Matthew 15
New American Standard Bible
Tradition and Commandment
15 (A)Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus (B)from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they (C)do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves also break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘(D)Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘(E)The one who speaks evil of father or mother is to [a]be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been [b]given to God,” 6 he is not to [c]honor his father or mother.’ And by this you have invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, by saying:
8 ‘(F)This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
9 And in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as (G)doctrines the commandments of men.’”
10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand! 11 (H)It is not what enters the mouth that defiles the person, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles the person.”
12 Then the disciples came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were [d]offended when they heard this statement?” 13 But He answered and said, “(I)Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 14 Leave them alone; (J)they are blind guides [e]of blind people. And (K)if a person who is blind guides another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”
The Heart of Man
15 Peter [f]said to Him, “(L)Explain the parable to us.” 16 [g]Jesus said, “Are you also still lacking in understanding? 17 Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is [h]eliminated? 18 But (M)the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and those things defile the person. 19 (N)For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testimonies, and [i]slanderous statements. 20 These are the things that defile the person; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the person.”
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 (O)Jesus went away from there, and withdrew into the region of (P)Tyre and (Q)Sidon. 22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Lord, (R)Son of David; my daughter is severely (S)demon-possessed.” 23 But He did not answer her with even a word. And His disciples came up and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, because she keeps shouting [j]at us!” 24 But He answered and said, “I was sent only to (T)the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and (U)began [k]to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 Yet He answered and said, “It is not [l]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 And she said, “Yes, Lord; but please help, for even the dogs feed on the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” 28 Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, (V)your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed [m]at once.
Healing Crowds
29 (W)Departing from there, Jesus went along (X)the Sea of Galilee, and after going up on the mountain, He was sitting there. 30 And [n]large crowds came to Him bringing with them those who were limping, had impaired limbs, were blind, or were unable to speak, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and (Y)He healed them. 31 So the crowd was astonished as they saw those who were unable to speak talking, those with impaired limbs [o]restored, those who were limping walking around, and those who were blind seeing; and they (Z)glorified the God of Israel.
Four Thousand Men Fed
32 (AA)Now Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “(AB)I feel compassion for the [p]people, because they [q]have remained with Me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” 33 The disciples *said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” 34 And Jesus *said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” 35 And He directed the [r]people to [s]sit down on the ground; 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and after (AC)giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large (AD)baskets full. 38 And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.
39 And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into (AE)the boat and came to the region of (AF)Magadan.
Footnotes
- Matthew 15:4 Lit die the death
- Matthew 15:5 Lit a gift; i.e., an offering
- Matthew 15:6 I.e., by supporting them with it
- Matthew 15:12 Lit caused to stumble
- Matthew 15:14 Later mss add of blind people
- Matthew 15:15 Lit answering, said
- Matthew 15:16 Lit and He
- Matthew 15:17 Lit thrown out into the latrine
- Matthew 15:19 Or abusive speech
- Matthew 15:23 Lit behind us
- Matthew 15:25 Or worshiped
- Matthew 15:26 Or proper
- Matthew 15:28 Lit from that hour
- Matthew 15:30 Lit many
- Matthew 15:31 Or healthy
- Matthew 15:32 Lit crowd
- Matthew 15:32 Lit are remaining
- Matthew 15:35 Lit crowd
- Matthew 15:35 Lit recline
Matthew 15
Disciples’ Literal New Testament
Jesus Condemns The Pharisees For Obeying Their Traditions Instead of God’s Commands
15 Then Pharisees and scribes come to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, 2 “For what reason are Your disciples transgressing the tradition of the elders? For they are not washing[a] their hands when they eat bread”. 3 But the One, having responded, said to them, “For what reason indeed are you transgressing the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said [in Ex 20:12]: ‘Be honoring your father and your mother’, and [in Ex 21:17] ‘Let the one speaking-evil-of father or mother come-to-an-end[b] by a death’. 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or his mother: “Whatever you might be benefitted from me is a gift[c] [to God]” 6 shall by-no-means honor[d] his father’. And you nullified[e] the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly concerning you, saying [in Isa 29:13]: 8 ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far distant from Me. 9 But they are worshiping Me in-vain[f]— teaching as teachings the commandments of humans’”. 10 And having summoned the crowd, He said to them, “Listen and understand. 11 The thing entering into the mouth does not defile[g] the person. But the thing proceeding out of the mouth— this defiles the person”.
The Pharisees Focus On What Goes Into The Body Versus What Comes From The Heart
12 Then having come to Him, the disciples say to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees, having heard Your statement, took-offense[h]? 13 But the One, having responded, said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted. 14 Leave them alone. They are blind guides of blind ones. And if a blind one guides a blind one, both will fall into a pit”. 15 And having responded, Peter said to Him, “Explain this parable to us”. 16 And the One said, “Are you[i] even yet also without-understanding? 17 Do you not perceive that everything proceeding into the mouth advances into the stomach and is expelled into a latrine? 18 But the things proceeding out of the mouth come out of the heart. And those things defile the person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts[j], murders, adulteries, sexual-immoralities, thefts, false-testimonies[k], blasphemies. 20 These are the things defiling the person. But the eating with unwashed hands does not defile the person”.
A Gentile Woman Begs For Crumbs From The Master’s Table
21 And having gone out from there, Jesus withdrew into the regions of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold— a Canaanite woman having come out from those districts was crying out, saying, “Have mercy on me, Master, Son of David. My daughter is badly demon-possessed”. 23 But the One did not respond a word to her. And having come to Him, His disciples were asking Him, saying, “Send her away, because she is crying-out after us”. 24 But the One, having responded, said, “I was not sent-forth except for[l] the lost[m] sheep of the house of Israel”. 25 But the one, having come, was prostrating-herself before Him, saying, “Master, help me”. 26 And the One, having responded, said, “It is not good to take the bread of the children and throw it to the little-dogs[n]”. 27 But the one said, “Yes, Master. For indeed the little-dogs eat from the crumbs falling from the table of their masters!” 28 Then, having responded, Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you wish”. And her daughter was healed from that hour.
Jesus Again Creates Bread And Fish For a Group of 4000 Men
29 And having passed on from there, Jesus went beside the Sea of Galilee. And having gone up on the mountain, He was sitting there. 30 And large crowds came to Him, having with them lame ones, blind ones, crippled ones, mute ones, and many others. And they threw[o] them at His feet. And He cured them, 31 so that the crowd marveled— seeing mute ones speaking, crippled ones healthy, and lame ones walking, and blind ones seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel. 32 And Jesus, having summoned His disciples, said, “I feel-deep-feelings [of compassion] toward the crowd, because it is already three days they are remaining-with Me and they do not have anything they may eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, so that they may not perhaps become-exhausted[p] on the way”. 33 And the disciples say to Him, “From where are there so many loaves for us in a desolate place so as to fill-to-satisfaction so large a crowd?” 34 And Jesus says to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And the ones said, “Seven, and a few small-fish”. 35 And having ordered the crowd to fall-back on the ground [to eat], 36 He took the seven loaves and the fish. And having given-thanks, He broke them and was giving them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds. 37 And they all ate and were filled-to-satisfaction. And they picked up the amount of the fragments being left-over— seven full large-baskets. 38 And the ones eating were four-thousand men, apart from women and children.
The Pharisees Ask For a Sign From Heaven. No Sign Will Be Given Except Jonah’s
39 And having sent away the crowds, He got into the boat and went to the districts of Magadan.
Footnotes
- Matthew 15:2 See Mark’s explanation of this in Mk 7:3-4.
- Matthew 15:4 That is, die. ‘Come to an end by a death’ imitates a Hebrew idiom meaning, ‘Let him surely die’.
- Matthew 15:5 Or, offering.
- Matthew 15:6 In other words, if you vow to give your estate to God when you die, then you must no longer honor the request of your parent to have some present benefit from it.
- Matthew 15:6 Or, voided, invalidated, annulled.
- Matthew 15:9 Or, to no end, pointlessly, futilely.
- Matthew 15:11 Or, make unclean or impure. It is disobedience to God’s Law that defiles. Their rules about ritual defilement are not part of God’s Law.
- Matthew 15:12 Or, were caused to fall, were offended. This is because v 3-11 are a direct attack on the Pharisees as teachers, and on their traditions.
- Matthew 15:16 This is plural, addressing them all.
- Matthew 15:19 Or, reasonings.
- Matthew 15:19 Or, perjuries, if in a courtroom setting.
- Matthew 15:24 Or, to.
- Matthew 15:24 That is, having gotten lost.
- Matthew 15:26 Or, house dogs, lap dogs. Jesus answers her with a proverbial-type statement, and she responds in the same way.
- Matthew 15:30 Or, hurled, flung, tossed. This indicates not violence, but haste and urgency.
- Matthew 15:32 Or, faint, give out.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing
