the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
hands
χεῖραςcheiras
G5495
the hand (literally or figuratively (power) · noun — accusative plural feminine
when
ὅτανhotan
G3752
whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertain… · conjunction
eat
ἐσθίωσιν.¶esthiōsin
G2068
used only in certain tenses · verb — present active subjunctive, 3rd person plural
bread
ἄρτονarton
G740
bread (as raised) or a loaf · noun — accusative singular masculine
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Mark 7:2 And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.
Luke 11:38 And when the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that he had not first washed before dinner.
Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not afte…
Colossians 2:20-23 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen h…
1 Peter 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by traditio…
Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for season…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Matthew 15:1-9
Evil manners, we say, beget good laws. The intemperate heat of the Jewish teachers for the support of their hierarchy, occasioned many excellent discourses of our Saviour's for the settling of the truth, as here.
I. Here, is the cavil of the scribes and Pharisees at Christ's disciples, for eating with unwashen hands. The scribes and Pharisees were the great men of the Jewish church, men whose gain was godliness, great enemies to the gospel of Christ, but colouring their opposition with a pretence of zeal for the law of Moses, when really nothing was intended but the support of their own tyranny over the consciences of men. They were men of learning and men of business. These scribes and Phar…
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
John Gill on Matthew 15:2
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?.... Having observed, for some little time, the conduct of Christ and his disciples, they thought proper to take no notice of him as yet, but of them; and of them, not as transgressing any command of God, but of men; not being able to charge them with any breach of the law of God: and could they have done this with any show of truth, yet they might choose rather to accuse them of breaking the rules of the elders; by whom they mean, not the elders of the present sanhedrim, but Hillell and Shammai; the two heads of their famous schools, and other ancient doctors; from whom were delivered by one to another, certain rules and laws of th…
Matthew 15:1-9
Matthew 15:1-9
Mark 7:1-13
1. Then scribes and Pharisees, who had come from Jerusalem, approach to Jesus, saying, 2. Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. 3. But he answering said to them, Why do you also transgress the commandment of God on account of [390] your tradition? 4. For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother; and, He that curseth father or mother, dying let him die. 5. But you say, Whosoever shall say to his father or mother, Whatever is a gift from me shall profit thee; and shall not honor his father or his mother. 6. Therefore you have annulled the commandment of God on accoun…
The Church Fathers
(in Marc. 7, 1.) Taking carnally those words of the Prophets, in which it is said, Wash, and he ye clean, they, observed it only in washing the body; (Is. 1:16.) hence they had laid it down that we ought not to eat with unwashen hands.
Of what kind these traditions were, Mark shows when he says, The Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not. (Mark 7:3.) Here then also they find fault with the disciples, saying, For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. Or the Pharisees found fault with the Lord's disciples, not concerning that washing which we do from ordinary habit, and of necessity, but of that superfluous washing which was invented by the tradition of the elders.
But it were meet first to inquire, why the disciples ate with unwashen hands. Wherefore then did they so eat? Not as making a point of it, but as overlooking henceforth the things that are superfluous, and attending to such as are necessary; having no law to wash or not to wash, but doing either as it happened. For they that despised even their own necessary food, how were they to hold these things worth much consideration? This then having often happened unintentionally,-for instance, when they ate in the wilderness, when they plucked the ears of corn,-is now put forward as a charge by these persons, who are always transgressing in the great things, and making much account of the superfluous.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Medicine — Egypt was the earliest home of medical and other skill for the region of the Mediterranean basin, and every Egyptian mummy of the more expensive and elaborate sort involved a process of anatomy.…
Scribes — Anciently held various important offices in the public affairs of the nation. The Hebrew word so rendered (sopher) is first used to designate the holder of some military office (Judg. 5:14; A.V.,…
Tradition — Any kind of teaching, written or spoken, handed down from generation to generation. In Mark 7:3, 9, 13, Col. 2:8, this word refers to the arbitrary interpretations of the Jews. In 2 Thess. 2:15; 3:6,…
Zabulon — (Matt. 4:13, 15; Rev. 7:8). See ZEBULUN.
Ablution · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Diet Of The Jews, The · Purification before — Purification before
Eating · Ab — Ab
Ecclesiasticism · Traditional rules of the Jewish — Traditional rules of the Jewish
Hand · Ceremonial washing of — Ceremonial washing of
Hands, The · Were washed: Before eating — Were washed: Before eating
Hypocrites · Described as: Regarding tradition more than the word of God — Described as: Regarding tradition more than the word of God
Pharisees · .The washing of hands — .The washing of hands
The Jewish teachers’ age-old tradition sought to apply the written Torah to common circumstances in the ordinary course of life. This tradition was memorized and passed on orally from teacher to student (cp. 1 Cor 11:23; 15:1-5). • To ignore the tradition of . . . hand washing (see Mark 7:2-4; Luke 11:38) was considered disobedient to the Torah and unfaithful to God’s will for Israel (cp. Matt 23:25-26).
Purifications · Multiplied by traditions — Multiplied by traditions
Teachers · .Admonition against — .Admonition against
Tradition · Commandments of men — Commandments of men
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
