These are what defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile him.”
Parallel translations
- WEB These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands doesn’t defile the man.”
- KJV These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
- NKJV These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
- NASB These are the things that defile the person; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the person.”
- NLT These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you.”
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 concludes that these heart-sins are what truly defile, while eating with unwashed hands does not. It matters because it settles the dispute that began the chapter.
Overview
Returning to the original controversy, Jesus declares that ceremonial hand-washing has no bearing on real defilement. What defiles is the moral corruption of the heart expressed in sinful acts and words. This closes his teaching by clearly distinguishing human tradition from God's true concern. The passage as a whole points to the inner cleansing only Christ can accomplish.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Mark 7:3–4Now in holding to the tradition of the elders, the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat until they wash their hands ceremonially.
- Matt 23:25–26Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
- Eph 5:3–6But among you, as is proper among the saints, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed.
- 1 Cor 6:9–11Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,
- 1 Cor 6:18–20Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
- Luke 11:38–40But the Pharisee was surprised to see that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.
- Rev 21:27But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
- 1 Cor 3:16–17Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
- Matt 15:2“Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They do not wash their hands before they eat.”
- Rev 21:8But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 15:20 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.