Matthew 15:16
in Matthew 15“Do you still not understand?” Jesus asked.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said, Are ye also even yet without understanding?
KJV
And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
⋯
This verse in Matthew 15
Commentary
15 notes on this verse(Ver. 15, 16.) But Peter, responding, said to him: Explain this parable to us. And he said: Are you still without understanding? What had been clearly stated and was clear to the hearing, the apostle Peter thinks was said in a parable and seeks a mystical understanding in a matter that is manifest. And he is reprimanded by the Lord for thinking that what was clearly spoken was said in a parable. From this, we observe that the listener is faulty, who wants to understand either clearly stated but obscure things, or things clearly stated in an obscure manner.
This site's exposition
Explain this parable to us
on Matthew 15:15-20
Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander. The list follows largely the second table of the Ten Commandments. Gill notes that the exchange closes where it opened, on eating with unwashed hands, now moved from ritual purity to the heart.
This site's exposition
Do you still not understand
Adam Clarke renders the Greek word akme as still, which the Berean text also reads. Matthew Henry weighs the rebuke by time. These men had heard Jesus for months, and he expects understanding in proportion to the teaching received.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"Without understanding" is what the Lord calls those who, like the Pharisees, make a fuss about external matters and have not yet discovered the inner life. Meats, therefore, he says, have to do with filling up the body, but they do not reach into the heart. But that which does not reach to the heart is not able to defile the faithful [genuine] man or cause him to become unclean.
The Lord was used to speak in parables, so that Peter when he heard, That which entereth into the mouth defileth not a man, thought it was spoken as a parable, and asked, as it follows; Then answered Peter, and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And because he asked this on behalf of the rest, they are all included in the rebuke, But he said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
He is reproved by the Lord, because He supposed that to be spoken parabolically, which was indeed spoken plainly. Which teaches us that that hearer is to be blamed who would take dark sayings as clear, or clear sayings as obscure.
What then saith Peter? He saith not, "What can this be which Thou hast said?" but as though it were full of obscurity, he puts his question. And he saith not, "Why hast thou spoken contrary to the law?" for he was afraid, lest he should be thought to have taken offense, but asserts it to be obscure. However, that it was not obscure, but that he was offended, is manifest, for it had nothing of obscurity. Wherefore also He rebukes him, saying, "Are ye also yet without understanding?" For as to the multitude, they did not perhaps so much as understand the saying; but themselves were the persons offended. Wherefore, whereas at first, as though asking in behalf of the Pharisees, they were desirous to be told; when they heard Him denouncing a great threat, and saying, "Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up," and, "They are blind leaders of the blind," they were silenced. But he, always ardent, not even so endures to hold his peace, but saith, "Declare unto us this parable." What then saith Christ? With a sharp rebuke He answers, "Are ye also yet without understanding? Do ye not yet understand?" But these things He said, and reproved them, in order to cast out their prejudice; He stopped not however at this, but adds other things also, saying, "That whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught; but those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, blasphemies, false-witnessings: and these are the things that defile the man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not the man." Seest thou how sharply He deals with them, and in the way of rebuke? Then He establishes His saying by our common nature, and with a view to their cure. […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
The Saviour rebukes the disciples and censures their lack of sense, either because they took offense or because they did not understand the obvious. For He says, "That which is understood and is apparent to all, you do not understand; that food does not remain …
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
But he said: are you also yet without understanding? For the Lord answered all in the person of Peter, who spoke for all. Here he reproves them. But why? One reason is that which Jerome gives, because what was plainly spoken, they thought was spoken …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"Are ye yet so, after ye have been so long under my teaching?" Had they been but of yesterday in Christ's school, it had been another matter, but to have been for so many months Christ's constant hearers, and yet to be without understanding, was a great reproach to them. Note, Christ expects from us some proportion of knowledge, and grace, and wisdom, according to the time and means we have had.
And Jesus said,.... As wondering at, and as being displeased with, and as reproving them for their dulness and ignorance: are ye also yet without understanding? you, my disciples, as well as the Scribes and Pharisees; you, who have been with me so long, who have heard so many discourses from me, who for so long a time have been instructed by me, both in private, and in public; and yet do not understand what is so plain and easy, that has nothing of difficulty in it, but what might easily be accounted for.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
Are ye also yet without understanding? - The word ακμη, which we translate yet, should be here rendered still: Are ye still void of understanding? and the word is used in this sense by several Greek writers. The authorities which have induced me to prefer this translation may be seen in Kypke.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?--Slowness of spiritual apprehension in His genuine disciples grieves the Saviour: from others He expects no better (Mt 13:11).
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
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | And | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| εἶπεν· | eipen | He said; | G2036 → | 925 times |
| ἀκμὴν | akmen | Still | G188 → | |
| καὶ | kai | also | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ὑμεῖς | humeis | you yourselves | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ἀσύνετοί | asunetoi | without understanding | G801 → | |
| ἐστε; | este | are? | G1510 → | 2333 times |
Ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
δὲAnd
deG1161 →2765 times
εἶπεν·He said;
eipenG2036 →925 times
ἀκμὴνStill
akmenG188 →
καὶalso
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ὑμεῖςyou yourselves
humeisG4771 →2973 times
ἀσύνετοίwithout understanding
asunetoiG801 →
ἐστε;are?
esteG1510 →2333 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 7:18“Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him,
it leads to
- Matthew 15:16–17
“Do you still not understand?” Jesus asked.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 15:16–17
Through
Mark 9:32But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
it leads to
- Luke 18:34
But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 2:50
But they did not understand the statement He was making to them.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- John 12:16
At first His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Luke 9:45
But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
- John 16:19
Aware that they wanted to question Him, Jesus said to them, “Are you asking one another why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while…
- Luke 18:34
Through
Matthew 16:9Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?
it leads to
- Matthew 14:17–21
“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
- Matthew 14:17–21
Through
Matthew 15:10Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “Listen and understand.
it leads to
- Mark 7:14–15
Once again Jesus called the crowd to Him and said, “All of you, listen to Me and understand:
- Mark 7:14–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Matthew
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Cyril of Alexandria, FRAGMENT 185; J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Matthew; Jerome, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; John Chrysostom, Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 51; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Remigius of Rheims, Catena Aurea by Aquinas; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Matthew and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Matthew.