Passage

Matthew 15.1-20

Book: Matthew · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. Then there come to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying, 2. Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3. And he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4. For God said, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, He that speaketh evil of father or mother, let him die the death. 5. But ye say, whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, That wherewith thou mightest have been profited by me is given to God; 6. he shall not honor his father. And ye have made void the word of God because of your tradition. 7. Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 8. This people honoreth me with their lips; But their heart is far from me. 9. But in vain do they worship me, Teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. 10. And he called to him the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11. Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man. 12. Then came the disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying? 13. But he answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Father planted not, shall be rooted up. 14. Let them alone: they are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit. 15. And Peter answered and said unto him, Declare unto us the parable. 16. And he said, Are ye also even yet without understanding? 17. Perceive ye not, that whatsoever goeth into the mouth passeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18. But the things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and they defile the man. 19. For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings: 20. these are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not the man."

"21. And Jesus went out thence, and withdrew into the parts of Tyre and Sidon. 22. And behold, a Canaanitish woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a demon." (Matthew 15:1-22, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, 2. “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3. He answered them, “Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4. For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 5. But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother, “Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,” 6. he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition. 7. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 8. ‘These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9. And in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men.’” 10. He summoned the multitude, and said to them, “Hear, and understand. 11. That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.” 12. Then the disciples came, and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?” 13. But he answered, “Every plant which my heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. 14. Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15. Peter answered him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16. So Jesus said, “Do you also still not understand? 17. Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the belly, and then out of the body? 18. But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the heart, and they defile the man. 19. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies. 20. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands doesn’t defile the man.”"

"21. Jesus went out from there, and withdrew into the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22. Behold, a Canaanite woman came out from those borders, and cried, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, you son of David! My daughter is severely possessed by a demon!”" (Matthew 15:1-22, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, 2. Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? 4. For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. 5. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; 6. And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. 7. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8. This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 10. And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. 12. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13. But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 15. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 16. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17. Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20. These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man."

"21. Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil." (Matthew 15:1-22, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Then come unto Jesus do they from Jerusalem, scribes and Pharisees, saying, 2. 'Wherefore do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they do not wash their hands when they may eat bread.' 3. And he answering said to them, 'Wherefore also do ye transgress the command of God because of your tradition? 4. for God did command, saying, Honour thy father and mother; and, He who is speaking evil of father or mother, let him die the death; 5. but ye say, Whoever may say to father or mother, An offering [is] whatever thou mayest be profited by me;, 6. and he may not honour his father or his mother, and ye did set aside the command of God because of your tradition. 7. 'Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 8. This people doth draw nigh to Me with their mouth, and with the lips it doth honour Me, but their heart is far off from Me; 9. and in vain do they worship Me, teaching teachings, commands of men.' 10. And having called near the multitude, he said to them, 'Hear and understand: 11. not that which is coming into the mouth doth defile the man, but that which is coming forth from the mouth, this defileth the man.' 12. Then his disciples having come near, said to him, 'Hast thou known that the Pharisees, having heard the word, were stumbled?' 13. And he answering said, 'Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant shall be rooted up; 14. let them alone, guides they are, blind of blind; and if blind may guide blind, both into a ditch shall fall.' 15. And Peter answering said to him, 'Explain to us this simile.' 16. And Jesus said, 'Are ye also yet without understanding? 17. do ye not understand that all that is going into the mouth doth pass into the belly, and into the drain is cast forth? 18. but the things coming forth from the mouth from the heart do come forth, and these defile the man; 19. for out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, whoredoms, thefts, false witnessings, evil speakings: 20. these are the things defiling the man; but to eat with unwashen hands doth not defile the man.'"

"21. And Jesus having come forth thence, withdrew to the parts of Tyre and Sidon, 22. and lo, a woman, a Canaanitess, from those borders having come forth, did call to him, saying, 'Deal kindly with me, Sir, Son of David; my daughter is miserably demonized.'" (Matthew 15:1-22, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.