The big picture
Mark 7 begins with hands and ends with ears, but the movement between them passes through the heart. A dispute over inherited washing customs becomes an argument about what human tradition can do when it displaces a direct command of God. Jesus' Corban example makes the cost concrete by placing neglected parents behind religious language. He then moves the question of defilement inward, distinguishing food that passes through the body from evils that proceed from the heart. Beyond the earlier Galilean setting, a Syrophenician mother answers a difficult saying about children's bread with a reply that keeps her request inside the image rather than rejecting it. The chapter ends with a deaf man's ears opened and speech released. After repeated commands to hear and understand, Mark closes on hearing restored and words that refuse to stay quiet.
Central truth
Mark 7 relocates defilement from ritualized external safeguards to what proceeds from the human heart, then shows Jesus answering a persistent Gentile mother and restoring a deaf man whose opened ears and loosened tongue provoke astonished proclamation.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
Mark 7:1: “Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.”
Slow down at the turning point
Mark 7:19: “Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?”
Keep this word trail visible
tradition, daughter, defile, father, mother, bread
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
Mark 7:1-8
Washing and the tradition of the elders
Begin with the dispute itself. Explain the washing customs of verses 3-4, which the Book of Mark explains for Gentile readers. These were not commands of Moses but traditions built around them. Jesus answers by quoting Isaiah 29:13: lips that honour God and hearts far from him. Explain hypocrite as an actor wearing a mask. Teach this first because the whole chapter asks what really makes a person clean, and the first answer is that religious habits can mask a distant heart.
Mark 7:9-13
Corban and the fifth commandment
Now Jesus gives an example. Explain Corban: a word for an offering dedicated to God. A son could declare his property Corban and so refuse to support his parents while still using it himself. Jesus calls this rejecting God's commandment. Read verse 10 aloud, both the command and the penalty for cursing parents, to show how seriously the law took it. Teach this second so the class sees a concrete case of tradition overriding Scripture before the general principle.
Mark 7:14-23
What comes out of the heart
Jesus calls the crowd and states the principle. Food enters the stomach, not the heart. Explain that verse 19 ends with purging all meats, which many translations read as the Book of Mark's comment that Jesus declared all foods clean; compare Acts 10:15. Then read the twelve evils slowly. Explain lasciviousness as shameless indulgence and an evil eye as envy. The point is that defilement is internal. Teach this here as the centre, because it explains why Jesus will now cross into Gentile territory.
Mark 7:24-30
Crumbs for a Gentile mother
Jesus goes to Tyre and Sidon, Gentile land, and tries to stay hidden. A Greek woman, Syrophenician by birth, begs for her daughter. Explain that his reply uses a household picture: children are fed first, and the word for dogs here can mean small house dogs. It is still a hard word, and do not soften it too much. Her reply turns the picture to her advantage. Teach it right after verses 14-23, because a Gentile woman now receives the blessing the clean-food teaching has opened.
Mark 7:31-37
Be opened
Jesus travels through the Decapolis, again Gentile ground. A deaf man with a speech impediment is brought. Explain each action of verse 33 as sign language: fingers in the ears, touching the tongue. Then the look to heaven and the sigh. Explain that Ephphatha is Aramaic, kept by the Book of Mark. Read Isaiah 35:5-6 to show that this is the sign of God coming to save. End here because the crowd's verdict, He hath done all things well, sums up the chapter.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
“Jesus did not care about the Old Testament law.”
He defends the law against tradition: he quotes Moses (7:10) and condemns those who make “the word of God of none effect” (7:13). What he challenges is human tradition placed above God's command. On food, the passage says defilement comes from the heart; Christians apply the Old Testament food laws differently, but all can see that Jesus here honours Scripture as God's word.
“Jesus called the woman a dog because he despised Gentiles.”
His answer in 7:27 is hard, and should not be explained away. But notice the word first: “Let the children first be filled”, which implies Gentiles will eat afterward. He grants her request and honours her saying (7:29). Then he travels on through Gentile territory healing (7:31-37). The scene shows Israel's priority and the inclusion of the nations, and her faith is praised.
“If I just avoid bad things, I will be clean inside.”
Jesus says evil “come from within” (7:23). Avoiding outward things cannot clean a heart from which these things already flow. The list includes thoughts, pride and an evil eye, which are invisible. The passage drives us to need a change of heart, which only God can give (Psalm 51:10, Ezekiel 36:26). Avoid making the lesson a new list of things to avoid.
“Using spit and touch shows Jesus needed special methods to heal.”
Elsewhere he heals with a word (1:25, 2:11), and once at a distance (7:29). The touch here is chosen for a man who cannot hear. Jesus meets him in the way he can receive, privately and by touch. The methods serve the person, not the power. Use this to show the care of Jesus rather than to suggest a technique for healing.
Learning objectives
- Distinguish the Pharisees’ handwashing dispute from a claim that the disciples are physically dirty.
- Explain how Jesus uses Isaiah and the Corban practice to expose a conflict between human tradition and God’s commandment.
- List the heart-born evils Jesus names in verses 21–23 and explain why the list makes defilement a moral issue rather than a merely external one.
- Trace the exchange between Jesus and the Syrophenician woman without softening the difficult household imagery or ignoring her reply.
- Describe the private, physical sequence Jesus uses in healing the deaf man with a speech impediment.
- Compare Jesus’ command not to publicize the healing with the crowd’s increasingly zealous proclamation.
Teacher preparation
- Review the King James phrase 'defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands' in verse 2. Explain that the dispute concerns ceremonial tradition rather than ordinary hygiene.
- Read Isaiah 29:13, which Jesus cites in verses 6–7, and Exodus 20:12 or Deuteronomy 5:16 for the command to honor father and mother.
- Prepare a concise explanation of Corban in verses 10–13: something declared devoted to God could be used in a way that nullified practical support owed to parents.
- Locate Tyre, Sidon, and the Decapolis. The geography matters because the woman is identified as Greek and Syrophenician by nation, and the later healing occurs in a largely Gentile region.
- Practice pronouncing 'Ephphatha' and decide how much detail the group needs about the Aramaic preservation. Keep attention on Mark’s translation, 'Be opened.'
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Mark 7:6–8 applies Isaiah’s criticism to honoring God with lips while the heart is far away; verses 10–13 use Corban as a concrete example; verses 20–23 locate defiling evils within the human heart; verses 24–37 report two healings in Gentile regions.
Scripture-supported
Isaiah 29:13 supplies Jesus’ quoted rebuke, and the command to honor father and mother comes from the Decalogue. The passage therefore invites comparison between written command and inherited practice.
Strong inference
The placement of the Gentile woman after the defilement teaching strongly reinforces the chapter’s challenge to simplistic boundary markers. Mark does not explicitly announce that literary point, but the sequence makes it difficult to miss.
Possible or traditional reading
The household image of children’s bread and dogs in verses 27–28 has generated many attempts to soften or intensify its tone. Mark gives no stage directions for tone. Teach the words, the woman’s reply, and Jesus’ response without pretending certainty about vocal inflection.
Limit
The chapter does not authorize contempt for Jewish law or tradition as such. Jesus criticizes traditions that set aside God’s command and identifies defiling acts that arise from the heart.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. What exactly do the Pharisees criticize in verses 1–5?
What a good answer contains
The objection is that some disciples “eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands” (7:2). Verses 3-4 explain that this washing is “the tradition of the elders”, extending to cups, pots and tables, and verse 5 repeats it. A strong answer sees that the issue is ritual purity and inherited custom, not germs. A weak answer imagines Jesus defending poor hygiene, which misses that the dispute is about whose authority defines what makes a person clean.
Show teacher guidance
They object that some disciples eat bread with unwashen hands and therefore do not walk according to the tradition of the elders. Keep the issue ceremonial and traditional rather than reducing it to sanitation.
2. How does the Corban example show tradition making the word of God ineffective?
What a good answer contains
Moses said, “Honour thy father and thy mother” (7:10). But the tradition allowed a man to declare his money “Corban, that is to say, a gift” to God, and then “ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother” (7:11-12). Jesus concludes they are “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition” (7:13). A good answer sees that a religious vow becomes a way to avoid a plain command, so devotion is used to excuse neglect.
Show teacher guidance
Use verses 10–13. A person can invoke Corban in a way that avoids supporting father or mother, even though God commanded honor toward parents.
3. Where does Jesus locate the source of defilement in verses 20–23?
What a good answer contains
“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts” (7:21), followed by a list of twelve: adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. A strong answer names several, notices that they mix actions with attitudes, and sees that all begin in the heart. A weak answer reduces the list to bad choices, which makes sin sound external and small.
Show teacher guidance
Require the phrase 'from within, out of the heart of men' and then sample several items in the list. Do not let the class answer only with a generalized phrase such as 'bad choices.'
4. How does the Syrophenician woman answer the image about children’s bread and dogs?
What a good answer contains
Jesus says, “Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs” (7:27). She replies, “Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs” (7:28). She accepts that Israel comes first but argues that there is enough for her too. A good answer sees her humility and her boldness together, and that Jesus says, “For this saying go thy way” (7:29), honouring her answer.
Show teacher guidance
Verse 28 accepts the household order yet argues that dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs. Her answer works within Jesus’ image rather than rejecting it.
5. What does Jesus do physically before saying 'Ephphatha' to the deaf man?
What a good answer contains
He “took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue” (7:33). Then, “looking up to heaven, he sighed”, and said “Ephphatha, that is, Be opened” (7:34). A strong answer sees that each action speaks to a man who cannot hear: Jesus communicates by touch what words could not carry. The sigh shows his grief over human brokenness. A weak answer skips the private, physical care and goes straight to the word.
Show teacher guidance
Verses 33–34 describe taking him aside privately, putting fingers into his ears, touching his tongue with spit, looking up to heaven, sighing, and speaking the command.
6. What irony appears in the final command and response of verses 36–37?
What a good answer contains
He charges them “that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it” (7:36). Their message is right: “He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak” (7:37), echoing Isaiah 35:5-6. A good answer notices the irony: those whose tongues were loosed speak when told to be silent, while elsewhere those told to speak stay silent. Their praise is true, but their obedience is lacking.
Show teacher guidance
Jesus charges them to tell no man, yet the more he charges them, the more widely they publish it. Their proclamation culminates in astonishment that he makes both deaf people hear and mute people speak.
Responsible application
Heart and habits
Ask the class to distinguish behaviors that merely look religious from obedience that actually honors God, using Corban and the Isaiah citation rather than modern examples first.
Relationships and community
Examine the parent-support example and ask what happens to a community when religious language is used to evade concrete obligations the text names.
Earned by this passage
Trace the chapter’s hearing theme from leaders who hear Jesus but resist his correction to the deaf man whose ears are opened. Ask the class what kinds of hearing Mark places side by side.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
Read the chapter
Read 7:1-37 aloud. Ask the class to mark every place where something is said to be clean, unclean, or opened.
Tradition and the heart
Read 7:1-13. Take questions one and two and confusion one.
From within
Read 7:14-23. Take question three and confusion three. Write the list of verse 21-22 on the board.
The Syrophenician woman
Read 7:24-30. Take question four and handle confusion two honestly.
Ephphatha
Read 7:31-37 and take questions five and six.
Handout
Read the key verse together, give out the sheet and pray.
90 minutes
Clean and unclean
Ask the group what makes something feel dirty to them. Then read 7:1-5 and explain the washing customs.
Tradition over the word
Read 7:6-13 with Isaiah 29:13. Take questions one and two and confusion one. Ask what traditions might do this today.
The heart
Read 7:14-23 with Psalm 51:10. Take question three and confusion three. Mention Acts 10:15 briefly.
Crumbs
Read 7:24-30. Take question four and confusion two. Discuss the woman's humility and boldness.
Be opened
Read 7:31-37 with Isaiah 35:4-6. Take questions five and six and confusion four.
Application
Use the second application. Ask the group to write privately one inherited habit to examine against Scripture.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together, hand out the sheet, and pray Psalm 51:10.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Wash hands in a bowl and ask whether it makes your heart clean. Then talk about what comes from inside: angry words, unkind thoughts. Keep the list of evils short for children and leave out adulteries and fornications. Tell the deaf man's healing with gestures, showing how Jesus used his fingers to speak to someone who could not hear.
Youth
Ask what rules or habits people use to look good on the outside. Read Jesus' list from verses 21-22 and let them pick one that is common among their friends. For the Syrophenician woman, let them wrestle with the hard saying, and then point to her answer and Jesus' praise. Keep the lesson personal but not shaming.
Adults
Give attention to the Corban example and ask what religious habits might be used today to avoid plain duties, especially to ageing parents. Discuss the food question and Acts 10 without forcing one tradition's practice. Treat the Syrophenician woman carefully. Adults often know the passage and still need to see her faith and Jesus' answer clearly.
One to one
Ask whether they relate more to the religious leaders, the woman pleading for her daughter, or the deaf man brought by friends. If they carry guilt about the heart's thoughts, read verses 21-23 honestly and then Psalm 51:10 as a prayer. If they care for a struggling child, read the woman's persistence and pray together.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
Mark 7
The passage in brief
The Pharisees criticise Jesus' disciples for not washing their hands according to tradition. Jesus says they honour God with their lips while their hearts are far from him, and that they use their traditions to avoid God's commands, such as honouring parents. He teaches that what defiles a person comes from within the heart, not from food. In Gentile territory, a Greek mother begs him to free her daughter, and he does. He then heals a deaf man, saying, Be opened.
A verse to keep
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.
Mark 7:21-23 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What did the Pharisees complain about in 7:1-5?
Where does Jesus say evil comes from in 7:21-23?
What did the woman say to Jesus in 7:28, and why did he grant her request?
This week
Ask God each evening this week to show you one thing in your heart that needs his cleansing.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
