Matthew 15:7

Matthew 15:7, in plain English

Jesus calls them hypocrites and says the prophet Isaiah was talking about them hundreds of years before they were born. The pattern of fake religion is ancient.

Why it's here

It's sobering to think that we can go through all the motions of faith while our hearts are somewhere else entirely. Jesus sees through the performance.

Who's speaking

Jesus directly confronts the Pharisees with a prophetic quotation.

Where it sits in the story

Jesus reaches for the prophets to show that this isn't a new problem. Religious hypocrisy has deep roots, and Jesus is pulling them up.

The scholarly reading

The address hypokritai ('hypocrites') derives from the Greek theatrical term for actors wearing masks. Jesus' invocation of Isaiah's prophecy frames the Pharisees' behavior as a fulfillment of ancient scriptural patterns.

Language and setting

Matthew's use of Isaiah 29:13 (LXX) connects the contemporary religious leaders to Israel's historic pattern of external compliance without internal devotion.

Voice

Jesus addresses the Pharisees directly, introducing the Isaiah quotation.

Significance

Jesus moves from specific accusation to prophetic indictment. He reaches back to Isaiah to show that this kind of hypocrisy is as old as Israel itself.

5But you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’

6he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

7You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you:

8‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.

9They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”

Read all of Matthew 15 — Jesus dismantles the purity codes the Pharisees have built and shows that what defiles a person comes from within, not without.