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Matthew

About this book
Chapter 15

1 Then Pharisees and experts in the law came from Jerusalem to Jesus and said, 2 “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” 6 he does not need to honor his father.’ You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said,⁠ 8 “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, 9 and they worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” 10 Then he called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What defiles a person is not what goes into the mouth; it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person.”⁠ 12 Then the disciples came to him and said, “Do you know that when the Pharisees heard this saying they were offended?” 13 And he replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.⁠ 14 Leave them! They are blind guides. If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, both will fall into a pit.”⁠ 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain this parable to us.” 16 Jesus said, “Even after all this, are you still so foolish? 17 Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and then passes out into the sewer? 18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are the things that defile a person; it is not eating with unwashed hands that defiles a person.” 21 After going out from there, Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that area came and cried out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is horribly demon-possessed!” 23 But he did not answer her a word. Then his disciples came and begged him, “Send her away because she keeps on crying out after us.” 24 So he answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”⁠ 25 But she came and bowed down before him and said, “Lord, help me!” 26 “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” he said.⁠ 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”⁠ 28 Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, your faith is great! Let what you want be done for you.” And her daughter was healed from that hour. 29 When he left there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up a mountain, where he sat down. 30 Then large crowds came to him bringing with them the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.⁠ 32 Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have already been here with me three days and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry since they may faint on the way.” 33 The disciples said to him, “Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?” 34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven—and a few small fish.” 35 After instructing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks, he broke them and began giving them to the disciples, who then gave them to the crowds. 37 They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 38 Not counting children and women, there were 4,000 men who ate. 39 After sending away the crowd, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

Texts in conversation

Compare Matthew 15:31 and Mekhilta d'Rabbi Ishmael 20.15

New Testament · Rabbinic

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Summary

Matthew 15 depicts the mute, blind, lame, and crippled being healed, incorporating them in community life. Rabbinic tradition in Mekhilta d’Rabbi Ishmael reflects a similar ideal by saying such individuals are no longer considered to be in that state.

Passages

Matthew 15:31

New Testament
29 When he left there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up a mountain, where he sat down. 30 Then large crowds came to him bringing with them the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel. 32 Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have already been here with me three days and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry since they may faint on the way.” 33 The disciples said to him, “Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?”
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

Mekhilta d'Rabbi Ishmael 20.15

Rabbinic · Halakhic Midrash
Variantly: "And all the people saw": to apprise us of the exalted state of Israel. When they all stood at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, as soon as they heard the pronouncement, they assimilated it. As it is written (Devarim 32:10) "He encircled him; he invested him (with understanding). As soon as they heard the pronouncement, they assimilated it. R. Eliezer says: to apprise us of the exalted state of Israel. When they all stood at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, there were no blind ones among them, viz. "And all the people saw." And whence is it derived that there were no mutes among them? From (Exodus 19:8) "And all the people answered together." And whence is it derived that there were no deaf ones among them? From (Ibid. 24:7) "All that the L rd has spoken, we shall do and we shall hear." And whence is it derived that there were no large ones among them? From (Ibid. 17) "And they stood at the foot of the mountain." And whence is it derived that there were no fools among them? From (Devarim 4:35) "You have been shown to know, etc."
135 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Mekhilta d'Rabbi Ishmael

References

"... Further examination of tannaitic sources and both the Palestinian and the Babylonian Talmud elicits the existence of additional traditions that reflect a more expanded list of individuals excused from the injunction to 'appear before the Lord.' Indeed, a brief glance at these lists reveals that they do not lend themselves to classification according to the standard rabbinic criteria outlined above. In T. Hag. we find the addition of the 'unclean person' to the list and the explicit mention of a blind person, while the Mekhilta (Kaspa, 20) surprisingly exempts the proselyte from pilgrimage. The baraita cited in b. Hag. 4a states: 'The scraper, the copper-smith and the tanner are exempt from appearing (at the Temple),' while the parallel tradition in y. Hag. 1:5, 76d exempts men afflicted with blisters or with a polypus as well. According to yet another baraita: 'The uncircumcised and the unclean are exempt from [bringing] the pilgrimage-offering' (b. Hag. 4b). Moreover, both Talmuds attest to the further amplification of the range of exemptions to include individuals suffering from less severe impairment. The deaf man of the Mishnah's tripartite category of a deaf man, an imbecile, and a minor, excused by virtue of his 'lack of understanding,' is customarily understood to be a deaf-mute, as we learn from m. Ter. 1:2: '... whom the Sages have spoken in all cases is one who can neither hear nor speak.' However, both Talmuds are cognizant of the tradition that the who is excused from pilgrimage includes the category of individuals with the ability to hear but unable to speak, or with the ability to speak but unable to hear ..."
Aharon Shemesh, “‘The Holy Angels Are in Their Council’: The Exclusion of Deformed Persons from Holy Places in Qumranic and Rabbinic Literature,” DSD 4.2 (1997): 179–206.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Matthew 15:31 and Mekhilta d'Rabbi Ishmael 20.15

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