He answered them, “Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?
Parallel Translations
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He answered them, “Why do you also disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?
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He answered and sayde vnto them: why do ye also transgresse the commaundment of God thorowe youre tradicions?
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But he answered and said vnto them, Why doe yee also transgresse the commandement of God by your tradition?
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Matthew 15:3 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Colossians 2:23 These things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, humility, and severity to the body; but aren’t of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.
- Titus 1:14 not paying attention to Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn away from the truth.
- Mark 7:6-8 He answered them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ “For you set aside the commandment of God, and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.”
- Colossians 2:8 Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ.
- Matthew 7:3-5 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye;’ and behold, the beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother’s eye.
- Mark 7:13 making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Their wicked boldness, in corrupting the commandments of God,…
Their wicked boldness, in corrupting the commandments of God, and that upon the pretence of godliness, and usurping authority to make laws, is here reproved.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 3 But he answered and said unto them, Why…
3 But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
Ver. 3. He answered and said unto them] He shapes them an answer by way of recrimination (αντδγκλημα); which is a singular means of conviction to the adversary, but hard to be done by us without some mixture of bitterness, such as was that in David to Michal, 2Sa 6:21.
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Transgress the commandment of God by your tradition] God’s commands should be kept as the apple of the eye, Pro 7:2. They are broken by omissions, commissions, and failings in the manner; like as a man may miss the mark by shooting short, or beyond, or wide. These Pharisees, as those Athenians of old (whereas they had most excellent laws, but most lawless natures), chose rather to live by their lusts than by their laws. {a} They had many traditions and unwritten verities, pretended to be invented and prescribed them by their elders, that by the observation thereof they might be the better enabled to keep God’s commandments. These traditions they styled Mashlamnathoth, completions or perfections; because thereby they conceited that the written law was made more complete and perfect. And say not the Papists as much of their traditions? Buxtorf. Tiber.
{a} Athenienses cum haberent aequissima iura, sed iniquisima ingenia, moribus suis quam legibus, uti malunt. Valer. Max.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Mark hath the same, Mar 7:9, though a little…
Mark hath the same, Mar 7:9, though a little out of the order in which Matthew hath it: Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Our Saviour could have answered them, had he pleased, more strictly to their questions, but he must then either have incurred danger or odium; he therefore chooseth to answer them by another question, which struck at the root of the matter. Admit, saith he, my disciples culpable in not observing traditions, which indeed you call the traditions of the elders, but are your own, devised by you, or some like you, merely to uphold your power and authority, and to keep people in a needless subjection to you: I am sure you are far more guilty, in making traditions contrary to the law of God, or rejecting God’s law to keep your traditions. And indeed this is the common guilt of those who are great zealots for traditions and rites, not commanded in the word of God. The Jewish Rabbi Jose saith, He sinneth as much who eateth with unwashen hands, as he that lieth with an harlot. The papists make it a greater sin for a priest to marry than to keep a concubine, and commit fornication; they make it a lesser transgression than to eat meat on a Friday.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Observe here, 1. The heavy charge which our Saviour…
Observe here, 1. The heavy charge which our Saviour brings in against the Pharisees; namely, for violating an express command of God, and preferring their own traditions before it: you make void the commandments of God by your traditions.
Observe, 2. The command which our Saviour instances in, as violated by them; it is the fifth commandment, which requires children to relieve their parents in necessity. Now, though the Pharisees did not deny this in plain terms, yet they made an exception from it, which if children had a mind, rendered it void and useless. For the Pharisees taught, that in case any would give a gift to the temple, which gift they called corban, and of which they themselves had a great share; that then children were discharged from making further provision for their poor, or impotent parents; and might say unto them after this manner, that which thou askest for thy supply, is given to God, and therefore I cannot relieve thee. So that covetous and graceless children looked upon it as the most frugal way, once for all to fine to the temple, rather than pay the constant rent of daily relief to their poor parents.
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Learn, that no duty, gift, or offering to God, is accepted, where the duty of charity is neglected. It is more acceptable to God to refresh the hearts of his saints, who are the living temples of the Holy Ghost, than to adorn material temples with gold and silver.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But he answered and said unto them,.... Taking no…
But he answered and said unto them,.... Taking no notice of the tradition about eating bread without washing the hands, whether it was right or wrong; it being at most but an human tradition, of no moment and importance, whether it was broke or kept; he makes a very just recrimination, by putting another question to them,
why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? suggesting, that, if his disciples were guilty, they were not so guilty as they themselves were; that his disciples, at most, were but guilty of the breach of an human precept, whereas they were guilty of the breach of a divine command; and that it was strange, that men who were so scrupulous of breaking, and bore so hard on such as did transgress the traditions of the elders, could allow themselves to transgress the commandments of God; yea, to do this by, and while they were observing their own traditions: and which observation carries a full acquittance of the disciples from blame; for, if by keeping the traditions of the elders, they broke the commands of God, it was a very good reason why they should not observe them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain They wash not their hands when they eat bread…
They wash not their hands when they eat bread - Food in general is termed bread in Hebrew; so that to eat bread is the same as to make a meal.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 3. Why do ye - transgress the commandment]…
Verse 3. Why do ye - transgress the commandment] Ye accuse my disciples of transgressing the traditions of the elders - I accuse you of transgressing the commands of God, and that too in favour of your own tradition; thus preferring the inventions of men to the positive precepts of God. Pretenders to zeal often prefer superstitious usages to the Divine law, and human inventions to the positive duties of Christianity.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Why do you also. The Jews understanding the saying…
Why do you also. The Jews understanding the saying of the prophets, "wash yourselves and be clean," in a carnal manner, they made a precept of not eating without first washing their hands. (Ven. Bede) --- The traditions here alluded to, and which they call the oral law, were respected equally with the written law, by all the Jews, except the sect of Caraites; they were collected in seventy-two books, and composed the cabbala, and were kept by Gemaliel and other heads of the sanhedrim, till the destruction of Jerusalem. About 120 years after this, Rabbi Judas composed a book of them, called Mishna, or second law; afterwards two supplements and explanations were given, viz. the Talmud of Jerusalem, and the Talmud of Babylon. By these the Jews are still governed in ecclesiastical matters.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain But he answered and said unto them, Why do…
But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?--The charge is retorted with startling power: "The tradition they transgress is but man's, and is itself the occasion of heavy transgression, undermining the authority of God's law."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 3. He answered and said — Jesus knows that…
3. He answered and said — Jesus knows that a challenge is intended, but he does not shun to meet it. They come armed with the traditions of the elders; he meets them with the law of Jehovah. It is man’s authority opposed by the authority of God. Commandment of God — When God speaks, let man keep silence.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (3) By your tradition.—Better, for the sake of your…
(3) By your tradition.—Better, for the sake of your tradition. Our Lord’s answer, it will be noted, is an indirect one, an argumentum ad hominem. He shows that their traditional casuistry was in direct opposition to the “commandment” of God, and the natural inference from that antagonism was that in itself, apart from the commandment, it had no binding authority as a rule of life.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain He answered. Christ does not formally defend his disciples,…
He answered. Christ does not formally defend his disciples, nor condemn the Pharisees for their ceremonial ablutions, but he turns to a matter of more importance, even a plain breach or evasion of a plain commandment. Ye also. If my disciples transgress a tradition of the ancients, ye too transgress, and that the commandment of God an error of far graver character. His non-observance of these minutiae showed their unimportance, and called attention to the inward purity which they typified, and which could be maintained without these external ceremonies. At the same time, Jesus does not condemn such symbolical acts, even as he himself washed the disciples" feet before the last Supper. The evil in rabbinical teachings was that it superseded the spiritual view, and placed outward cleansing on a higher level than inward holiness. By (dia with accusative); on account of, in order to maintain. Your tradition. Tradition which is emphatically yours and not God"s, a human gloss, not a revealed command. Jesus does not accept the assertion that these traditions are derived from the ancients; he gives them a more modern origin.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 3. Why do ye also transgress? The Lord does…
3. Why do ye also transgress? The Lord does not deny their charge, but strikes at the evil by showing that their human traditions led them to break God's written law.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Christ’s reply:
Christ’s reply:
v. 3. But He answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
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v. 4. For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother; and He that curseth father and mother, let him die the death.
v. 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; and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free.
v. 6. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
The retort immediately places the issue in the proper light. Christ becomes the accuser, and the Pharisees and scribes the guilty. He says, in effect: Let your miserable charge stand, for the present; I cheerfully admit that the tradition of men is transgressed in our circle. But here is a far more serious matter. The choice is between the actual commands of God and the precepts of your teachers; your choice is the wrong one. The contrast is emphatic and clear-cut: The commandment of God—your tradition. God’s Law, to which Jesus refers, was clear and unmistakable, Exo 21:17: Lev 20:9; Deu 27:10. Your demand is a mere saying of men. And it is to be condemned absolutely, since it results in setting aside the Law of God. The Pharisees permitted children in the home to say the word corban , Mar 7:11, whereby they were supposed to absolve themselves from filial duties. The words literally read: He that says to his father or to his mother. Let it be a sacrifice what thou desirest of me as a help or benefit. This, according to tradition, excused children from helping their parents with money, goods, earnings, or any other material assistance. It implied that the children wanted to give such money or gift to God as a sacrifice, though very often even that was omitted. Christ’s argument is: Even the honest pleading of previous obligation to God will not excuse a child for neglecting its duty to its parents, much less the ordinary careless, heartless, and profane manner in which this pretext was grasped. Thus were the Jewish teachers guilty before God, even according to the Old Testament, Pro 28:24. Thus were children dispensed from even the true works of love in this manner. "For the contention with the Pharisees really consisted in this, whether it be better to give presents to the parents or sacrifices to the priests. They said it was better to sacrifice. Thus they taught that the honor due to the parents was a mere ceremony, namely, to bow the head, to rise before them, and in outward behavior be respectful toward them.... Corban , that means a gift or sacrifice to God. As though a child would say: I should gladly give it to thee, but what shall I do? Even now it is not mine any more, but is given to God. Thus the name of God must be the cover for all shameful blasphemy and wickedness; as though God had taken from the father what the latter should receive from the son. " The Pharisees and scribes surely had invalidated, and were in the constant habit of setting aside, the commandment of God for their miserable tradition.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.