Matthew 15:1-10

Human Traditions and God’s Commandments

1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying,
2 "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat {a meal}."
3 So he answered [and] said to them, "Why do you also break the commandment of God because of your tradition?
4 For God said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and 'The one who speaks evil of father or mother {must certainly die}.'
5 But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or his mother, "Whatever {benefit you would have received} from me [is] a gift [to God],"
6 need not honor his father,' and you make void the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
7 Hypocrites! Isaiah correctly prophesied about you saying,
8 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far, far away from me,
9 and they worship me in vain, teaching [as] doctrines the commandments of men.'"

Defilement from Within

10 And summoning the crowd, he said to them, "Hear and understand:

Footnotes 13

  • [a]. Literally "bread"
  • [b]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("answered") has been translated as a finite verb
  • [c]. *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  • [d]. *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  • [e]. A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16
  • [f]. Literally "let him die the death"
  • [g]. A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9
  • [h]. *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  • [i]. *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  • [j]. Literally "you would have been benefited"
  • [k]. Most later manuscripts add "or his mother"
  • [l]. *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  • [m]. A quotation from Isa 29:13
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.