Human Traditions and God’s Commandments

15 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, saying, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat a meal.”[a] So he answered and[b] said to them, “Why do you also break the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your[c] father and your[d] mother,’[e] and ‘The one who speaks evil of father or mother must certainly die[f].’[g] But you say, ‘Whoever says to his[h] father or his[i] mother, “Whatever benefit you would have received[j] from me is a gift to God,” need not honor his father,’[k] and you make void the word of God for the sake of your tradition. Hypocrites! Isaiah correctly prophesied about you saying,

‘This people honors me with their[l] lips,
    but their heart is far, far away from me,
and they worship me in vain,
    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”[m]

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Notas al pie

  1. Matthew 15:2 Literally “bread”
  2. Matthew 15:3 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“answered”) has been translated as a finite verb
  3. Matthew 15:4 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  4. Matthew 15:4 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  5. Matthew 15:4 A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16
  6. Matthew 15:4 Literally “let him die the death”
  7. Matthew 15:4 A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9
  8. Matthew 15:5 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  9. Matthew 15:5 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  10. Matthew 15:5 Literally “you would have been benefited”
  11. Matthew 15:6 Most later manuscripts add “or his mother”
  12. Matthew 15:8 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
  13. Matthew 15:9 A quotation from Isa 29:13

Jesus Teaches about Inner Purity

15 Some Pharisees and teachers of religious law now arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They asked him, “Why do your disciples disobey our age-old tradition? For they ignore our tradition of ceremonial hand washing before they eat.”

Jesus replied, “And why do you, by your traditions, violate the direct commandments of God? For instance, God says, ‘Honor your father and mother,’[a] and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’[b] But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’ In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents.[c] And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce,
    for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’[d]

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Notas al pie

  1. 15:4a Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.
  2. 15:4b Exod 21:17 (Greek version); Lev 20:9 (Greek version).
  3. 15:6 Greek their father; other manuscripts read their father or their mother.
  4. 15:8-9 Isa 29:13 (Greek version).