Matthew 15:16-22

15:16 Jesus ¹  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? ²  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.” ³ 

A Canaanite Woman’s Faith

15:21 After going out from there, Jesus went to the region of Tyre ⁴  and Sidon. ⁵  15:22 A ⁶  Canaanite woman from that area came ⁷  and cried out, ⁸  “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is horribly demon-possessed!”

¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

² tn Or “into the latrine.”

³ tn Grk “but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”

⁴ map For location see Map1-A2; Map2-G2; Map4-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

⁵ map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.

⁵ tn Grk “And behold a Canaanite.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

⁶ tn Grk The participle ἐξελθοῦσα (exelqousa) is here translated as a finite verb. The emphasis is upon her crying out to Jesus.

⁷ tn Grk “cried out, saying.” The participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.