Matthew 15:18

18 But what comes out of your mouth is actually coming from your heart, and that is what makes a person unclean.

Matthew 15:18 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 15:18

But those things which proceed out of the mouth
Meaning not material things, as spittle, vomit but, as it follows, which

come forth from the heart:
are first conceived and formed there, and then come forth from thence, and are expressed by the mouth; as all idle words, foolish talking, filthy jesting, unsavoury communication, and every word that is rotten and corrupt, or which is done in the life and conversation;

and they defile the man:
the heart is the corrupt fountain from whence all moral defilement flows; and sinful words and actions are the impure streams, which spring from thence, and increase the moral pollution of human nature.

Matthew 15:18 In-Context

16 So he said, "Don't you under stand even now?
17 Don't you see that anything that enters the mouth goes into the stomach and passes out into the latrine?
18 But what comes out of your mouth is actually coming from your heart, and that is what makes a person unclean.
19 For out of the heart come forth wicked thoughts, murder, adultery and other kinds of sexual immorality, theft, lies, slanders. . . .
20 These are what really make a person unclean, but eating without doing n'tilat-yadayim does not make a person unclean."
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.