Mark 7:21

Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.)

English Translation

For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, murders, thefts,

World English Bible · Public Domain

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κλοπαί

klopḗ

G2829

“theft”

Noun, Nominative, Plural, Feminine

Appears 2× in the Greek New Testament
First appears at Matthew 15:19

Full Thayer's Definition

Origin: from G2813

TDNT: None

1. theft

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

15: words
12: distinct lemmas
Gospels: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is κλοπαί theft G2829 — appearing just 2 times in the whole Greek New Testament.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

κλοπαί theft G2829 occurs in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:

Matthew 15:19

Repetition

A word recurs within this verse:

τῆς the G3588 ×4

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Mark 7:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?
Romans 8:7–8 because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God's law, neither indeed can it be.
James 4:1–3 Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don't they come from your pleasures that war in your members?
Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies.
Galatians 5:19–21 Now the works of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,
Ezekiel 38:10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: It shall happen in that day, that things shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an evil device:
Acts 8:22 Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and ask God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
Jeremiah 4:14 Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?

Matthew 9:4 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?
James 2:4 haven't you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?
Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it is the wellspring of life.
Matthew 23:25–28 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness.
Luke 16:15 He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
James 1:14–15 But each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
Psalms 14:3 They have all gone aside. They have together become corrupt. There is none who does good, no, not one.
Psalms 53:3 Every one of them has gone back. They have become filthy together. There is no one who does good, no, not one.

Psalms 58:2–3 No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth.
Isaiah 59:7 Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their paths.
Genesis 6:5 Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Genesis 8:21 Yahweh smelled the sweet savor. Yahweh said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike everything living, as I have done.
Job 14:4 Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.
Job 15:14–16 What is man, that he should be clean? He who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
Job 25:4 How then can man be just with God? Or how can he who is born of a woman be clean?
Psalms 14:1 The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none who does good.

Proverbs 15:25 Yahweh will uproot the house of the proud, But he will keep the widow's borders intact.
Acts 5:4 While you kept it, didn't it remain your own? After it was sold, wasn't it in your power? How is it that you have conceived this thing in your heart? You haven't lied to men, but to God."
Romans 7:8 But sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead.
1 Peter 4:2–3 that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
Psalms 53:1 The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity. There is no one who does good.
Romans 7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law, worked in our members to bring forth fruit to death.
Titus 3:3 For we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Commentary

Notes on Mark 7:21 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Expositor's Greek Testament

ed. W. Robertson Nicoll

Mar 7:21 . An enumeration of the things which come out of the man, from the heart; first six plurals, πορνεῖαι , etc.; then six singulars, δόλος , etc. (Mar 7:22 ).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

21. evil thoughts] Thirteen forms of evil are here noticed as proceeding from the heart. The first seven in the plural number, are predominant actions; the latter six in the singular, dispositions. Comp. the blending of the singular and plural in St Paul’s enumeration of the works of the flesh, Gal_5:19-21.

adulteries] The preferable order appears to be fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetousnesses, wickednesses.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

Thefts,.... These also are mentioned in Matthew, but Mark omits "false witnesses", and adds the following; which, excepting "blasphemy", are not taken notice of by the other evangelists;

covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; See Gill on Mat 15:19.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,

Ver. 21. Evil thoughts, adulteries, &c.] Even all sorts of sins against both the tables of the law, as is well observed by Grotius in loc. Here is pride and folly against the first commandment; blasphemy against the second and third; of sins against the fifth commandment he had spoken before; and here are murders against the sixth; adultery and fornication against the seventh; thefts and covetousness against the eighth; guilt against the ninth; evil thoughts against the tenth. See what a foul fountain, what a seminary of sin, man’s heart is. If his tongue be not a city, or a country, but a world of wickedness, Jas 3:6, what then is the heart!

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges

21. πορνεῖαι, κλοπαί, φόνοι, μοιχεῖαι ([1470][1471][1472][1473]) rather than μ., π., φ., κλ. ([1474][1475][1476][1477][1478]).

[1470] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[1471] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[1472] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mar 1:1 to Mar 10:15; Mar 10:30 to Mar 15:1; Mar 15:20 to Mar 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

[1473] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.

[1474] Codex Alexandrinus. 5th cent. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to King Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. The whole Gospel. Photographic facsimile, 1879.

[1475] Codex Purpureus. 6th cent. Full text in Texts and Studies v. No. 4, 1899. Contains Mar 5:20 to Mar 7:4; Mar 7:20 to Mar 8:32; Mar 9:1 to Mar 10:43; Mar 11:7 to Mar 12:19; Mar 14:25 to Mar 15:23; Mar 15:33-42. See below on Ψ.

[1476] Codex Monacensis. 10th cent. Contains Mar 6:47 to Mar 16:20. Many verses in 14, 15, 16 are defective.

[1477] Codex Oxoniensis. 9th cent. Contains Mark, except Mar 3:35 to Mar 6:20.

[1478] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mar 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

21. ἔσωθεν γάρ. Nothing that comes from without brings moral pollution, but a great deal that comes from within may do so, proceeding not ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας, but ἐκ τῆς καρδίας. Deu 23:23 has a germ of this; τὰ ἐκπορευόμενα διὰ τῶν χειλέων φυλάξῃ. Cf. Mat 12:35 = Luk 6:45, and Mat 23:25 = Luk 11:39; and see on ὁ ἔξω and ὁ ἔσω ἄνθρωπος, 2Co 4:16. Syr-Sin., like Mt., omits the superfluous ἔσωθεν. Cf. Mar 1:32; Mar 1:42, Mar 2:23, Mar 6:25, where Syr-Sin. omits what is superfluous.

οἱ διαλογισμοὶ οἱ κακοί. The thoughts that are evil is the genus of which twelve species are enumerated, six in the plur. and six in the sing. In N.T. διαλογισμός is almost always bad thought and generally plur., but in LXX. it is sometimes used of the thoughts of God (Psa 40:5; Psa 92:5). Of the twelve evil things in Mk, Mt. omits seven, and he adds ψευδομαρτυρίαι. In Gal 5:19-21 we have sixteen or seventeen sins, of which only two or three are in Mk; in Wis 14:25-26, fifteen or sixteen, of which five are in Mk; in Didache Mar 7:9, twenty-two, of which six are in Mk. These catalogues strikingly illustrate the multiplicity of evil. There is no classification of the vices, such as we should have in a treatise on ethics. Both Mk and Mt. begin, where all sin begins, in the region of thought. Then Mt. follows the order of the Commandments, sixth to ninth.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

International Critical Commentary

21. οἱ διαλογισμοὶ—The article denotes the class of things collectively, whereas the anarthrous noun denotes them individually. This is the general term, under which the things that follow are specifications. The noun denotes the kind of thought which weighs, calculates, and deliberates. It is used here of designs or purposes. It is in accordance with our Lord’s whole course of thought here, that he designates the evil as residing rather in the thought than in the outward act. The order of the first four specifications is as follows: πορνεῖαι, κλοπαί, φόνοι, μοιχεῖαι, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries. The arrangement of the TR. is an attempt at a more studied order, bringing together things that are alike. The only principle of arrangement in Mk.’s enumeration is the distinction between these grosser, more outward forms of sin, and the more subtle, inward manifestations which follow in v. 22.1

πορνεῖαι, κλοπαί, φόνοι, μοιχεῖαι, instead of μοιχεῖαι, πορνεῖαι, φόνοι, κλοπαί, Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. א BL Δ Memph.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament

Marvin R. Vincent

Evil Thoughts [διαλογισμοι οι κακοι] . Thoughts, those which are evil. So Rev., in margin. Thoughts that are evil. The word dialogismoi, thoughts, does not in itself convey a bad sense; and hence the addition of adjectives denoting evil, as here and Jas 2:4. Radically, it carries the idea of discussion or debate, with an under - thought of suspicion or doubt, either with one's own mind, as Luk 5:22; Luk 6:8; or with another, Luk 9:46; Phi 2:14; Rom 14:1.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Mark, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 15 words (12 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is klopḗ (“theft”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word klopḗ carries the sense “theft.” How does it shape the verse?
How does Matthew 15:19, which shares the word «theft», read alongside this verse?
What does the repetition of “the” (4× in this one verse) do in this verse?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
Compare how Expositor's Greek Testament and The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 10 words in this verse.
“the” occurs 4× in this single verse.
12 distinct Greek lemmas span 15 words in this verse.