What Does “It’s Not What Goes Into a Man That Defiles Him” Mean? (Matthew 15:11)

Updated October 2026

“It’s not what goes into a man that defiles him” is one of Jesus’ most quoted sayings, and one of the most misunderstood. People use it to argue that diet doesn’t matter, that any food or drink is fine, or that Jesus did away with the Old Testament food laws. Read in context, it says something different.

In the King James Version, the verse reads: “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man” (Matthew 15:11). Mark records the same saying: “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” (Mark 7:15).

Short answer: In Matthew 15:11, Jesus was answering a complaint that His disciples ate without washing their hands. He taught that real defilement comes from a sinful heart, not from skipping a man-made washing ritual. It wasn’t a ruling on which foods are clean, and it doesn’t mean that what we eat and drink doesn’t matter.

The Story Behind Matthew 15:11

The setting matters. A group of scribes and Pharisees came from Jerusalem with a complaint: “Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread” (Matthew 15:1, 2).

This wasn’t about hygiene. Mark explains that the Pharisees followed a detailed ritual of washing hands, cups, pots, and tables before eating, “holding the tradition of the elders” (Mark 7:3, 4). These rules didn’t come from the law God gave through Moses. They were human traditions layered on top of it, and eating with unwashed hands was believed to make a person ceremonially unclean.

Jesus turned the question around: “Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3). The commandment says, “Honour thy father and mother,” but they had found a way out of it. A man could declare the support he owed his parents “a gift” to God and keep it for himself (Matthew 15:4-6; Mark 7:10-12). “Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition” (Matthew 15:6).

Then He quoted Isaiah: “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8, 9). Only after that did He call the crowd together and say, “Hear, and understand” (Matthew 15:10), followed by the words of verse 11.

What Jesus Meant: Defilement Comes From the Heart

Even the disciples found the saying puzzling. Peter asked, “Declare unto us this parable” (Matthew 15:15). Jesus explained that food simply passes through the body: “whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught” (Matthew 15:17). It never reaches the heart, where our moral life is lived.

What comes out of us is different. “Those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:18, 19).

Then Jesus summed up the whole discussion in one sentence: “These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man” (Matthew 15:20). That last phrase shows what He was talking about. The question was handwashing, and His answer was about the heart.

The Pharisees were careful about clean hands and careless about clean hearts. Jesus was making the same point God made to Samuel: “man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). No ritual can cure a defiled heart. We need a new one, and only God can give it (Ezekiel 36:26).

Guarding Your Thoughts

The first thing on Jesus’ list is “evil thoughts.” Sinful words and actions start there, and a thought we keep entertaining doesn’t stay a thought for long. “When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15). That’s why Scripture says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

When a wrong thought comes, you don’t have to let it settle in. Paul describes “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). In practice, that means calling the thought what it is, asking Jesus for help right then, and turning your mind to something better: “whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8).

We can’t do this in our own strength, and we don’t have to. “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10) is a prayer God loves to answer.

Did Jesus Declare All Foods Clean?

Many sincere Christians read this passage as Jesus setting aside the food laws of Leviticus 11, usually because of Mark’s account. The King James Version says food “entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats” (Mark 7:19). That describes how the body processes food. Some newer translations add the words “Thus he declared all foods clean.”

Even read that way, the context decides what “all foods” means. Nobody in the story was eating pork or shellfish. The disciples were eating bread (Matthew 15:2), and the only question was whether skipping a ritual washing made that bread unclean. Matthew ends the same conversation with Jesus’ own conclusion: “to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man” (Matthew 15:20). For a Jewish audience, “food” already meant what God had called food (Leviticus 11).

The line between clean and unclean animals is older than Moses. Before the Flood, God told Noah, “Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens… and of beasts that are not clean by two” (Genesis 7:2).

Peter’s own experience settles it. Years after he heard Jesus say these words, Peter saw a vision of unclean animals and was told to eat. He answered, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean” (Acts 10:14). If Jesus had done away with the food laws, Peter didn’t know it. And Peter explained what the vision meant: “God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean” (Acts 10:28). It was about welcoming Gentile believers, not about diet.

Romans 14 often gets the same reading. Our study on whether Romans 14 teaches it’s OK to eat unclean foods shows that Paul was settling a different dispute there, over believers judging one another about meat offered to idols and ceremonial days, not over which animals are food.

Does This Mean We Can Eat or Drink Anything?

Some people quote “it’s not what goes into a man” to defend alcohol, drugs, or a careless diet. But Jesus wasn’t talking about anything that harms the body. He was talking about a washing ritual.

The Bible cares about what we put into our bodies because God cares about the body itself. “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20).

Paul applies that to food and drink directly: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). Proverbs warns, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1). Our study on whether Christians can drink alcohol looks at that question in more detail. And John wrote to a friend, “I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 2).

So both things are true. A ritual can’t make the heart clean, and the heart is where sin begins. But a changed heart also cares about the body God made, and Scripture gives practical help with that, as our study on the Bible’s dietary guidelines explains. We don’t earn His favor by eating well. We take care of our bodies because they belong to Him.

Common Questions

What does “it’s not what goes into a man that defiles him” mean?

It means sin and spiritual uncleanness come from the heart, not from eating with unwashed hands. Jesus said it to Pharisees who had turned a human washing tradition into a test of holiness (Matthew 15:1-20).

Where does the Bible say what comes out of the mouth defiles a man?

In Matthew 15:11 and Mark 7:15. The KJV reads, “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man” (Matthew 15:11). Jesus explains the saying in Matthew 15:17-20 and Mark 7:18-23.

What are the things that defile a man?

Jesus listed them: “evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19). Mark adds covetousness, deceit, pride, and foolishness (Mark 7:21, 22). Every one of them starts in the heart.

Does Mark 7:19 mean Jesus made all foods clean?

The question in Mark 7 was whether bread eaten with unwashed hands was unclean, not which animals are food. Jesus’ conclusion was that “to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man” (Matthew 15:20). Years later, Peter was still refusing unclean food (Acts 10:14).

Can Christians eat pork?

This passage doesn’t address pork, and nothing in it changes Leviticus 11, where God names the swine as unclean (Leviticus 11:7). Peter still refused unclean food after Jesus returned to heaven (Acts 10:14), and Isaiah’s prophecy of the end warns those “eating swine’s flesh” (Isaiah 66:17). Following God’s guidance on clean and unclean foods is one way to honor Him with our bodies. For a closer look, see what the Bible says about eating unclean meat.

Clean Hands and a Pure Heart

Jesus never said outward things don’t matter. He said they can’t take the place of a clean heart. “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:3, 4).

The good news is that a pure heart is something God gives. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). And Jesus promised, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8).

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