Matthew 15:7
in Matthew 15You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,
KJV
Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
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This verse in Matthew 15
Commentary
14 notes on this verseI have previously quoted some of the words of Isaiah that precede the verse quoted in the Gospel and some of the words that follow the verse quoted in the Gospel. In this way we may show the way in which the word promises that it will close "the eyes" of those of the people who were "out of their senses" and "drunken" and who had been given to drink a "spirit of stupefaction."
This site's exposition
well did Esaias prophesy of you
on Matthew 15:7-9
Jesus names Isaiah 29:13 as spoken directly to this generation, and the wording he uses follows the Septuagint's teaching for doctrines the commandments of men more closely than the Hebrew's own their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown treat the difference as immaterial to the point, since either wording condemns worship that is mouth deep and heart absent, replacing divine command with human enactment dressed as piety. This is one of Matthew's keep-hard Old Testament citations, and it lands the charge of hypocrisy on the same lips that had just posed as guardians of the law.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Hypocrite signifies dissembler, one who feigus one thing in his outward act, and bears another thing in his heart. These then are well called hypocrites, because under cover of God's honour they sought to heap up for themselves earthly gain.
(Verse 4 onwards) For God said, 'Honor your father and mother, and whoever curses his father or mother, let him be put to death.' But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,' and does not honor his father or mother, you have made void the commandment of God because of your tradition. Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me' (Exodus 20, Leviticus 20). But they worship me without cause, teaching doctrines and commandments of men. And, calling the multitude to him, he said to them: Hear and understand. Honor in the Scriptures is not only felt in greetings and deference to offices, but also in acts of charity and the offering of gifts (Exodus 20:12, 21 and Leviticus 20). The Apostle says, 'Honor widows who are truly widows' (1 Timothy 5:3); here honor is understood as a gift. And in another place: Elders are to be honored with double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine of God (ibid., 17). And by this command we are commanded not to close the mouth of the ox that is treading out the corn (Deut. XXV) . And may the worker be worthy of his wage (Luke X) . The Lord had commanded, considering the weaknesses, ages, and hardships of parents, that children should honor their parents even in providing for their basic needs. […]
A commentator
John ChrysostomHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 51 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Having then signified that they who were trampling on the law could not be justly entitled to blame men for transgressing a command of certain elders, He points out this same thing again from the prophet likewise. Thus, having once laid hold of them severely, He proceeds further: as on every occasion He doth, bringing forward the Scriptures, and so evincing Himself to be in accordance with God. And what saith the prophet? "This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Seest thou a prophecy in exact accordance with His sayings, and from the very first proclaiming beforehand their wickedness? For what Christ laid to their charge now, of this Isaiah also spake from the very first; that the words of God they despise, "for in vain do they worship me," saith He; but of their own they make much account, "teaching," saith He, "for doctrines the commandments of men." Therefore with reason the disciples keep them not.
The Medieval Church2 voices
You hypocrites. Properly speaking, hypocrites were those who entered the theater and had one character but simulated another with masks. These therefore are hypocrites, who outwardly pretend to be other than what they are within; hence inwardly they sought profit, but outwardly they moved men …
Esaias saw before the hypocrisy of the Jews, that they would craftily oppose the Gospel, and therefore he said in the person of the Lord, This people honoureth me with their lips, &c. Also, they honoured Him with their lips when they said, Master, we know that thou art true, (Mat. 22:16.) but their heart was far from Him when they sent spies to entangle Him in His talk.
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
Through the voice of the prophet Isaiah (Is. 29:13) Christ shows that the Pharisees and scribes are disposed to Him in the same way that they are to His Father. For they were evil, and by their evil deeds they had distanced themselves from God, …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying - That is, the description which Isaiah gave of your fathers, is exactly applicable to you. The words therefore which were a description of them, are a prophecy with regard to you. Their heart is far from me - And without this all outward worship is mere mockery of God.
The eye of man can perceive open profaneness, but it is only the eye of Christ that can discern hypocrisy, Luke xvi. And as it is a sin which his eye discovers, so it is a sin which of all others his soul hates. Now Christ fetches his reproof from Isa. xxix.
Ye hypocrites,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you - In every place where the proper names of the Old Testament occur, in the New, the same mode of orthography should be followed: I therefore write Isaiah with the Hebrew, not Esaias, with the Greek. This prophecy is found Isa 29:13. Our blessed Lord unmasks these hypocrites; and we may observe that, when a hypocrite is found out, he should be exposed to all; this may lead to his salvation: if he be permitted to retain his falsely acquired character, how can he escape perdition!
We have in these verses a conversation between our Lord Jesus Christ and certain scribes and Pharisees. The subject of it may seem, at first sight, of little interest in modern days; but it is not so in reality. The principles of the Pharisees are principles that never die. There are truths laid down here which are of deep importance. We learn for one thing that hypocrites generally attach great importance to mere outward things in religion. The complaint of the scribes and Pharisees in this place is a striking case in point.
We have in these verses a conversation between our Lord Jesus Christ and certain scribes and Pharisees. The subject of it may seem, at first sight, of little interest in modern days; but it is not so in reality. The principles of the Pharisees are principles that never die. There are truths laid down here which are of deep importance. We learn for one thing that hypocrites generally attach great importance to mere outward things in religion. The complaint of the scribes and Pharisees in this place is a striking case in point. They brought an accusation to our Lord against his disciples, but what was its nature? It was not that they were covetous or self-righteous. It was not that they were untruthful or uncharitable. It was not that they had broken any part of the law of God. But they transgressed the traditions of the elders. They did not wash their hands when they ate bread!” They did not observe a rule of merely human authority, which some old Jew had invented! This was the head and front of their offense! Do we see nothing of the spirit of the Pharisees in the present day? Unhappily we see only too much. There are thousands of professing Christians who seem to care nothing about the religion of their neighbors provided that it agrees in outward matters with their own. Does their neighbor worship according to their particular form? Can he repeat their shibboleth, and talk a little about their favorite doctrines? If he can, they are satisfied, though there is no evidence that he is converted. If he cannot, they are always finding fault, and cannot speak peaceably of him, though he may be serving Christ better than themselves. Let us beware of this spirit: it is the very essence of hypocrisy. Let our principle be, “The kingdom of God is not a meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” ( Romans 14:17 ).
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
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ὑποκριταί, | hupokritai | Hypocrites! | G5273 → | 17 times |
| καλῶς | kalos | Rightly | G2573 → | |
| ἐπροφήτευσεν | epropheteusen | prophesied | G4395 → | 28 times |
| περὶ | peri | concerning | G4012 → | 332 times |
| ὑμῶν | humon | you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| Ἠσαΐας | esaias | Isaiah | G2268 → | 22 times |
| λέγων·¶ | legon | saying; | G3004 → | 1325 times |
Ὑποκριταί,Hypocrites!
hupokritaiG5273 →17 times
καλῶςRightly
kalosG2573 →
ἐπροφήτευσενprophesied
epropheteusenG4395 →28 times
περὶconcerning
periG4012 →332 times
ὑμῶνyou
humonG4771 →2973 times
ἨσαΐαςIsaiah
esaiasG2268 →22 times
λέγων·¶saying;
legonG3004 →1325 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
Mark 7:6Jesus answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.
it leads to
- Isaiah 29:13
Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught…
- Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- Matthew 15:7–9
You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you:
- Ezekiel 33:31
So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest…
- 2 Timothy 3:5
having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!
- Isaiah 29:13
Through
Matthew 7:5You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
it leads to
- Luke 6:42
How can you say, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself fail to see the beam in your own eye? You hypocrite! First take the beam out of…
- Psalms 51:9–13
Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.
- Matthew 23:13–28
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.
- Luke 6:42
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Matthew
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Carl Friedrich Keil, Biblical Commentary on the Minor Prophets, on Isaiah 29; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 51; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 11.11; Rabanus Maurus, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Remigius of Rheims, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.