Jesus Never Declared All Foods Clean. By Dr. Chapman Chen

Summary: “Translation is interpretation” (Hans-Georg Gadamer 1960); Translation is rewriting and manipulation (André Lefevere 1992).

Based on Mark 7:15-19, it is alleged that Jesus declared all foods, including animal flesh, clean.  We submit that this is a product of mistranslation and manipulation.

15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”…17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) (Mark 7:15-19 NIV)

The sentence “(In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)”, found in parentheses in Mark 7:19 in the NIV and regarded by many as Jesus permitting the consumption of all animals, must be a later addition intended to accommodate Gentile converts to Christianity, because it is absent from the KJV and from the Greek manuscripts.

Moreover, the participial phrase “purging [καθαρίζων] all [πάντα] the [τὰ] foods [βρώματα]” (Mark 7:19 KJV) is in grammatical discordance with the rest of the sentence (cf. Beer 2014).

In addition, the question mark, which can substantially affect the syntactic interpretation of the passage, is a later scribal convention: as Metzger (1964:27) observes, the “sign of interrogation … is rarely found before the ninth century.”

Notably, the context is some Pharisees criticizing Jesus' disciples for failing to wash their hands ritualistically before eating bread. The conversation is centered around whether one should hold the tradition of the elders and always wash one's hands before eating. And Jesus' conclusion is: God's command is more significant than men's tradition, and evil thoughts rather than food taken without washing hands defile us (Matthew 15:20). Here, Jesus is not saying that we can eat any kind of unclean food or animal flesh (cf. JM de Beer 2014; Steven August 2022, 299).

Likewise, regarding Matthew 15:11, Pastor William Metcalfe (1788-1862), English-American founder of the vegetarian Philadelphia Bible Christian Church and the American Vegetarian Society, rhetorically asks, “Does anyone seriously imagine and really believe that our Saviour, by this declaration, meant to give full license to gluttony and intemperance, or that his followers might eat or drink anything with impunity which the Law of God had forbidden to be used?” To comprehend the intended meaning of these words, Metcalfe suggests, we must consider the context in which they were uttered. The Pharisees took offence at, and murmured against, Jesus' disciples for eating without washing hands. In response, Jesus stated that it is not what enters the mouth that defiles the individual. To put it in another way, a small amount of dirt taken in by eating without washing hands will not tarnish a person. This, Metcalfe understands, is the clear and straightforward message of the passage (Metcalfe 1840, p. 28).

Metcalfe also draws our attention to the fact that these words were uttered around two decades before the Apostolic Decree, which Metcalfe has shown to be veggie. It is highly unlikely that the 12 disciples of Jesus would issue a decree that forthrightly contradicts the declaration of the one whose mission they campaigned and by whose authority they had boldly and confidently presented themselves as defenders of the Gospel Dispensation  (Metcalfe 1840, p. 29).

Full Text Link:  https://www.vegantheology.net/post/jesus-never-declared-all-foods-clean-by-dr-chapman-chen

1. Bible Verses Concerned:

¹⁵ There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man…. 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;  ¹⁹ Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? (Mark 7:15-19 KJV)

15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.”…17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) (Mark 7:15-19 NIV)

2. "Jesus declared all foods clean" as a Later Addition

The declaration in parenthesis “purging [καθαρίζων] all [πάντα]  the [τὰ] food [βρώματα]?” can only found in certain versions like NIV, which came into existence after the King James Version, one of the earliest English translations of the Holy Bible. The earliest available Greek Manuscripts as shown in Biblehub do not contain it. So it must be a remark added by later scribes or translators (cf.  Bbvulf 2013).

2.1. Grammatical Discordance 

As pointed out by Beer 2014, “purging” (καθαρίζων) is a participium (which functions as the verb of the clause), whereas “he said” (λέγει) is an indicative verb.  “And He [Jesus] said to them…[Jesus is] cleansing all the foods” "would not make sense grammatically."

2.2. Punctuation Problem 

According to Metzger (1964:26-27), the early papyri as well as the uncial manuscripts have “only an occasional mark of punctuation”, and the sign of interrogation (question mark) “is rarely found before the ninth century” (Metzger 1964:27).

As pointed out by Beer 2014, the least we can construe from the texts with punctuation is that later scribes (copyists)" attempted to signify that the phrase “purging καθαρίζων all πάντα  the τὰ food βρώματα” (Mark &:19) should be set apart from the remaining of the sentence. This could mean: "the phrase is not part of Jesus’ question to his followers, but rather an editorial note by Mark". 

3. Background of the Verses Concerned:

The Pharisees and certain scribes from Jerusalem spot some of Jesus' disciples eating bread with "unwashen hands" and query Jesus why should his disciples not follow the tradition of the elders and wash their hands before eating (Mark 7:1-5 KJV).

Jesus' response may be divided into three stages.

3.1 Stage one:-

Jesus bluntly calls the Pharisees and scribes "hypocrites" and asserts that in holding "the tradition of men", like the washing of pots and cups, [and of hands before eating], they are in fact going against the commandment of God (Mark 7: 6-13 KJV). So Jesus definitely is not canceling the kosher code and the vegan diet prescribed by God upon creating humans. Instead, he is upholding them as opposed to the tradition of men adhered to by the Pharisees.

3.2 Stage two:-

Jesus tells the crowd that nothing that enters a man from without can defile him while it is the things that come out of him that defile him (Mark 7: 14-15). This is somewhat covert and unspecified. Concerning the first limb, it is not specified whether Jesus is talking about food or something else, like air or sound. But judging from the background as laid out at the beginning of this chapter, it must refer to food eaten with unwashen hands, that the Pharisees claim to be defiled. As for the second limb, it is not specified whether Jesus is talking about exhaled breath, excretion, thought, or action or attitude. 

3.3 Stage three:-

Jesus' speech at Stage 3 is more specific and profound than that at Stage 2.

Jesus leaves the crowd and enters the house, where his disciples ask him about the meaning of the "parable" (Mark 7: 17 KJV). The word "parable" suggests that Mark 7:15 is to be understood figuratively or metaphorically.

Jesus then questions his disciples rhetorically: Are you so dumb as to fail to see that whatsoever enters the man from without cannot defile him because it enters his belly instead of his heart and then goes out into the sewer:

"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;  Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?" (Mark 7:18-19 KJV)

Apparently, food ingested, which will become ejected feces, is what Jesus is talking about here. Again, judging from the background as laid out at the beginning of Mark 7, it is not any food, but food eaten with unwashen hands, which the Pharisees frown at. And, as aforementioned, "purging all meats" does not fit in the picture. Grammatically and structurally, it is situated too far away from the subject it is supposed to describe --  "he [Jesus]". Semantically, are we actually supposed to believe that Jesus cleanses all the foods in the universe, including animal flesh like pork, while uttering Mark 7:19? Contextually, Jesus, as aforementioned, is upholding God's commandment concerning food rather than going against it.

Lastly, Jesus clarifies that it is "evil thoughts", evil actions, like murder, deceit, lasciviousness, evil words like blasphemy, and evil attitude like pride and foolishness, that proceed from the heart of people that defile them (Mark 7:20-23 KJV). Now it is specified what things that come out of people will defile them.

3.4. Pastor William Metcalfe’s Analysis

Similarly, concerning Jesus’ utterance, “Not  that  which  goeth  into  the  mouth  defileth  the  man”, Pastor William Metcalfe rhetorically asks, “But  does  any  one  seriously  imagine,  and  really  believe, that  our  Saviour,  by  this  declaration  meant  to  give  full license  to  gluttony  and  intemperance,  or  that  his  followers, might  eat  or  drink  any  thing  with  impunity  which  the  Law of  God  had  forbidden  to  be  used?” He also requires us to consider the context which informs us that “the Pharisees  being  offended,  murmured  at  the   disciples  of Jesus  for  sitting  down  to  meat  with  unwashed  hands; in answer  to  their  murmuring  Jesus  said,  ''Not  that  which goeth  into  the  mouth  defileth the man.” To put it in any way, “not any  little  soil  taken  into  the  mouth  by  eating  with  unwashed hands  can  be  said  to  defile  the  man.” This, Metcalfe argues, is “the plain and obvious meaning of the passage” (Metcalfe 1840: Chapt. 29).

In addition, Metcafle points out that “it is not probable the Apostles would make a decree [which Metcalfe has shown to be veggie], directly in contradiction to the declaration of Him whose cause they advocated, and  by whose authority they  had stood forth as the champions of the Gospel Dispensation” (Metcalfe 1840: Chapt. 29).

4. Conclusion

To conclude, Jesus did not declare all foods clean, for the declaration in parenthesis can only be found in English translations after the KJV. Nor did Jesus repeal the Torah or the Kosher code. The phrase "purging all meats" must be a later remark or comment added by either Mark or some scribe after him. The line "whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him" is merely a kind of figurative speech or parable. By no means did Jesus mean that we can eat any kind of unclean food or animal flesh; He is not repealing the Kosher code.

In Mark 7, Jesus is essentially saying that God's command is more important than men's tradition, that even if we eat without washing our hands first, the food taken in from without will not defile us; that on the other hand, evil thoughts and actions, etc. that come out of our heart will defile us.  

This conclusion is corroborated by the fact that Jesus was a vegan, as argued in Linzey (1994), Akers (2000), Saba (2006), York and Alexis-Baker (2012), Chen (2020), Beer (2014) and Erwin (2010), and that He taught veganism (Panarion 30.18.9).

Bibliography

Akers, Keith (2000). The Lost Religion of Jesus. Lagos: Lantern Books.

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Beer, JM de (2014). "Did Jesus Really Declare All Food Clean?" (https://www.academia.edu/38821408/DID_JESUS_REALLY_DECLARE_ALL_FOOD_CLEAN)

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Chen, Chapman (2021b). "Which One was Vegan? Cain or Abel?" HKBNews, July 27 (https://www.hkbnews.net/post/which-one-was-vegan-cain-or-abel-by-chapman-chen-hkbnews)

Chen, Chapman (2021c). "Does Dominion in Genesis Mean Stewardship or Despotism?" HKBNews, July 12 (https://www.hkbnews.net/post/does-dominion-over-animals-in-genesis-mean-stewardship-or-despotism-go-vegan-by-chapman-chen)

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Chen, Chapman (2021e). "Does Genesis Prescribe a Vegan Diet or a Meat Diet?" HKBNews, June 17 (https://www.hkbnews.net/post/does-genesis-prescribe-a-vegan-diet-or-a-meat-diet-by-chapman-chen-hkbnews )

Chen, Chapman (2021f). "Follow Christ's Words n Love your Neighbors, includ. Animals." HKBNews, June 15 (https://www.hkbnews.net/post/follow-christ-s-words-n-love-your-neighbors-includ-animals-go-vegan-by-chapman-chen-hkbnews )

Chen, Chapman (2021g). "Jesus Heals a Mule:- A Coptic Bible Story. Go Vegan!" HKBNews, 28 Aug. (https://www.hkbnews.net/post/jesus-heals-a-mule-a-coptic-bible-story-go-vegan-by-chapman-chen-hkbnews)

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Erwin, Jane (2010). "The Real Forbidden Fruit is Meat". Ogden: Sunstone 2011 Utah Symposium and Workshops, August 6. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EBfPhSJFXE&t=2750s)

James, Montague Rhode (1924). The Gospel of the Ebionites in The Apocryphal New Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 8-10. (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/gospelebionites.html)

Linzey, Andrew (1994). Animal Theology. Champaign: University of Illinois Press.

Linzey, Andrew (2007). Creatures of the Same God -- Explorations in Animal Theology. Winchester: Winchester UP.

Metcalfe, William (1840). Bible Testimony on Abstinence from the Flesh of Animals as Food: Being an Address Delivered in the Bible-Christian Church. Philadelphia : J. Metcalfe & Co. https://archive.org/details/bibletestimonyon11metc/page/7/mode/1up?ref=ol&view=theater

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Saba (2006). The Lord Christ Jesus was a Vegan. Bloominton: AuthorHouse. 

York, Tripp and Alexis-Baker, Andy, eds. (2012). A Faith Embracing All Creatures. Eugene: Cascade Books.

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