“Do you still not understand?” Jesus asked.
Parallel translations
- WEB So Jesus said, “Do you also still not understand?
- KJV And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
- NKJV So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding?
- NASB Jesus said, “Are you also still lacking in understanding?
- NLT “Don’t you understand yet?” Jesus asked.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus gently rebukes the disciples for still not understanding. It matters because it shows that spiritual understanding requires growth and does not come automatically.
Overview
Jesus expresses mild surprise that those closest to him still miss the point. The rebuke is not harsh but instructive, calling them to deeper insight. Even committed followers can be slow to grasp how God's truth reshapes their inherited assumptions. The Lord's patience here models how he continues to teach his people toward fuller understanding.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Matt 16:9Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?
- Mark 9:32But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
- Mark 7:18“Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him,
- Matt 15:10Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand.
- Luke 9:45But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
- Heb 5:12Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!
- Mark 6:52for they had not understood about the loaves, but their hearts had been hardened.
- Luke 24:45Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
- Matt 13:51Have you understood all these things?” “Yes,” they answered.
- Luke 18:34But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.
- Isa 28:9–10Whom is He trying to teach? To whom is He explaining His message? To infants just weaned from milk? To babies removed from the breast?
- Mark 8:17–18Aware of their conversation, Jesus asked them, “Why are you debating about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Do you have such hard hearts?
- Matt 16:11How do you not understand that I was not telling you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 15:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.