What Does Mark 7:20 Mean in the King James?
And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
What leaves you can make you κοινός, common, profaned, so the verse locates defilement in what emerges from within.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks to your present life: what comes out of you can defile you. It locates that harm in what proceeds from within, showing that what you express can shape your own condition.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this dissolves is that whatever touches you from outside is the only source of defilement, while what comes from within is harmless.
THE ROOT
κοινοῖ
koinoi
GROWS FROM
κοιν-
koin-
Common or shared; in this verb, to make common or profane.
“defileth” in this verse is koinoi. The verb belongs to the family of κοινός, meaning common or shared, and can describe making something profane. The same family names κοινωνία (koinōnia), sharing in common: the verse reveals defilement as a change in how the person is regarded, from set apart to common.
ALSO GROWS
koinōnia: Sharing in common
κοινωνία
This branch shows the family’s sense of shared participation; in the verse, the related verb describes making a person common or profane.
koinōnos: Partner, participant
κοινωνός
This branch names someone who shares in something, echoing the root’s movement between common participation and being made common.
ἐκπορευόμενον
ekporeuomenon
GROWS FROM
πορεύομαι
poreuomai
To go, travel, or proceed; with ἐκ (ek, out), to go forth or proceed out.
“cometh out” in this verse is ekporeuomenon. The word describes movement outward from a source; the movement itself does not say whether what proceeds is good or harmful. The source and what comes from it give the outflow its character, a distinction also visible in the same verb in John 15:26.
ALSO GROWS
poreuomai: To go, travel, or proceed
πορεύομαι
The base verb makes clear that the word pictures movement, not a fixed state.
ekporeuomai: To go out or proceed forth
ἐκπορεύομαι
This is the verb family used in the verse and highlights the outward movement from within the human.
THE PATTERN
What flows from within gives outward form to its source and can shape a person’s condition.
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.THE THREAD
But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:Mark’s “cometh out” and John’s “proceedeth” use the same Greek verb, ἐκπορεύομαι (ekporeuomai, to go forth or proceed). The verb names movement from a source; here, what proceeds from the human defiles, while what proceeds from the Father is the Spirit of truth.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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