Matthew 15:14
in Matthew 15Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Let them alone: they are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit.
KJV
Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
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This verse in Matthew 15
Commentary
16 notes on this verseThis is also the same as that Apostolic injunction, A heretic after the first and second admonition reject, knowing that such a one is perverse. (Tit. 3:10, 11.) To the same end the Saviour commands evil teachers to be left to their own will, knowing that it is hardly that they can be brought to the truth.
This site's exposition
the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying
on Matthew 15:12-14
The disciples report the Pharisees' offense as though it should change Jesus' course, and his answer refuses the premise: a plant his heavenly Father did not plant will be rooted up regardless of who is offended by saying so. Henry reads the image as a verdict on the whole system of merely human religious enactment, however long established, since only what the Father plants will stand at the last. The blind leading the blind picture then follows naturally, a plain warning that these very teachers, offended at the truth, are guiding a nation toward the ditch.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
"They are blind guides of blind people." Who are these blind guides? The Pharisees, whose minds "the god of this age has blinded" because they are "unbelieving," since they did not believe in Jesus Christ. The god of this age has blinded them "so that the light of the gospel of the glory of God in the face of Christ would not shine on them." We ought to avoid being guided by those blind persons. Not only should we do this, but we certainly should also listen with caution in the case of those who claim to lead in the way of healthy teaching and ought to apply healthy judgment to what they say. We should do these things so that we ourselves do not appear to be blind because we do not see the meaning of the Scriptures. We would become blind like this if we were guided by the ignorance of people who are blind and people who do not perceive the issues of healthy teaching. If we were led by such people, both the one who leads and the one who is led would fall into the pit.
He then goes on to say, "Let them alone; they are blind guides of blind men. But if a blind man guide a blind man, both fall into a pit." These words were intended to expose the scribes and Pharisees, who were blinded by the …
You therefore, who seek after their fashion, looking to those who are themselves ever seeking, a doubter to doubters, a waverer to waverers, must needs be "led, blindly by the blind, down into the ditch." But when, for the sake of deceiving us, they pretend that they are still seeking, in order that they may palm their essays upon us by the suggestion of an anxious sympathy, -when, in short (after gaining an access to us), they proceed at once to insist on the necessity of our inquiring into such points as they were in the habit of advancing, then it is high time for us in moral obligation to repel them, so that they may know that it is not Christ, but themselves, whom we disavow.
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 51 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
And what follows also indicates, that of themselves it was said, and of their traditions. Thus He added, "They are blind leaders of the blind." Whereas, had He spoken it of the law, He would have said, "It is a blind leader of the blind." But not so did He speak, but, "They are blind leaders of the blind:" freeing it from the blame, and bringing it all round upon them. Then to sever the people also from them, as being on the point of falling into a pit by their means, He saith, "If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." It is a great evil merely to be blind, but to be in such a case and have none to lead him, nay, to occupy the place of a guide, is a double and triple ground of censure. For if it be a dangerous thing for the blind man not to have a guide, much more so that he should even desire to be guide to another.
(Verse 14.) Let them alone, they are blind, leaders of the blind. But if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit. This is what the Apostle commanded: Avoid a heretical man after the first and second admonition, knowing that he is perverted and condemned by himself (Titus 3, 10). In this sense, the Savior also commanded that the worst teachers should be left to their own discretion, knowing that they are difficult to be drawn to the truth, and that they are blind and lead the blind people into error.
9 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church4 voices
There follows let them alone, they are blind. Here he shows that their scandal is to be disregarded because they are harmful to men. And first he teaches that it should be disregarded; second, their presumption; third, the harm. Regarding the first: you say that …
They are blind, that is, they want the light of God's commandments; and they are leaders of the blind, inasmuch as they draw others headlong, erring, and leading into error; whence it is added, If the blind lead the blind, they both fall into the ditch.
(interlin.) Or, the plant here spoken of may be the doctors of the Law with their followers, who had not Christ for their foundation. Why they are to be rooted up, He adds, Let them alone; they are blind, leaders of the blind.
It is the Judaic ordinances and the traditions of the elders that He says will be rooted up, not the commandments of the law, as the Manichean heretics believe. The law is a plant of God, so it has not been rooted up. Its root, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Now the prophecy was fulfilled, Isa. xxix. And it is easy to imagine what will be in the end hereof, when the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and the people love to have it so, Jer. v. 31 . [2.] They are posting to destruction, and will shortly be plunged into it;
Let them alone,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Let them alone - Αφετε αυτους, give them up, or leave them. These words have been sadly misunderstood.
There are two striking sayings of the Lord Jesus in this passage. One respects false doctrine: the other respects the human heart. Both of them deserve the closest attention. Respecting false doctrine, our Lord declares that it is a duty to oppose it, that its final destruction is sure, and that its teachers ought to be forsaken. He says, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone.” It is clear, from examination of the passage, that the disciples were surprised at our Lord’s strong language about the Pharisees and their traditions.
There are two striking sayings of the Lord Jesus in this passage. One respects false doctrine: the other respects the human heart. Both of them deserve the closest attention. Respecting false doctrine, our Lord declares that it is a duty to oppose it, that its final destruction is sure, and that its teachers ought to be forsaken. He says, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up. Let them alone.” It is clear, from examination of the passage, that the disciples were surprised at our Lord’s strong language about the Pharisees and their traditions. They had probably been accustomed from their youth to regard the Pharisees as the wisest and best of men. They were startled to hear their Master denouncing them as hypocrites, and charging them with transgressing the commandment of God. “Knowest thou,” they said, “that the Pharisees were offended?” To this question we are indebted for our Lord’s explanatory declaration, a declaration which perhaps has never received the notice it deserves. The plain meaning of our Lord’s words is that false doctrine like that of the Pharisees was a plant to which no mercy should be shown. It was a “plant which his heavenly Father had not planted,” and a plant which it was a duty to “root up,” whatever offense it might cause. To spare it was no charity, because it was injurious to the souls of men. It mattered nothing that those who planted it were high in office, or learned: if it contradicted the Word of God it ought to be opposed, refuted and rejected. His disciples must therefore understand that it was right to resist all teaching that was unscriptural, and to “let alone” and forsake all instructors who persisted in it. Sooner or later they would find that all false doctrine will be completely overthrown and put to shame, and that nothing shall stand but that which is built on the Word of God.
How the passage was read
On Matthew 15:1-20On Matthew 15:1-20
Handwashing, korban, and which tradition weighs more
“Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.” The washing in question is netilat yadayim, a ritual pouring of water over the hands before eating bread. It was never about hygiene: it extends to the ordinary table the purity washing the Torah requires of priests before they eat holy food, one more piece of the Pharisaic program to make every table an altar. The Mishnah devotes a whole tractate to it (Yadayim 1:1 opens with the required quantity of water), and observant homes keep the practice before bread to this day.
Jesus answers with a harder case from the same tradition: korban. Property declared korban (“an offering”) was barred from ordinary use as if dedicated to God, and the vow formula could be used to lock a son's goods away from his own parents; the Mishnah records the substitute formulas people spoke (Nedarim 1:2). Jesus weighs that vow against the commandment “honor thy father and mother” and rules that no vow can cancel it. The tradition itself wrestled with the same tension: its vow-release discussions include a debated question about opening a release by appeal to the parents' honor (Nedarim 9:1 records the rabbis divided over exactly that move). Jesus' ruling cuts where the tradition circled.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Sources: Mishnah Yadayim 1:1 (the handwashing rite) · Mishnah Nedarim 1:2 (the korban formulas) · Mishnah Nedarim 9:1 (release of vows and the parents' honor, a recorded dispute)
The words behind it
15 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἄφετε | aphete | do leave | G863 → | 143 times |
| αὐτούς· | autous | them! | G846 → | 5565 times |
| τυφλοί | tuphloi | Blind | G5185 → | 50 times |
| εἰσιν | eisin | they are | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ὁδηγοί | hodegoi | guides | G3595 → | 5 times |
| τυφλῶν. | tuphlon | of the blind. | G5185 → | 50 times |
| τυφλὸς | tuphlos | Blind | G5185 → | 50 times |
| δὲ | de | now | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| τυφλὸν | tuphlon | blind | G5185 → | 50 times |
| ἐὰν | ean | if | G1437 → | 352 times |
| ὁδηγῇ, | hodegea | they shall lead, | G3594 → | |
| ἀμφότεροι | amphoteroi | both | G297 → | 14 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| βόθυνον | bothunon | a pit | G999 → | |
| πεσοῦνται. | pesountai | will fall. | G4098 → | 90 times |
ἄφετεdo leave
apheteG863 →143 times
αὐτούς·them!
autousG846 →5565 times
τυφλοίBlind
tuphloiG5185 →50 times
εἰσινthey are
eisinG1510 →2333 times
ὁδηγοίguides
hodegoiG3595 →5 times
τυφλῶν.of the blind.
tuphlonG5185 →50 times
τυφλὸςBlind
tuphlosG5185 →50 times
δὲnow
deG1161 →2765 times
τυφλὸνblind
tuphlonG5185 →50 times
ἐὰνif
eanG1437 →352 times
ὁδηγῇ,they shall lead,
hodegeaG3594 →
ἀμφότεροιboth
amphoteroiG297 →14 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
βόθυνονa pit
bothunonG999 →
πεσοῦνται.will fall.
pesountaiG4098 →90 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 56:10Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 33:6
But if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the horn to warn the people, and the sword comes and takes away a life, then that one will be taken away…
- Isaiah 29:10
For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.
- Isaiah 58:1
“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- Philippians 3:2
Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!
- Nahum 3:18
O king of Assyria, your shepherds slumber; your officers sleep. Your people are scattered on the mountains with no one to gather them.
- Ezekiel 33:6
Through
Luke 6:39Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 3:13
while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
- Isaiah 9:16
For those who guide this people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up.
- 2 Timothy 3:13
Through
Malachi 2:8But you have departed from the way, and your instruction has caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of Hosts.
it leads to
- Nehemiah 13:29
Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood and the covenant of the priesthood and of the Levites.
- Nehemiah 13:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Matthew
This page draws on 15 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Chromatius of Aquileia, TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 53.8; Glossa Ordinaria, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 51; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 11.14; Rabanus Maurus, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Tertullian, The Prescription Against Heretics; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.