Mark 7

This chapter belongs to the Galilean ministry section of the Gospel of Mark. Following the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus' walking on the water, and the healings at Gennesaret in Mark 6, it opens with a dispute involving those who had come from Jerusalem.

Outline

• Verses 1–5 The Pharisees and scribes see the disciples eating with unwashed hands and ask why they do not keep the tradition of the elders.
• Verses 6–13 Jesus quotes Isaiah to rebuke their hypocrisy and, citing the example of Corban, points out that they set aside the commandment to honor one's parents for the sake of human tradition.
• Verses 14–16 He tells the crowd that it is not what enters a person from outside but what comes out from within that defiles a person.
• Verses 17–23 In the house he explains the saying to his disciples and lists the evil things that proceed from the heart.
• Verses 24–30 In the region of Tyre, a Greek woman of Syrophoenician descent begs him to cast a demon out of her daughter, and the daughter is healed.
• Verses 31–37 Passing through the region of the Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee, he heals a deaf man with a speech impediment by saying, "Ephphatha."

Key Verses

• Mark 7:15 "There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him" — a teaching that relocates the standard of purity to the heart.
• Mark 7:28 "Yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs" — the reply that reveals the Gentile woman's faith.
• Mark 7:34 "Ephphatha, that is, Be opened" — a passage in which Mark records Jesus' Aramaic word as it was spoken.

Characters and Places

• Jesus and his disciples
• The Pharisees and scribes: a group of experts in the law who had come from Jerusalem
• The Syrophoenician woman: a Greek woman living in the region of Tyre
• Tyre and Sidon: Gentile cities on the Mediterranean coast northwest of Galilee
• The Decapolis: a region of ten Hellenistic cities southeast of the Sea of Galilee
• The Sea of Galilee

Points for Reflection

• Verses 6–7 quote Isaiah 29, and verse 10 quotes Exodus 20 and Exodus 21.
• Many interpreters take the clause in verse 19 that many modern translations render "declaring all foods clean" (KJV: "purging all meats") as Mark's own comment. Many churches understand it to mean that the dietary laws of Leviticus 11 are no longer binding in Christ, and they connect it with Peter's vision in Acts 10. By contrast, those who still observe the distinction between clean and unclean animals, such as the Seventh-day Adventist Church, hold that the passage concerns the tradition of handwashing.
• Some manuscripts include the additional line "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear," so translations differ in how they handle verse 16.
• The account of the Syrophoenician woman also appears in Matthew 15, where she is called "a woman of Canaan." Interpreters differ on whether the word "dogs" was meant to test the woman's faith or reflects the principle of "to the Jew first." The healing in verses 31–37 is found only in Mark.

In the Korean Church

• The account of the Syrophoenician woman is frequently used as a sermon text on persistent prayer and faith.
• "Ephphatha" is often used as a name for Deaf churches and for ministries to people with hearing impairments.