The subsequent parenthetical explanations of the issues in 7:2, 3–4 reflect a development aimed at a “gentile” Christian audience for whom the Jewish practices and “traditions” were unknown. The parenthetical comment in 7:19c that draws the logical implications of 7:15 interpreted by 7:18b–19 now addresses the issue of “clean and unclean” food (e.g., Lev 11–19). These comments clearly assume a setting in the Church where more than ritual defilement or the “tradition of the elders” was at stake.