18 "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them?
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;
18 And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him,
18 Jesus said, "Are you being willfully stupid? Don't you see that what you swallow can't contaminate you?
18 So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him,
18 "Don't you understand either?" he asked. "Can't you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you?
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Mark 7:18
Commentary on Mark 7:14-23
(Read Mark 7:14-23)
Our wicked thoughts and affections, words and actions, defile us, and these only. As a corrupt fountain sends forth corrupt streams, so does a corrupt heart send forth corrupt reasonings, corrupt appetites and passions, and all the wicked words and actions that come from them. A spiritual understanding of the law of God, and a sense of the evil of sin, will cause a man to seek for the grace of the Holy Spirit, to keep down the evil thoughts and affections that work within.