Matthew 15:11

15:11 what goes into your mouth: Jesus was speaking here either of foods that were not permitted (e.g., pork or shellfish) or of food contaminated by unclean hands (15:20). • That which defiles makes a person unfit for communion with God. Jesus pressed the matter beyond ceremonial purity to true inner purity (see 15:18-19; 23:25-26; Acts 10:1-48; Rom 14:14). • One’s words are a measure of one’s character (see Matt 15:18-20; Jas 3:1-12).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 15:11. Οὐ, κ.τ.λ., not, etc.) Unless such were the case, the faithful could not, without the greatest disgust, inhabit a world subject to vanity.—τὸ ἐκπορευόμενον, that which cometh out) Original sin is evidently here implied.—τοῦτο, this) used demonstratively.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_15:11. Κοινοῖ] makes common, profanes (חִלֵּל), comp. 4Ma_7:6, nowhere found in classical writers; in the New Testament, in Act_10:15; Act_11:9; Act_21:28; Heb_9:13; Rev_21:27. What Jesus has in view at present is not legal, but moral defilement, and which is not produced (1Ti_4:4) by what goes into the mouth (food and drink, as well as the partaking of these with unwashed hands), but by that which comes out of it (improper language). So far as can be gathered from the context, he is not saying anything against the Mosaic regulations relating to meats, though one cannot help regarding what he does say as so applicable to these, as to bring into view the prospect of their abrogation as far as they are merely ceremonial (comp. Keim, and Weizsäcker, p. 463), and, as a consequence of this latter, the triumph of the idea which they embody, i.e. their fulfillment (Mat_5:17). Observe, further, that it is meat and drink only in themselves considered, that he describes as matters of indifference, saying nothing at present as to the special circumstances in which partaking of the one or the other might be regarded as sinful (excess, offences, 1 Corinthians 8, and so on). See Mat_15:17.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 15:11 . imple direct appeal to the moral sense of mankind; one of those emancipating words which sweep away the cobwebs of artificial systems; better than elaborate argument. It is called a parable in Mat 15:15 , but it is not a parable in the strict sense here whatever it may be in Mk. ( vide notes there). Parables are used to illustrate the ethical by the natural. This saying is itself ethical: τὸ ἐκπορευόμενον ἐκ τοῦ στόματος refers to words as expressing thoughts and desires (Mat 15:19 ). οὐ τὸ εἰσερ . εἰς τὸ στόμα : refers to food of all sorts; clean God taken with unclean hands, and food in itself unclean. The drift of the saying therefore is: ceremonial uncleanness, however caused, a small matter, moral uncleanness the one thing to be dreaded. This goes beyond the tradition of the elders, and virtually abrogates the Levitical distinctions between clean and unclean. A sentiment worthy of Jesus and suitable to an occasion when He was compelled to emphasise the supreme importance of the ethical in the law the ethical emphatically the law of God ( τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ θεοῦ , Mat 15:3 ).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man--This is expressed even more emphatically in Mark (Mar 7:15-16), and it is there added, "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear." As in Mat 13:9, this so oft-repeated saying seems designed to call attention to the fundamental and universal character of the truth it refers to.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 11. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth] This is an answer to the carping question of the Pharisees, mentioned Mt 15:2, Why do thy disciples eat with unwashed hands? To which our Lord here replies, That what goes into the mouth defiles not the man; i.e. that if, in eating with unwashed hands, any particles of dust, c., cleaving to the hands, might happen to be taken into the mouth with the food, this did not defile, did not constitute a man a sinner for it is on this alone the question hinges: thy disciples eat with unwashed hands; therefore they are sinners; for they transgress the tradition of the elders, i.e. the oral law, which they considered equal in authority to the written law; and, indeed, often preferred the former to the latter, so as to make it of none effect, totally to destroy its nature and design, as we have often seen in the preceding notes.

That which cometh out of the mouth] That is, what springs from a corrupt unregenerate heart - a perverse will and impure passions- these defile, i.e. make him a sinner.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(11) Not that which goeth into the mouth.—Up to this time the question had been debated indirectly. The scribes had been convicted of unfitness to speak with authority on moral questions. Now a great broad principle is asserted, which not only cut at the root of Pharisaism, but, in its ultimate tendency. swept away the whole Levitical system of ceremonial purity—the distinction between clean and unclean meats and the like. It went, as the amazement of the disciples showed, far beyond their grasp as yet. Even after the day of Pentecost, Peter still prided himself on the observance of the Law which was thus annulled, and boasted that he had never “eaten anything common or unclean” (Act_10:14). So slow were even those who had sat at the feet of Jesus to take in the thought that purity was inward and not outward, a spiritual and not a physical quality.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. defileth] Literally, maketh common; cp. “common or unclean,” Act_10:14. “The Pharisees esteemed ‘defiled’ men for ‘common and vulgar’ men; on the contrary, a religious man among men is ‘a singular man.’  ” Lightfoot ad loc.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth the man,.... No sorts of meats, or drinks, or whatever is proper food for men, or manner of eating and drinking them, when moderately used, defile a man, or render him loathsome and odious in the sight God. This is directly opposite to the notions of the Jews, who say (d), that

"forbidden meats are unclean themselves, "and defile both body and soul".''

The first food of man was herbs; after the flood he had an allowance of the flesh of beasts, without distinction; under the Levitical dispensation, a difference of meats was enjoined to be observed; the laws respecting that distinction are now abolished, and not binding on us under the Gospel dispensation. Some scruples, about some of these things, did arise among the first Christians; but in process of time these difficulties were got over: nor is there any religion in abstinence from any sort of food; men, indeed, on a "physical" account, ought to be careful what they eat and drink, but not on a religious one; moderation in all ought to be used; and whatever is ate or drank, should be received with thankfulness, and done to the glory of God, and then no defilement can arise from hence:

but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. It is sin, and that only, which takes its rise from the heart, lies in thought, and is either expressed by the mouth, or performed by some outward action, which defiles the man, and renders him loathsome, abominable, and odious in the sight of God. The heart is the source of all evil; the pollution of it is very early, and very general, reaching to all the powers and faculties of the soul; which shows the ignorance of some, and folly of others, that talk of, and trust to the goodness of their hearts; and also the necessity of new hearts and right spirits being formed and created; and that the sinful thoughts of the heart, and the lusts thereof, are defiling to men; and that they are sinful in God's account, and abominable in his sight; that they are loathsome to sensible sinners, and are to be repented of, and forsaken by them; and need the pardoning grace of God or otherwise will be brought into judgment. Sinful words, which, through the abundance of wickedness in the heart, come out of the mouth, have the same influence and effect: words are of a defiling nature; with these men pollute both themselves and others: the tongue, though a little member, defiles the whole body; and evil and corrupt communication proceeding out of the mouth, corrupts the best of manners, and renders men loathsome to God, and liable to his awful judgment. And this is the nature of all sinful actions; they are what God can take no pleasure in; they are disagreeable, to a sensible mind; they leave a stain, which can never be removed by any thing the creature can do; nothing short of the blood of Christ can cleanse from it; and inasmuch as they are frequently committed, there is need of continual application to it. These are now the things men should be concerned about, as of a defiling nature; and not about meats and drinks, and the manner of using them, whether with hands washed, or unwashed.

(d) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 142. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

Ver. 11. Not that which goeth into the man, &c.] Whether with clean or foul hands, taken meat makes not the man guilty of God’s wrath. What! not if abused to surfeiting and drunkenness? saith Bellarmine, who is angry with Christ for this doctrine (as making against theirs directly), and therefore seeks to disprove him. We answer for and with Christ: that he speaks here of the moderate use of meats, which is indifferent. As for the abuse of it to surfeiting and excess, this is an evil that cometh out of the heart, and defileth the man, as being a flat breach of the law of God, who everywhere condemns it.

But that which cometh out of the mouth] That is, out of the heart, that muck hill, through the mouth, as through a dung port, that defileth a man worse than any outhouse can do. Hence sin is called filthiness, abomination, the vomit of a dog, the devil’s excrements, &c. The very visible heavens are defiled by it, and must therefore be purged by fire, as those vessels were that held the sin offering. As for the soul, sin sets such ingrained stains upon it, as nothing can fetch out but the blood of Christ, that spotless Lamb.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Not that which goeth into the mouth, &c. We must heartily pity and pray to God for those who blindly pretend from hence, that to eat any kind of meats, or as often as a meats, or as often as a man pleaseth on fasting-days, can defile no man. (Witham) --- No uncleaness in meat, nor any dirt contracted by eating it with unwashed hands, can defile the soul; but sin alone, or a disobedience of the heart to the ordinance and will of God. And thus, when Adam took the forbidden fruit, it was not the apple which entered into his mouth, but the disobedience to the law of God, which defiled him. The same is to be said if a Jew, in the time of the old law, had eaten swine’s flesh; or a Christian convert, in the days of the apostles, contrary to their ordinance, had eaten blood; or if any of the faithful, at present, should transgress the ordinance of God’s Church, by breaking the fasts: for in all these cases the soul would be defiled, not indeed by that which goeth into the mouth, but by the disobedience of the heart, in wilfully transgressing the ordinance of God, or of those who have their authority from him. (Challoner) --- Jesus Christ by no means prohibits fasting and abstinence from certain food, and at certain times, or he would have been immediately accused of contradicting the law; he only says, that meat which they esteem unclean does not of itself, and by its own nature, defile the soul; which is what the Pharisees (and before them Pythagoras, and after them the Manicheans) maintained, and which St. Paul warmly confutes. (1 Timothy iv. 4) (Tirinus) --- If a man gets intoxicated, adducing this same plea, that what entereth by the mouth, &c. is not the answer obvious; that it is not the wine, but the intemperance, contrary to the law of God, which defileth him: for drunkards shall not possess the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians vi. 10)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

11. Not that which goeth into the mouth… cometh out — That is, not the material food that enters the man’s stomach. This is set in contrast to that which goeth out of man; that is, the moral action, that goeth forth from the man’s will and intention. A man’s intentional words defile the soul. And so do his actions, and even his thoughts, for they all alike go forth from himself.

Intemperance in food or drink may indeed morally defile a man. But even here the defilement proceeds not from the material contact received, but from the forthgoing will and act by which those foods are taken. Indeed, the whole force of our Lord’s maxim is, that not physical touch but moral action makes a man truly impure before God.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man. The word rendered "defileth" (koinoi) means "renders common," in opposition to agiazein , "to separate" for God"s use; hence the verb, ethically applied, signifies "to contract guilt." The rabbis taught that certain meats of themselves polluted the soul, made it abominable in God"s sight. This was a perversion of the law respecting clean and unclean food. The pollution or guilt arose, not from the nature of the meat, but from the eating of it in contravention of a positive command. It was the disobedience, not the food, which affected the soul. It is remarkable that these distinctions of meats still obtain among half the civilized inhabitants of the world Buddhists, Hindoos, Mohammedans and that one of the hardest tasks of Christian missionaries is to make men understand the non importance of these differences. We do not see that Christ here abrogated the Levitical Law, but he certainly prepared the way for its super-session and transformation. But he made no sudden and violent change in the constituted order of things. Indeed, some distinctions were maintained in apostolical times, as we read in Act_10:14 Act_15:20, Act_15:29; and it was only gradually, and as circumstances made their observation impossible, that such ceremonial obligations were regarded as obsolete. It is, perhaps, with the view of not shocking inveterate prejudice, that he does not say, "No food whatever defileth," but "That which goeth into the mouth" defileth not, referring especially to the notion adore reprehended, that eating with unwashen hands polluted the food taken and the soul of the person who consumed it. Our Lord says nothing of excess, e.g. gluttony and drunkenness, which, of course, has a polluting and deteriorating effect on the moral nature. (see Luk_21:34) But that which cometh out of the mouth. In the former sentence the mouth is regarded simply as the instrument for receiving food and preparing it for digestion; in this sentence it is considered as the organ of the heart, that which gives outward expression to inward thoughts and conceptions. Fillion distinguishes them as "la bouche physique, et la bouche morale." Philo has well said, "The mouth is that by which, as Plato puts it, mortal things enter, and whence immortal things issue. For therein pass meat and drink, the perishable food of a perishable body; but from it proceed words, immortal laws of an immortal soul, by which the rational life is directed and governed" ("De Mundi Opif.," Defileth a man. Pollutes his soul, not with merely ceremonial defilement, but intrinsically and morally. Of course, our Lord is referring to evil words, etc., as he explains in ver. 19. For the mouth may give utterance to God"s praise, words of love, sympathy, edification. But the evil in a man"s heart will show itself in his mouth; and the open expression will react on the wicked thought, and make it more substantial, deadly, and operative.

The source of defilement.

The religious people in the time of Christ were right in being anxious to avoid defilement, but they made a great mistake in their idea as to its source, and therefore they went wrong in their notions of the evil thing itself.

I THE AWAKENED CONSCIENCE DESIRES TO BE FREE FROM DEFILEMENT.

1. On its own account. Children who have been brought up in the gutter have no idea of cleanliness and no desire for it; and souls that have habitually wallowed in filth do not perceive their own degradation until a new and better influence has been brought to bear upon them. Nevertheless, man, made in the image of God, cannot attain his true end while the Divine image is corrupted and befouled, and when a gleam of his better nature awakes he longs to be pure. The cultivation of the spiritual life brings a horror of defilement. For its own sake the soul then longs to be clean.

2. Because of the effects of defilement.

(1) Shame. The first perception of defilement seen side by side with purity sends a shock of shame through the awakened soul.

(2) Banishment from God. Without holiness no one can see God. Nothing unclean can enter heaven, i.e. the presence of God. (Rev_21:27)

(3) Blindness. The defiled soul is dark; it cannot perceive spiritual truth.

II THE PERVERTED CONSCIENCE MISTAKES THE SOURCE OF DEFILEMENT. The root error of the Pharisees was externalism. The prim propriety of demeanour which characterized the professional saints of Jerusalem covered hearts as corrupt as any of the publicans" and sinners". Yet the Pharisees thought themselves clean. They dreaded contact with a corpse, but they had little scruple in entertaining a corrupt thought. They would stop their ears at the sound of blasphemy, but they would give the reins to their tongues in malignant words. The evil of Pharisaism is by no means extinct today. Religious people dread to be found in association with questionable characters. They are anxious to be perfectly correct in the external observances of worship. They do not go to the extreme of the folly of the Pharisees, but they too often manifest the same spirit.

III THE ENLIGHTENED CONSCIENCE PERCEIVES THE TRUE SOURCE OF DEFILEMENT WITHIN ITSELF. It is part of the work of Christ to arouse and guide the consciences of men. Thus he shows us that the real origin of defilement is in our own hearts. A black fountain will always pour out a black flood, do what we may to cleanse the stream; on the other hand, a spring of pure water will quickly wash away any casual defilement that falls into it. A man is not his environment. It is dangerous to be in the midst of corrupting influences; and yet a bed of lilies may grow out of foulest mire. A herd of swine will not be converted into a troupe of pure virgins by entering temple; they will only convert the sanctuary into a sty. The corruption of a bad heart will be detected in language and conduct. When these are unworthy they will reflect shame on the debased heart from which they come. It is the great lesson of Christ, needed much in our own day, that as the root of all evil in the world is the evil heart of man, the only radical cleansing must be that which washes the heart. We must have done with the superficial treatment of mere appearances. Christ"s method is to renew the life within. W.F.A.

Vers. 11, 19, 20. The secret of human defilement.

It is quite possible to exaggerate in presenting the teachings of our Lord in these verses. We do so if we make too absolute the distinction between what goes into a man and what comes out of a man. Our Lord"s illustration needs to be kept within its natural and proper limits. The Pharisees had objected to the disciples eating their bread with unwashen hands, their notion being that something causing ceremonial defilement might be upon their hands, and this taken in with the bread would make them ceremonially unclean. It was a ridiculous subtlety, and yet it had become quite an established notion. It was best met by such scorn as Jesus poured upon it. You cannot defile a man"s soul by putting some dirt into his food; that may bring on disease in the man"s body, but it cannot defile the man himself. Our Lord strikes hard at the insincerities of the Pharisee class, who were foul in speech, unclean in life, and self-seeking in relations, however anxious they were about ceremonial defilement. What came out of them their speech, conduct, relations these defiled them.

I THE SECRET OF HUMAN DEFILEMENT IS THE WRONG INSIDE A MAN. A man is very largely responsible for the contents of his mind. True, he may have been placed in circumstances beyond his control which have brought evil associations; but the law is always working, that the things only are retained and effective on which attention is continuously and persistently fixed. Then we must have fixed our attention on what our minds now have in them, and so we must be responsible for their contents. Can we bear to look at the actual contents of our minds? How utterly unimportant ceremonial defilements seem in view of this real evil! A man is in a state of defilement, heart defilement, to begin with. From this may be shown the absolute need of regeneration.

II THE FURTHER SECRET OF HUMAN DEFILEMENT IS THAT THIS INSIDE WRONG GETS STRENGTHENED BY EXPRESSION. If the foul things inside a man would just stay quiet, things would not be so serious. But they are persistently active, ever trying to get expression, to say something or to do something. And they become stronger and more active by every expression. How that which comes out of a man defiles him may be shown by indicating the way in which a foul thought, gaining utterance in a foul speech, becomes an act of the will; the man is made foul thereby. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. κοινοῖ. Literally, maketh common; cp. ‘common or unclean,’ Act 10:14. ‘The Pharisees esteemed “defiled men” for “common and vulgar” men; on the contrary, a religious man among men is “a singular man.” ’ Lightfoot ad loc.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. Not that which goes into the mouth defiles the man; but that which comes out from the mouth, this defiles the man.] Mk. has: “There is nothing outside a man entering into him which can defile him. But the things which proceed from the man are those which defile the man.” The ambiguity of Mk. is clearly original. It is this ambiguity which called for explanation. Mt., by substituting the explanatory ἐκ τοῦ στόματος for ἐκ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, makes all that follows tautologous and redundant.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.