Abstract
The article proposes that Jesus’ parable in Mark 7:14-19a and Mark’s editorial comment in 7:19b uphold the validity of the Torah’s ritual purity system. Prioritization, not abrogation, is the aim of Jesus’ teaching. The Markan insertion was likely intended as a historicaltheological justification for the Jerusalem Council’s exemption of Gentile Christians from the Leviticus 11 dietary laws; Pauline influence is also plausible. The article calls into question the use of revocation terminology by commentators to explicate the parenthesis. From the Jewish Christian perspective, as implied in the Apostolic Decree, the dietary laws remained incumbent on Jews. Against this Acts 15 backdrop, Mark 7:19b is best understood as a matter of Gentile halakhic application and not an apocalyptic pronouncement that all foods are now clean. Recognition of this Jew-Gentile ecclesiological variegation is essential to understanding the early Church’s reading of Mark 7.
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