Matthew 15:10-11

True Defilement

15:10 Then he called the crowd to him and said, ¹  “Listen and understand. 15:11 What defiles a person is not what goes into the mouth; it is what ²  comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.”

Matthew 15:15-20

15:15 But Peter ³  said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” 15:16 Jesus ⁴  said, “Even after all this, are you still so foolish? 15:17 Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and then passes out into the sewer? ⁵  15:18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person. 15:19 For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 15:20 These are the things that defile a person; it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles a person.” ⁶ 

¹ tn Grk “And calling the crowd, he said to them.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesamenos) has been translated as attendant circumstance. The emphasis here is upon Jesus’ speaking to the crowd.

² tn Grk “but what.”

³ tn Grk “And answering, Peter said to him.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁵ tn Or “into the latrine.”

⁶ tn Grk “but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”