Primary Scripture
Mark 7:18 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;
Mark 7:19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?
Plain explanation
Mark 7 concerns handwashing and heart defilement, not the abolition of clean and unclean meats.
Common assumption
YAHUSHA declared all foods clean.
Scripture-defined meaning
Mark 7:18-19 belongs to the handwashing and tradition dispute of Mark 7. It addresses defilement from the heart and food in that dispute; it must not be stretched into making unclean creatures clean.
Confirming witnesses
- Immediate explanation: Mark 7:2-9,20-23
The immediate context is man-made handwashing rules and inward moral defilement, not a dispute over eating unclean animals. - Lexical usage: Matthew 15:17-20
The parallel explanation identifies the issue as digestion and unwashed hands while locating sin in the heart. - Prophetic purpose: Leviticus 11:46-47
The Word already distinguishes clean from unclean and edible from non-edible creatures. - Apostolic confirmation: Acts 10:14,28
Peter's later conduct and explanation show that the apostolic witness did not understand YAHUSHA to have made unclean animals food.
Takeaway
Heart defilement does not cancel YAHUAH's definition of clean and unclean.
Context reflection
Where has a handwashing dispute been used to overturn YAHUAH's food boundaries?