Matthew 15:1-9 - Human Traditions And God's Commandments

¹ Then some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus and said, ² “Why do Your disciples violate the tradition (religious laws) handed down by the [Jewish] elders? For Your disciples do not [ceremonially] wash their hands before they eat.”

³ He replied to them, “Why also do you violate the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders]? ⁴ For God said [through Moses], ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of or insults or treats improperly father or mother is to be put to death.’

⁵ But you say, ‘If anyone says to his father or mother, “Whatever [money or resource that] I have that would help you is [already dedicated and] given to God,” ⁶ he is not to honor his father or his mother [by helping them with their need].’ So by this you have invalidated the word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect] for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders]. ⁷ You hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said,

⁸
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
⁹
‘But in vain do they worship Me,
For they teach as doctrines the precepts of men.’”

¹ Now the Pharisees and some of the scribes came from Jerusalem and gathered around Him, ² and they had seen that some of His disciples ate their bread with [ceremonially] impure hands, that is, unwashed [and defiled according to Jewish religious ritual]. ³ (For the Pharisees and all of the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, holding firmly to the traditions of the elders; ⁴ and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves [completely according to ritual]; and there are many other things [oral, man-made laws and traditions handed down to them] which they follow diligently, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper utensils.) ⁵ So the Pharisees and scribes asked Jesus, “Why do Your disciples not live their lives according to the tradition of the elders, but [instead] eat their bread with [ceremonially] unwashed hands?”

⁶ He replied, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), as it is written [in Scripture],

‘These people honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
⁷
‘They worship Me in vain [their worship is meaningless and worthless, a pretense],
Teaching the precepts of men as doctrines [giving their traditions equal weight with the Scriptures].’

⁸ You disregard and neglect the commandment of God, and cling [faithfully] to the tradition of men.” ⁹ He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside and nullifying the commandment of God in order to keep your [man-made] tradition and regulations. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother [with respect and gratitude]’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of his father or mother must be put to death’;

¹¹ but you [Pharisees and scribes] say, ‘If a man tells his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you is Corban, (that is to say, already a gift to God),”’ ¹² then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother [since helping them would violate his vow of Corban]; ¹³ so you nullify the [authority of the] word of God [acting as if it did not apply] because of your tradition which you have handed down [through the elders]. And you do many things such as that.”