Matthew 15

Then some scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus from Jerusalem. They said to him,

1Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,

NoteScribes were the professional experts in the written law of Moses: the men who copied it, taught it and gave rulings on how it applied. The Pharisees were a movement rather than a profession, known for extending the purity rules of the temple into ordinary daily life. That these men came from Jerusalem marks this as a delegation from the religious center, not a local complaint.

2"Why do your disciples break the tradition handed down from our elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat."

2Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

NoteThe tradition of the elders was a body of oral rulings handed down from earlier teachers alongside the written law, spelling out how to keep it in practice. The handwashing in question was a ritual rinse before eating, a matter of ceremonial purity rather than hygiene; the written law of Moses required such washing only of priests.

3Jesus answered them, "And why do you break God's command for the sake of your tradition?

3But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?

4For God said, 'Honor your father and mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'

4For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.

NoteTwo quotations from the law of Moses: Exodus 20:12 and Exodus 21:17. To curse a parent meant formally calling down harm on them, not merely speaking rudely. The King James "let him die the death" reproduces a Hebrew idiom that doubles the verb for emphasis: he shall surely be put to death.

5But you say that a person may tell his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might have gotten from me is a gift given to God.'

5But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;

NoteThe practice referred to is a vow that declared a piece of property or income dedicated to God, in effect reserved for the temple. Mark preserves the actual word used, "corban." Once the declaration was made, the son could argue that the money was no longer his to spend on his parents, though in practice he might go on using it himself.

6Then that person does not have to honor his father or mother with it. So you have made God's command useless for the sake of your tradition.

6And 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.

7You pretenders! Isaiah was right when he spoke about you:

7Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,

NoteThe Greek word behind "Ye hypocrites" originally meant a stage actor, someone delivering lines from behind a mask. "Esaias" is simply the Greek form of the name Isaiah.

8'These people come near me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me.

8This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

NoteThe quotation in verses 8 and 9 is Isaiah 29:13, in the wording of the Greek version of the Hebrew scriptures that Matthew's first readers used.

9Their worship of me is worthless, because what they teach as God's truth is only rules made up by people.'"

9But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

10Jesus called the crowd over to him and said, "Listen, and understand this.

10And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:

11What goes into a person's mouth does not make him unclean. It is what comes out of his mouth that makes him unclean."

11Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

Note"Defile" here does not mean make dirty or make wicked. It is the language of ritual purity: to be unclean was to be temporarily unfit to take part in worship, a status that certain foods, contacts and conditions could bring about. The whole argument of the chapter turns on what actually produces that state.

12Then his disciples came to him and said, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard you say that?"

12Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?

NoteThe Greek verb behind "were offended" means to be tripped up, as by a stone in the path. It is stronger than hurt feelings: they were brought up short, made to stumble.

13He answered, "Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be pulled up by the roots.

13But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.

14Leave them alone. They are blind men leading the blind. And if one blind man leads another, they will both fall into a pit."

14Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

Note"Ditch" in the King James means a pit or hole in the ground, of the sort left by digging beside a field or track, not a drainage channel. A guide for the blind was a familiar figure, which is what makes the picture of a blind one absurd.

15Then Peter said to him, "Explain to us what you meant by that comparison."

15Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.

Note"Parable" translates a Greek word with a wider range than the English one. It covers comparisons, proverbs and riddling sayings of any kind. Peter is asking for the sense of a puzzling remark, not for the moral of a story.

16Jesus said, "Do even you still not understand?

16And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?

17Do you not yet see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and then out of the body into the toilet?

17Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

Note"The draught" is the King James word for the privy or latrine.

18But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and those things make a person unclean.

18But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual sin, stealing, lying about others in court, and speaking evil of people.

19For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

NoteThe middle of this list runs through the second half of the Ten Commandments in order: murder, adultery, theft, false testimony. "False witness" means lying evidence given in a legal case. "Blasphemies" translates a Greek word meaning abusive or slanderous speech, used both of insults against God and, as here, of speech that tears down other people.

20These are the things that make a person unclean. But eating with unwashed hands does not make a person unclean."

20These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

21Then Jesus left that place and went away to the area around the cities of Tyre and Sidon.

21Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

Note"Coasts" in the King James means borders or territory, not seashore. Tyre and Sidon were Phoenician port cities on the Mediterranean north of Galilee, outside Jewish territory and long associated with foreign worship. Jesus is crossing out of Jewish country into Gentile country.

22A woman from Canaan who lived in that area came out and called to him, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is suffering terribly because a demon controls her."

22And, 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.

NoteCalling her a woman of Canaan uses an ancient name: the Canaanites were the peoples Israel displaced centuries earlier, so the label marks her as an outsider of the oldest kind. Mark, telling the same story, calls her a Syrophoenician. "Son of David" was a title for the promised king descended from David, a striking thing for a foreigner to use. The King James "devil" here translates a word meaning a demon, one of many, not the devil himself.

23But he did not answer her a single word. His disciples came and begged him, "Send her away, because she keeps calling out after us."

23But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.

24He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the people of Israel."

24But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Note"The house of Israel" means the people descended from Israel, the second name of Jacob: the Jewish nation as a whole. "Lost sheep" was a standing prophetic image for that people left without proper shepherding.

25Then the woman came and knelt down before him. She said, "Lord, help me!"

25Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

NoteThe King James "worshipped" translates a verb describing a physical act: dropping to the knees and bowing low. It was the normal gesture before a king or a great man, and does not by itself say what she believed about him.

26He answered, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."

26But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs.

NoteChildren and dogs are both household words here: the bread belongs to the family at the table, and the dogs are the household animals underfoot, not strays. The Greek uses a diminutive form, something like the little dogs of the house, which is what lets the woman take up the image in the next verse. Jews sometimes used "dogs" as a dismissive term for non-Jews.

27She said, "That is true, Lord. Yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."

27And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.

28Then Jesus said to her, "Woman, your trust in me is great. Let it be done for you just as you want." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

28Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

29Jesus left that place and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountain and sat down there.

29And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there.

NoteSitting down was the ordinary posture of a teacher in this world, as standing is for a modern lecturer. The detail signals that he settled in to teach and be approached, not that he was tired.

30Large crowds came to him. They brought people who could not walk, who were blind, who could not speak, whose bodies were damaged, and many others. They laid them at Jesus' feet, and he healed them.

30And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them:

Note"Dumb" in the King James means unable to speak, with no suggestion of stupidity. "Maimed" means having a limb crippled or damaged. To "cast them down" at his feet means simply to set them down there, without any violence implied.

31The crowd was amazed when they saw people who could not speak now speaking, damaged bodies made whole, people who could not walk now walking, and blind people seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

31Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

32Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I feel sorry for this crowd. They have been with me three days now and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they might collapse on the way."

32Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

Note"Fasting" here carries its plain older sense of having gone without food, not the religious practice of fasting. The concern is that people will collapse on a long walk home on empty stomachs.

33His disciples said to him, "Where in this empty place could we get enough bread to feed such a large crowd?"

33And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?

Note"Wilderness" in the King James means uninhabited open country, rough grazing land with no towns and no food to buy. It does not mean sandy desert.

34Jesus asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven, and a few small fish."

34And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes.

NoteA loaf of this period was a flat round cake of bread, roughly the size of a large modern pita and about one person's portion at a meal, not a sliceable modern loaf.

35So he told the crowd to sit down on the ground.

35And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

36He took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks to God, and broke them into pieces. He gave the pieces to his disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowd.

36And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

37They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up seven full baskets of the pieces that were left over.

37And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.

Note"Meat" in the King James means food of any kind, so "the broken meat" is simply the broken pieces of bread and fish. The word used for these baskets is different from the one in the earlier feeding of the five thousand: this is a large hamper, the kind that could hold a man, rather than a small hand basket.

38Four thousand men ate, besides women and children.

38And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children.

39Then Jesus sent the crowd away, got into a boat, and went to the area around Magdala.

39And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala.