread.
Here is the disconnect: we have been taught for centuries that anything you can shove into your mouth is ‘food’, and that in times past, some of it was considered ‘clean-food’ and some of it was considered ‘unclean-food’. That premise is 100% Scripturally wrong! God NEVER said, ‘pig, crab, camel, shrimp, dog, vulture, etc. were ‘unclean-food’; He said, they were “unclean creatures” and “NOT to be eaten” | Leviticus 11. In the eyes of Almighty God, the unclean creatures of Leviticus 11 are not, what we today call, “food”.
The dogma that Jesus taught against or changed the Law of Moses, removing or adding to the list of ‘clean animals’ is pure fiction, and blasphemy.
Didn’t Jesus come to fulfill the Law? How could He fulfill the Law by changing it…?
Think logically, not emotionally.
In Mark 7:19 Jesus did not change anything in the Law of Moses; if you read the entire discourse in context the exact opposite is the case. The ONLY context of ‘Mark 7’ and ‘Matthew 15’ is Jesus railing the leaders of the day because they were putting their Man-Made-laws and traditions in higher authority than the Laws of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In fact, the ‘Word of God’ proclaims Jesus did not come to change Moses: Acts 6 ~
Acts 6:11-14 “Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.””
What did the “false witnesses” claim about Jesus? The “false claim” was that Jesus came to change Moses! According to the ‘Spirit-Inspired-Word-of-God’, it is a FALSE statement that Jesus came to change Moses. So, if ‘Mark 7: 19’ has Jesus “(declaring all foods clean)”, that declaration by him changes the ‘Leviticus 11’ clean and unclean animal Commands from the Law Moses, and then ‘Mark‘ and ‘Acts‘ are in contradiction. The ‘Gospel of Mark’ and the ‘Acts of the Apostles’ are therefore, in opposition to each other and MUST be torn out of every Bible as contradictory writings. And since Luke also wrote the ‘Gospel of Luke’, I would assert that it should be removed as well, on the grounds that he is an unreliable source.
It doesn’t stop there; Luke was held in high regard by the apostle Paul, and if Luke is unreliable, then what does that says about Pauls’ judge of character? What does it say about Pauls’ own character??? This line of reasoning cannot just be dismissed out of hand.
The truth of the matter is, Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, rebuked the leaders of Israel for not obeying the Commands of God, and for overriding God’s Law with the traditions of men’ | Matthew 15:3-9, Mark 7:6-13. Except for when he was telling parables about the Kingdom, Jesus spent the majority of his time telling everyone to stop elevating man-made instructions/laws/traditions, and turn–back to following Gods Instructions/Laws. The first word the Messiah spoke in his public ministry was “Repent”, ‘Matthew 4:17’.
As the prophesied “Messiah of Israel” and God-in-the-flesh, it is impossible that he sinned. If he had added-to, or taken-away from the established Law of God given through Moses, then he sinned and was not the Messiah, but a heretic. Therefore, since we all know that he did not sin, then we also know he did not add-to or take-away from the Law of Moses, including the list of what is considered food and what is not considered food.
Final Thought: Jesus revealed the true interpretation of both parallel accounts in ‘Mark 7’ and ‘Matthew 15’, as he explained it to his disciples in Matthew 15:15-20 ~
- 15But Peter said to him, “Explain the ‘parable‘ to us.” 16And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20These are what defile a person. But ‘to eat with unwashed hands‘ does not defile anyone.” | Matthew 15:15-20
Take note, verse 15 right here states this is a “parable”, not a Decree, Statute or Command from the LORD! In ‘Matthew 15’ and ‘Mark 7’, Jesus was speaking in a parable, and he just “(declared)” to everyone, everywhere the understanding of it. He was not adding to or taking away for the Law of God. Jesus explained to his followers, in a parable, ‘an established understanding’ that they should have already known.
Sources:
- https://www.cogwriter.com/unclnt.htm
- https://www.ucg.org.au/learn/read/bible-insights-weekly/biw-archive/did-jesus-declare-all-meats-clean
- https://www.119ministries.com/119-blog/acts-10-with-mark-7/
- https://www.churchathome.org/articles/are-gods-laws-of-clean-and-unclean-meats-upheld-under-the-new-covenant.html
- https://vineyardjc.com/was-gods-dietary-law-done-away-with/