Mark 7:21 (KJV)

What does Mark 7:21 mean?

In Mark 7:21, Jesus says that the source of evil thoughts and actions lies within people. The verse places the problem in a person’s inner life, rather than in something that enters the body from outside.

Jesus is explaining this to his disciples after a discussion about eating with unwashed hands. The “heart” pictures the inner center of a person’s thinking and desires. Jesus names both thoughts and actions, beginning a list that continues in the next verse.

The Greek behind Mark 7:21

• “heart” — καρδία (kardia): This word can refer to the heart as the center of a person’s inner life. Here, it points to more than feelings: Jesus also connects it with thoughts and actions.
• “thoughts” — διαλογισμοί (dialogismoi): This word can mean thoughts or inward reasoning. The word presents evil as something that can take shape in a person’s thinking.
• “fornications” — πορνεῖαι (porneiai): This word refers broadly to sexual acts regarded as wrong. In the KJV list, it stands alongside the more specific word “adulteries.”

Why Mark 7:21 matters

• Jesus shifts attention from a rule about washing hands to the source of conduct. The dispute began when some people objected that his disciples ate without the customary washing (Mark 7:2–5).
• The list includes both inward thoughts and outward acts. Jesus places “evil thoughts” alongside acts such as “murders,” connecting a person’s inner life with conduct.
• The sentence continues beyond verse 21. The additional items in verse 22 show that Jesus is giving a list of examples, not limiting his point to the acts named in verse 21.