The apostles ask Jesus to explain the analogy about what makes a person common. Jesus sets up this line by saying that what goes into a person doesn't hurt them.
Mark 7:20 That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
Mark 7:20 What comes out of a person is what defiles them.
That made to go out of the person? That there makes the man common.
This is a second punchline. In the previous verse, Jesus says that by making poop, we are cleansing food. In this verses, the same word translated as "evacuating" in the previous verse is used again. While what goes into the toilet "cleanses" the food, but it dirties a person. The Greek verb translated as "defiled" means "make common" in the sense "communicate" and "make public."
The obvious analogy is equating the words coming out of a person with human waste. In other words, Jesus is calling "bullsh-t" on his critics. but it also means "make common," which is the idea of being made unclean in terms of Judean purity. The next verse cleans this all up by making it clear that what is meant is what comes out of the heart.
Jesus knows bull when he hears it.
- IW - Inserted Word -- The word "which" doesn't exist in the source.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "defile" does not capture the word's general meaning.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "come" is not the common word usually translated as "come."
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "of" does not capture the word's specific meaning.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "what" is not the common word usually translated as "what."
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "come" is not the common word usually translated as "come."
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "of" does not capture the word's specific meaning.
- WW --Wrong Word -- The word translated as "a" should be something more like "the."
- IW - Inserted Word -- The word "is" doesn't exist in the source.
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "what" is not the common word usually translated as "what."
- CW --Confusing Word -- The "defile" does not capture the word's general meaning.
- IW - Inserted Word -- The word "them" doesn't exist in the source.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "the" is not shown in the English translation.
- MW - Missing Word -- The word "person" is not shown in the English translation.
That -- The word translated as "that" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." Or, in this case, because it is neutral, "the stuff." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
which -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "which" in the Greek source. It was added because the next verb was translated as active rather than as a participle.
cometh out - (CW) "Come out" is a verb that means literally, "to make to go or carry out of" and is translated regularly as "to make to go out of", "to fetch out," and "to march out." It is in the form of an adjective not an active verb, "the stuff coming out." This was jut translated in the last verse as " goeth out." It is not the common word translated as "come."
of -- (CW) The Greek preposition translated as "of" means "out of" or "from." The word also means "beyond," "on," "in," "since," or "by"based upon its context. However, in Greek, they use the genitive case instead of a preposition for the types of phrases that are translated into English "of" phrases. It is also used to describe the author or means "by" which something is done, especially with passive verbs.
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun.The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
man, -- The Greek word for "man" means "man", "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men", "people", and "peoples".
that -- (CW) The word translated as "that" is an adjective that highlights its noun as being in a specific place or time from a word that means "there." In this case, it is neutral, so "that stuff there." This is not the pronoun used as a connective "that."
defileth -- (CW) "Defileth" is a verb that means "to communicate", "to impart", "to share." Only in Matthew and Mark is it translated as "defile." However, the Judaic idea of "holiness" is connected with having something "set apart" for the Divine, while what is shared among people is consider "common" instead of holy. So sharing something, "making it common," does "defile" something that should be dedicated to the Divine. The Latin word translated this verse in the Latin Vulgate also means "communicate. Only in the English translation, does it become "defiled"
the -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun.The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
man. -- The Greek word for "man" means "man", "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men", "people", and "peoples".
What -- (CW) The word translated as "what" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." Or, in this case, because it is neutral, "the stuff." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more. This is not a word usually translated as "what."
comes out - (CW) "Comes out" is a verb that means literally, "to make to go or carry out of" and is translated regularly as "to make to go out of", "to fetch out," and "to march out." It is in the form of an adjective not an active verb, "the stuff coming out." This was jut translated in the last verse as " goeth out." It is not the common word translated as "come."
of -- (CW) The Greek preposition translated as "of" means "out of" or "from." The word also means "beyond," "on," "in," "since," or "by"based upon its context. However, in Greek, they use the genitive case instead of a preposition for the types of phrases that are translated into English "of" phrases. It is also used to describe the author or means "by" which something is done, especially with passive verbs.
a -- (WW) The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun.The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
person , -- The Greek word for "person " means "man", "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men", "people", and "peoples".
is -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "is" in the Greek source.
what -- (CW) The word translated as "what " is an adjective that highlights its noun as being in a specific place or time from a word that means "there." In this case, it is neutral, so "that stuff there." This is not the pronoun used as a connective "that."
defiles -- (CW) "Defiles" is a verb that means "to communicate", "to impart", "to share." Only in Matthew and Mark is it translated as "defile." However, the Judaic idea of "holiness" is connected with having something "set apart" for the Divine, while what is shared among people is consider "common" instead of holy. So sharing something, "making it common," does "defile" something that should be dedicated to the Divine. The Latin word translated this verse in the Latin Vulgate also means "communicate. Only in the English translation, does it become "defiled"
them. -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "them" in the Greek source.
missing "the" -- (MW) The untranslated word "the" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun.The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
missing "person" -- (MW) The untranslated word "person " means "man", "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men", "people", and "peoples".
Τὸ [821 verses]( article sg neut nom ) "That" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones."
ἐκ [121 verses] (prep) "Out of" is ek, which means 1) [of motion] "out of", "from", "by", "away from;" 2) [of place] "beyond", "outside of", "beyond;" 3) [of succession] "after", "from;" 4) [of rest] "on", "in," 5) [of time] "since", "from", "at", "in;" 5) [of materials] "out of", "made from."
τοῦ [821 verses](article sg masc gen) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones."
ἀνθρώπου [209 verses](noun sg masc gen) "Of man" is anthropos, which is "man," and, in plural, "mankind." It also means "humanity" and that which is human and opposed to that which is animal or inanimate.
ἐκπορευόμενον [11 verses](part pl pres mp neut nom) "Cometh" is from ekporeuomai, which means "to make to go out", "to fetch out," and "to march out." --
ἐκεῖνο [107 verses](adj sg neut nom) "That" is ekeinos, which means "the person there", "that person", "that thing", "in that case", "in that way", "at that place," and "in that manner."
κοινοῖ [7 verses] ( verb 3rd sg pres ind act ) "Defileth" is koinoo, which means "to communicate", "to impart", "to share," and "to make common." Only in Matthew and Mark is it translated as "defile" from the idea that to make something "common" is to defile it. In the original Latin translation of the NT, this word is translated as communicare, which is the source of our word "communicate."
τὸν [821 verses] (article sg masc acc) "The" is the Greek definite article, hos, ("the"), which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one" or, in the plural, "the ones." -- The word translated as "the" is the Greek definite article, which usually precedes a noun and, without a noun, takes the meaning of "the one." The Greek article is much closer to our demonstrative pronouns ("this", "that", "these", "those"). See this article for more.
ἄνθρωπον: [209 verses] (noun sg masc acc) "Of man" is anthropos, which is "man," and, in plural, "mankind." It also means "humanity" and that which is human and opposed to that which is animal or inanimate. -- The Greek word for "man" means "man", "person" and "humanity" in the singular. In the plural, it means "men", "people", and "peoples".
The "stuff coming out of the man" can be either words or human waste.
While this series of verses, that is, this lesson, starts with a discussion of the violation of the Jewish laws regarding washing, Jesus turns the discussion into one about judgment, specially how we can judge people. The religious leaders want to judge people by how well others conformed to their interpretation of religious law, but Jesus points out that we cannot judge people by what they put into their bodies or even what comes out of our bodies, because as physical bodies, we all are full of crud. We have to judge people by what comes out of our humanity, which is a different level of existence. We are not our bodies. Because we have a mental, emotional, and spiritual life, we transcend the merely physical.