Matthew 15:3

3 So he answered [and] said to them, "Why do you also break the commandment of God because of your tradition?

Matthew 15:3 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 15:3

But he answered and said unto them
Taking no notice of the tradition about eating bread without washing the hands, whether it was right or wrong; it being at most but an human tradition, of no moment and importance, whether it was broke or kept; he makes a very just recrimination, by putting another question to them,

why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
suggesting, that, if his disciples were guilty, they were not so guilty as they themselves were; that his disciples, at most, were but guilty of the breach of an human precept, whereas they were guilty of the breach of a divine command; and that it was strange, that men who were so scrupulous of breaking, and bore so hard on such as did transgress the traditions of the elders, could allow themselves to transgress the commandments of God; yea, to do this by, and while they were observing their own traditions: and which observation carries a full acquittance of the disciples from blame; for, if by keeping the traditions of the elders, they broke the commands of God, it was a very good reason why they should not observe them.

Matthew 15:3 In-Context

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],"

Footnotes

• [a]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("answered") has been translated as a finite verb