Font Size
Matthew 15
Disciples’ Literal New Testament
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.
Matthew 15
New International Version
Matthew 15
New International Version
That Which Defiles(A)
15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”(B)
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a](C) and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b](D) 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.(E)’[c](F)”
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them,(G) but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”(H)
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted(I) will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides.[d](J) If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”(K)
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”(L)
16 “Are you still so dull?”(M) Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart,(N) and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.(O) 20 These are what defile a person;(P) but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman(Q)
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.(R) 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David,(S) have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”(T)
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”(U)
25 The woman came and knelt before him.(V) “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith!(W) Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand(X)(Y)(Z)
29 Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30 Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.(AA) 31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.(AB)
32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people;(AC) they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”
33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”
34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
35 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them(AD) and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37 They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.(AE) 38 The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.
Footnotes
- Matthew 15:4 Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16
- Matthew 15:4 Exodus 21:17; Lev. 20:9
- Matthew 15:9 Isaiah 29:13
- Matthew 15:14 Some manuscripts blind guides of the blind
Disciples’ Literal New Testament (DLNT) 
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
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.