he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
Parallel translations
- WEB he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition.
- KJV And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
- NKJV then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.
- NASB he is not to honor his father or mother.’ And by this you have invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
- NLT In this way, you say they don’t need to honor their parents. And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition.
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 by such tradition they have nullified God's word. It matters because it shows that human rules, when set above Scripture, can empty God's commands of their force.
Overview
The Corban practice meant a son could justify not honoring his parents, directly overturning the commandment. Jesus says bluntly that they have 'made the commandment of God void' for the sake of their tradition. This is the heart of his indictment: tradition had become a tool to circumvent obedience rather than to serve it. The principle stands as a permanent caution that no human teaching may be allowed to cancel the plain teaching of God's word.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 1 Tim 5:8If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
- Jer 8:8How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception?
- Ps 119:126It is time for the LORD to act, for they have broken Your law.
- Mark 7:13Thus you nullify the word of God by the tradition you have handed down. And you do so in many such matters.”
- Mal 2:7–9For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.
- Hos 4:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
- Ps 119:139My zeal has consumed me because my foes forget Your words.
- 1 Tim 5:3–4Honor the widows who are truly widows.
- Rom 3:31Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! Instead, we uphold the law.
- 1 Tim 5:16If any believing woman has dependent widows, she must assist them and not allow the church to be burdened, so that it can help the widows who are truly in need.
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 15:6 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.