Matthew 15:11
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.
American King James Version (AKJV)
Not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man; but that which comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.
American Standard Version (ASV)
Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
Not that which goes into the mouth makes a man unclean, but that which comes out of the mouth.
Webster's Revision
Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
World English Bible
That which enters into the mouth doesn't defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man."
English Revised Version (ERV)
Not that which entereth into the mouth defileth the man; but that which proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man.
Clarke's Matthew 15:11 Bible Commentary
Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth - This is an answer to the carping question of the Pharisees, mentioned Matthew 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, etc., 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.
Barnes's Matthew 15:11 Bible Commentary
Not that which goeth into the mouth ... - The disciples were charged with being sinners for transgressing the tradition of the elders in eating with unwashed hands.
Christ replies that what they should eat could not render them sinners. The man, the moral agent, the soul, could not be polluted by anything that was eaten. What proceeds from the man himself, from his heart, would defile him.
Defileth - Pollutes, corrupts, or renders sinful.