I don't understand Mark 7:19

[Eddi]

I've been reading Mark...

In Mark 7:19 from the New Intentional Version:

For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

(my emphasis)

So let's get this straight - he single-handedly abolished the centuries-old Jewish dietary laws???

I know he said that what comes out of a person's mouth is more important than what goes in - but why did he do this??? What did he think was wrong with the Jewish dietary laws that made him declare all foods clean???

I don't understand

Edit: I've just looked in the KJV and it doesn't say "Jesus declared all foods clean" like the NIV does

I'm now even more confused!

 

[Kenny]

I've been reading Mark...

In Mark 7:19 from the New Intentional Version:

For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

(my emphasis)

So let's get this straight - he single-handedly abolished the centuries-old Jewish dietary laws???

I know he said that what comes out of a person's mouth is more important than what goes in - but why did he do this??? What did he think was wrong with the Jewish dietary laws that made him declare all foods clean???

I don't understand

Edit: I've just looked in the KJV and it doesn't say "Jesus declared all foods clean" like the NIV does

I'm now even more confused!

Not really (although before Noah, there was no dietary laws). What he is saying is that the physical food that you put in your stomach simply comes out the other end and doesn't affect your soul/spirit (the heart). But what come out of your mouth has a spiritual effect because words are spiritual (John 6:63)

However, if you want to live healthier and longer, the dietary laws are good. (You can die from eating shelled seafood because they are ocean vacuum-cleaners of poisons). However, if you are on an island and all you have is clams, potatoes and a goat... make a clam chowder - if you want to live longer.

If you have to choose between what you eat physically and what you put in spiritually, spiritually has the greater value. Some were so good at the dietary laws but they were rotten in their heart.

 

[exchemist]

I've been reading Mark...

In Mark 7:19 from the New Intentional Version:

For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

(my emphasis)

So let's get this straight - he single-handedly abolished the centuries-old Jewish dietary laws???

I know he said that what comes out of a person's mouth is more important than what goes in - but why did he do this??? What did he think was wrong with the Jewish dietary laws that made him declare all foods clean???

I don't understand

Edit: I've just looked in the KJV and it doesn't say "Jesus declared all foods clean" like the NIV does

I'm now even more confused!

Yes, as @KenS says, this is Jesus trying to get the people back on track of what is spiritually important.

Chapter 7 is about him taking on some Pharisees who were getting all pedantic with him about dietary and food preparation practices. Read the opening of the chapter - it gives you the context. He's saying, in effect, that all these detailed dietary laws are in danger of becoming an end in themselves, thereby causing people to miss the point of how to live good lives. What makes a person "unclean" isn't what he eats, or how he washes the cups and vessels, but any evil intentions that he has.

St. Mark add this sentence in parenthesis: καθαρίζων πάντα τὰ βρώματα, "Thus he pronounced all foods clean." (acc. my Jerusalem Bible), or words to that effect. Interesting that this is omitted in the KJV. I don't know why this is.

 

[Thief]

I've been reading Mark...

In Mark 7:19 from the New Intentional Version:

For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

(my emphasis)

So let's get this straight - he single-handedly abolished the centuries-old Jewish dietary laws???

I know he said that what comes out of a person's mouth is more important than what goes in - but why did he do this??? What did he think was wrong with the Jewish dietary laws that made him declare all foods clean???

I don't understand

Edit: I've just looked in the KJV and it doesn't say "Jesus declared all foods clean" like the NIV does

I'm now even more confused!

the version I keep notes judgement

…..for you are not defiled by what enters the mouth......but rather by what comes out

the practice had been....cleanliness by dogmatic practice
and there are sooooooo many hoops to jump

when cleanliness of mind and heart are more important
from your mind and heart you speak

 

[eik]

So let's get this straight - he single-handedly abolished the centuries-old Jewish dietary laws???

Jesus was referring to the traditions of the Pharisees respecting eating with unwashed hands, not even the ceremonial law.

Edit: I've just looked in the KJV and it doesn't say "Jesus declared all foods clean" like the NIV does

The difference in translation is due to different opinions as to the antecedent of the Greek participle "καθαρίζων" in v.19. Some think it is "Jesus," so they render the text "Jesus declared all foods clean" but others think it is "everything from outside" in v.18 so rendering the KJV the better translation.

The issue is whether you suppose "καθαρίζω νπάντα τὰ βρώματα" in verse 19 to be part of what Jesus said, or an interpolated commentary. Part of the reasons for chosing the latter is that there is no "masculine singular subject" to which the participle can relate in the text, suggesting a parenthetical commentary. However the grammar is not definitive but only raised to interpret a difficult text.

If it was Jesus who said it, his comment extends not to kosher versus non-kosher foods, but only to all foods eaten with unwashed hands.