Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Mark
Chapter 7: He Hath Done All Things Well
Mark 7 sets the traditions of men against the commandment of God and the heart. When the Pharisees fault His disciples for eating with unwashed hands, Jesus exposes how their traditions actually void God's word, as in the loophole of 'Corban,' and He teaches that defilement is not on the hands but in the heart, from which 'proceed evil thoughts.' Then, crossing into Gentile territory, He meets a Syrophenician woman whose humble, persistent faith wins the deliverance of her demon-vexed daughter, and He heals a deaf man with an impediment in his speech, saying, 'Ephphatha, Be opened.' The crowds marvel, 'He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.' The chapter cuts through empty religion to the heart God desires, and shows the Saviour's mercy reaching beyond Israel to the outsider and the broken.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Mark chapter 7. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here Jesus confronts human tradition, teaches that defilement rises from the heart, honors a Gentile woman's faith, and heals a deaf man. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
The Commandment vs. Corban
Human tradition can make the word of God of none effect.
From Within Proceed Evil Thoughts
Defilement is not on the hands but in the heart of man.
Yes, Lord
A Gentile mother's humble faith wins her daughter's deliverance.
Ephphatha, Be Opened
He opens deaf ears and looses a tongue, and does all things well.
Making the Word of God of None Effect (Mark 7:1-13)
Jesus exposes how the traditions of men, however pious they appear, can be used to set aside the plain commandments of God.
Their Heart Is Far from Me
"Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye."
Word Study
"Corban," Greek korban (κορβᾶν). Mark preserves and explains the Hebrew word: "Corban, that is to say, a gift", something dedicated to God. The Pharisees had devised a scheme whereby a man could declare his property "Corban," reserved for God, and so excuse himself from using it to care for his aging parents. In the name of devotion to God they nullified God's own command to honor father and mother. It is the perfect example of how human tradition, cloaked in piety, can be used to evade the plain will of God, "making the word of God of none effect through your tradition."
Explanation
When the Pharisees fault the disciples for eating with unwashed hands, Jesus exposes how their tradition has come to override Scripture itself. Quoting Isaiah -- "this people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me" -- He gives the damning example of Corban: a man could declare his wealth dedicated to God and so refuse to support his aging parents, "making the word of God of none effect through your tradition." Human rules, however revered, can be a means of evading God's clear command. The heart that hides behind religious technicalities has already departed from God.
Gospel Focus
The Pharisees come from Jerusalem to fault Jesus' disciples for eating with "unwashen hands", not a matter of hygiene but of ceremonial "tradition of the elders." Jesus answers with a piercing charge from Isaiah: "This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Their whole system had inverted true religion, exalting human rules above God's word until the two collided, and then choosing the tradition. Jesus gives the devastating example of "Corban." God commanded, "Honour thy father and thy mother," which includes caring for them in need. But the elders taught that if a man dedicated his resources to God as "Corban," he was freed from helping his parents, and so, in the name of religion, he could abandon them. Jesus names it plainly: "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition... making the word of God of none effect." This is the deadly danger of any religion that lets human tradition override Scripture: it looks devout while it hollows out real obedience, honoring God with the lips while the heart is "far from me." The lesson stands for every generation and every church. God is not fooled by scrupulous religious observance that neglects His clear commands and the love it requires. Whenever we let our preferences, customs, or man-made rules take the place of, or explain away, the plain word of God, we have become Pharisees. Hold the word of God above every tradition of men, and let your worship come not from the lips only but from a heart near to Him.
From Within, Out of the Heart (Mark 7:14-23)
Jesus locates the true source of defilement not in the hands or the food but in the sinful human heart.
That Which Cometh Out of the Man
"And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man."
Word Study
"defile," Greek koinoo (κοινόω). The word means to make "common" or unclean, the opposite of holy. The Pharisees thought defilement came from outside, through unwashed hands or forbidden food, ceremonial and external. Jesus turns it inward: "the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man." Real uncleanness is moral, not ritual, and it rises from the heart. He lists a dark catalog, "evil thoughts, adulteries... pride, foolishness", all springing "from within." The heart is the fountain, and it is the heart, not the hands, that must be cleansed.
Explanation
Jesus overturns the entire purity map: "there is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him" -- and Mark adds the sweeping conclusion, "purging all meats" clean. Defilement is not a matter of diet or hands but of the heart, out of which proceed "evil thoughts, adulteries... murders... pride, foolishness." The problem was never external and never solved by scrubbing; it wells up from within. This is the diagnosis that demands the gospel: no ritual reaches the heart, and only a new birth can cleanse the fountain from which our defilement flows.
Gospel Focus
Having exposed the Pharisees' tradition, Jesus calls "all the people" to hear a truth that overturns their whole idea of purity: "There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man." Defilement before God is not a matter of what touches the outside but of what proceeds from the inside. To His slow disciples He explains: food enters "the belly," not the heart, and passes through, but "that which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man." Then He opens the human heart and shows what is in it: "evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." This is the honest, unflattering diagnosis of our condition. Our deepest problem is not our environment, our circumstances, or the things around us, but the sin within, a heart that is a wellspring of these evils. No amount of external washing can reach it. This is why the gospel is not reformation of behavior but regeneration of the heart. Man cannot cleanse his own fountain; he needs a new heart. And this is exactly what God promised and Christ provides: "A new heart also will I give you," washed by His blood and renewed by His Spirit. The Pharisees scrubbed their hands and cups while their hearts were "far from me"; Jesus goes to the root. So the passage presses the searching question: not merely what do your hands do, but what is in your heart? And it points to the only answer, the cleansing that God alone can give. Come to Christ not to whitewash the outside but to have the inside made new.
Ephphatha, Be Opened (Mark 7:24-37)
Jesus honors a Gentile woman's humble faith and opens the ears of a deaf man, showing His mercy reaching beyond Israel.
He Hath Done All Things Well
"And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid. For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed. And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him. And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue; And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak."
Word Study
"Ephphatha" (ἐφφαθά). Mark preserves the actual Aramaic word Jesus spoke to the deaf man and translates it, "Be opened." It is a single word of command, spoken with a sigh and a look to heaven, and instantly "his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed." The authority is God's own: it is the LORD who "openeth the ears" and gives the tongue to sing (Isaiah 35:5-6). The word that opened this man's ears is the word of the Creator, who spoke light into being. What He commands, is; His single word "Ephphatha" is enough to undo years of silence.
Explanation
In Gentile territory a Syrophoenician woman begs deliverance for her daughter, and to Jesus' testing word about children's bread and dogs she replies with brilliant, humble faith: "yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs." He grants her request, a foretaste of the mercy about to overflow to the nations. Then, healing a deaf man with a stammer, He sighs, touches his ears and tongue, and says "Ephphatha" -- "Be opened" -- and the crowd marvels, "he hath done all things well." The Creator who opened ears in Isaiah's promised age (Isaiah 35:5) is unstopping them with His own hands.
Gospel Focus
Jesus withdraws into Gentile territory, "the borders of Tyre and Sidon," and there grace reaches an outsider. A "Syrophenician" woman, a Gentile with no claim on Israel's Messiah, falls at His feet for her demon-tormented daughter. Jesus tests her with a hard-sounding word: "Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs", His mission went first to Israel. But He uses the tender word for household pets, and she seizes the opening with humble, brilliant faith: "Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs." She does not dispute His right or demand a place at the table; she asks only for a crumb, and believes a crumb from His table is enough. Jesus, who was drawing this faith out all along, grants her whole request: "For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter." Here is the wideness of grace, reaching a Gentile mother far from the covenant, a preview of the gospel that would go to all nations. Then, back near Galilee, they bring Him a man "deaf, and had an impediment in his speech." Jesus takes him aside privately, touches his ears and tongue, "sighed", feeling the weight of a groaning, broken world, and commands, "Ephphatha... Be opened." At once the man hears and speaks plainly. The crowd's verdict is a fitting summary of the whole chapter and of Christ Himself: "He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak." These are the very works Isaiah said the LORD would do when He came to save. And they are a picture of the gospel: by nature we are spiritually deaf to God and unable to speak His praise, until Christ says "Ephphatha" and opens our ears and looses our tongues. The humble faith of the Syrophenician woman and the opened ears of the deaf man both proclaim the same good news: the Saviour receives the outsider and the broken, and He does all things well.
Chapter 7 in Review
Mark 7 moves from the traditions of men to the heart of God's grace. Jesus exposes how the Pharisees, honoring God "with their lips" while their "heart is far from me," used tradition like "Corban" to make "the word of God of none effect." He teaches that defilement is not external but internal: "from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts," and it is these that defile a man. Then, crossing into Gentile lands, He honors the humble, persistent faith of the Syrophenician woman, "yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs," and heals a deaf man with the word "Ephphatha... Be opened," so the crowds marvel, "He hath done all things well."
For the Apostolic reader the chapter presses two truths. First, God wants the heart, not mere external religion. Any tradition that overrides His word, any worship that is all lips and no heart, is "in vain," and our real defilement rises from within, from a sinful heart that only Christ can cleanse and make new. Second, His grace reaches beyond every boundary. The Syrophenician woman, a Gentile outside the covenant, receives mercy by humble faith, and the deaf man's opened ears display the works Isaiah promised the LORD would do. Both point beyond themselves: by nature we are unclean within and deaf to God, but Christ, who does "all things well," gives a new heart and opens deaf ears. Do not settle for a whitewashed, tradition-bound religion; let Him cleanse your heart. And do not think yourself too far off for His mercy; reach out, like the Gentile mother, for even a crumb of His grace, and hear Him say to your closed ears, "Ephphatha, Be opened."
- Human tradition can nullify the commandment of God; "Corban" excused men from honoring parents (7:11-13).
- Worship that is all lips and no heart is "in vain" (7:6-7).
- Defilement rises from within: "out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts" (7:21-23).
- Our deepest need is a new heart, which only Christ can give (7:23).
- Christ honors humble, persistent faith, even in a Gentile outsider (7:28-29).
- He does "all things well," opening deaf ears and loosing bound tongues (7:37; Isaiah 35:5-6).
Questions for Reflection
- Have you let any tradition or preference override the plain word of God?
- Is your worship from the heart, or only from the lips?
- Do you see that your deepest problem is within, and have you asked Christ for a new heart?
- Will you, like the Syrophenician woman, come humbly for even a crumb of His grace?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. Isaiah on lips and heart: Isaiah 29:13. Honour father and mother: Exodus 20:12; 21:17. The heart's need of cleansing and a new heart: Jeremiah 17:9; Ezekiel 36:26; Psalm 51:10. The LORD opening deaf ears: Isaiah 35:5-6. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The tradition of the elders and Corban: Mark 7:1-13; Matthew 15:1-9; Isaiah 29:13.
- What defiles a man: Mark 7:14-23; Matthew 15:10-20.
- The Syrophenician woman and the healing of the deaf man: Mark 7:24-37; Matthew 15:21-31; Isaiah 35:5-6.