Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Matthew
Chapter 15: O Woman, Great Is Thy Faith
Matthew 15 sets human tradition against the commandment of God. When scribes and Pharisees accuse His disciples of eating with unwashen hands, Jesus exposes how their traditions actually void God's word, and teaches that defilement is not a matter of the hands but of the heart: 'those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.' Then, in the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, a Gentile woman of Canaan cries after Him for her demon-vexed daughter, and through His testing her faith only grows stronger, until He declares, 'O woman, great is thy faith,' and heals her daughter that very hour. Returning to the sea of Galilee, He heals great multitudes so that they 'glorified the God of Israel,' and feeds four thousand men from seven loaves and a few little fishes. The chapter reveals a Saviour who cuts through empty religion to the heart, honors persistent faith wherever He finds it, and pours out compassion on Jew and Gentile alike.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Matthew chapter 15. For each section you will find the KJV text, word studies that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here Jesus confronts the tradition of the elders, honors the great faith of a Gentile woman, and feeds the four thousand. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Commandment vs. Tradition
Jesus shows how man's tradition can make the commandment of God of none effect.
What Defiles a Man
Defilement is not on the hands but in the heart, where evil thoughts proceed.
Great Is Thy Faith
A Gentile mother will not be turned away, and her faith wins her daughter's healing.
Seven Loaves, Four Thousand
Again moved with compassion, Jesus feeds a great multitude in the wilderness.
This People Honoureth Me with Their Lips (Matthew 15:1-20)
Jesus exposes how human tradition voids God's commandment, and teaches that true defilement rises from the heart.
Out of the Heart Proceed Evil Thoughts
"Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, 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, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man."
Word Study
"defileth," Greek koinoi (κοινοῖ). The word means to make "common" or unclean, the opposite of holy. The Pharisees thought defilement came from outside, through unwashed hands and forbidden foods, ceremonial and external. Jesus turns it inward: what makes a man truly "common" before God is not what enters the mouth but "those things which proceed out of the mouth," for they "come forth from the heart." Real uncleanness is moral, not ritual; it rises from within, from a heart that needs not scrubbing but cleansing.
Explanation
When the Pharisees fault His disciples for ignoring the tradition of hand-washing, Jesus exposes how their traditions actually void God's commands -- "Corban" let a man rob his parents in the name of a vow. Quoting Isaiah, He names the disease: "this people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." Then He overturns their whole map of purity: defilement is not what enters the mouth but what proceeds from the heart -- "evil thoughts, murders, adulteries." The problem was never dirty hands but a dirty heart, and no ritual can reach that far in; only a new heart will do.
Gospel Focus
The scribes and Pharisees came all the way "from Jerusalem" to accuse Jesus' disciples of skipping a ceremonial hand-washing, "the tradition of the elders." Jesus answers with a devastating counter-question: "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?" He gives an example. God commanded, "Honour thy father and mother," which includes caring for them in old age. But the elders had invented a loophole: a man could declare his resources "a gift" (dedicated to God) and so refuse to help his own parents, "and honour not his father or his mother." By their tradition they had "made the commandment of God of none effect." This is the deadly danger of religion that exalts human rules above God's word: it looks devout while it hollows out true obedience. Jesus quotes Isaiah's diagnosis: "This people... honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Then He drives to the root: defilement is not a matter of the hands but of the heart. "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." No amount of external washing reaches this. The human heart is the fountain of sin, and it must be cleansed from within. This is why the gospel is not reformation but regeneration; not better manners but a new heart. Guard against a religion that is all lips and no heart, all tradition and no truth. God is not fooled by clean hands over a defiled heart. He is looking for those who worship Him "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24), whose hearts have been washed by the blood and renewed by His Spirit.
Truth, Lord: Yet the Dogs Eat of the Crumbs (Matthew 15:21-28)
A Gentile mother meets silence, testing, and seeming refusal, yet presses on in humble faith until Jesus grants her whole request.
Great Is Thy Faith
"Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."
Word Study
"dogs," Greek kunariois (κυναρίοις). This is not the word for the wild, scavenging street dogs, but a diminutive, "little dogs," the household pets that live under the family table. Jesus does not hurl the harsh insult the Jews reserved for Gentiles; He uses a tender, domestic word, almost inviting the woman to press further, to see herself not as an outsider driven off but as one who may yet share in the family's abundance. She seizes exactly that opening: "yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Her humility and her faith turn His testing word into a doorway.
Explanation
A Canaanite woman -- a Gentile outsider -- cries after Jesus for her demonized daughter, and He tests her with silence and then with the hard saying about children's bread and "dogs." She does not take offense; she takes the very word and turns it into a plea: "yet the dogs eat of the crumbs." Her humble, persistent faith wrings from Jesus the praise He gave only one other, a Gentile centurion: "great is thy faith." The episode is a preview of the gospel going to the nations -- the crumbs from Israel's table proving to be a feast for a believing world.
Gospel Focus
This is one of the most moving accounts of faith in all the Gospels. A "woman of Canaan," a Gentile outside the covenant, comes crying for her tormented daughter: "Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David." She meets three seeming discouragements, and overcomes each one. First, silence: "he answered her not a word." She keeps crying. Second, the disciples' impatience and His word that He was "not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." She does not argue; she draws nearer and worships, "Lord, help me." Third, the hardest word of all: "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs." And here her faith shines brightest. She does not take offense; she agrees, "Truth, Lord," and then, with holy boldness, turns His own words into her plea: "yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." She asks for no more than a crumb, and she believes a crumb from this Master's table is enough to heal her child. Jesus, who was drawing this faith out all along, declares openly what He already knew: "O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt." And "her daughter was made whole from that very hour." What faith looks like here is worth marking: it is humble (she claims nothing, not even the name of a child), it is persistent (silence and refusal do not stop it), and it clings to the mercy and sufficiency of Christ. It also unveils the wideness of His grace. Though His earthly mission went first to Israel, here at the border of the Gentile world He heals a Canaanite's daughter, a preview of the gospel that would go to all nations. If you feel unworthy, an outsider, kept waiting, take heart from this woman. Come as a beggar for crumbs, worship at His feet, refuse to be turned away, and you will find the Lord's table has bread enough for you.
I Have Compassion on the Multitude (Matthew 15:29-39)
Jesus heals great multitudes who glorify the God of Israel, and feeds four thousand from seven loaves and a few little fishes.
They Glorified the God of Israel
"And Jesus departed from thence, and came nigh unto the sea of Galilee; and went up into a mountain, and sat down there. And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet; and he healed them: Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel. Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way. And his disciples say unto him, Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude? And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven, and a few little fishes. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full. And they that did eat were four thousand men, beside women and children. And he sent away the multitude, and took ship, and came into the coasts of Magdala."
Word Study
"they glorified the God of Israel," Greek edoxasan (ἐδόξασαν). To "glorify" is to give weight, honor, and praise. The crowds saw "the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see," and rightly gave the glory to God. What they may not have grasped is that "the God of Israel" they praised stood before them in flesh. These are the very works Isaiah foretold the LORD Himself would do when He came: "then the eyes of the blind shall be opened... then shall the lame man leap" (Isaiah 35:5-6). To glorify Jesus for these works is to glorify the God of Israel, for He is that God come to save.
Explanation
In the Gentile region of the Decapolis Jesus heals the multitudes until "they glorified the God of Israel," and then feeds four thousand from seven loaves. This second feeding, on largely Gentile soil, answers the first: the compassion that fed Israel now spreads its table for the nations. The disciples, who had just seen the five thousand fed, still ask "whence should we have so much bread?" -- proof that faith must be relearned at every fresh crisis. The Shepherd of Israel is quietly revealing Himself as the Shepherd of the world, feeding all who will come.
Gospel Focus
Back by the sea of Galilee, "great multitudes" bring their broken and suffering, "lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others," and cast them down at Jesus' feet, and He heals them all. The people "wondered" and "glorified the God of Israel", and they were right, though the deeper truth is that the God of Israel was healing them in person. Then comes the feeding of the four thousand, a distinct miracle from the feeding of the five thousand in chapter 14. Once again Jesus' heart moves first: "I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat." He will not "send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way." The Lord notices the physical needs of those who linger to hear Him, and He provides. From "seven loaves and a few little fishes" He feeds four thousand men "beside women and children," with "seven baskets full" left over. The disciples, astonishingly, still ask, "Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness?", they had seen Him do this before, yet forgot. How like us: we witness God's provision and still doubt Him at the next need. But Christ is patient, and He does again what He did before. Mark's parallel account places this feeding in the region of the Decapolis (Mark 7:31), where many Gentiles lived. If the two feedings are set side by side, one among the Jews and one where Gentiles were near at hand, they quietly announce the same truth as the Canaanite woman: there is bread enough at this Master's table for all who come. The compassionate King still says, "I will not send them away fasting." Bring your hunger, and your emptiness, to Him.
Chapter 15 in Review
Matthew 15 moves from empty religion to living faith. The scribes and Pharisees attack over unwashed hands, and Jesus exposes how their "tradition of the elders" had "made the commandment of God of none effect," honoring Him with the lips while the heart was "far from me." He teaches that defilement is not external but internal: "out of the heart proceed evil thoughts," and it is these that defile a man. Then a Canaanite woman, a Gentile, will not be turned away by silence, delay, or testing, but presses on in humble faith, "yet the dogs eat of the crumbs," until Jesus declares, "O woman, great is thy faith," and heals her daughter. Finally He heals great multitudes who "glorified the God of Israel," and feeds four thousand from "seven loaves and a few little fishes," saying, "I have compassion on the multitude."
For the Apostolic reader this chapter presses home that God wants the heart, not merely the hands. Religion that exalts human tradition over God's word, all lips and no heart, is worship "in vain." What defiles us rises from within, and only a new heart, cleansed by the blood and renewed by His Spirit, can answer that need. The Canaanite woman shows what real faith looks like, humble, persistent, clinging to the mercy of Christ, and reaching even a Gentile outside the covenant, a foretaste of the gospel for all nations. And in healing the multitudes and feeding the four thousand, Jesus is revealed as "the God of Israel" come in flesh, doing the very works Isaiah said the LORD would do, moved with compassion, unwilling to send the hungry away. Come to Him with a heart laid bare and a faith that will not quit, and find His table has bread enough for you.
- Human tradition can make the commandment of God of none effect; God wants the heart, not the lips (15:6-8).
- Defilement is not external but rises from within: "out of the heart proceed evil thoughts" (15:18-19).
- True faith is humble and persistent; it clings to Christ's mercy through silence and testing (15:25-27).
- Christ honors great faith wherever He finds it, even in a Gentile outside the covenant (15:28).
- The crowds "glorified the God of Israel", the God who stood among them in flesh (15:31; Isaiah 35:5-6).
- The compassionate King will not send the hungry away fasting; His table has bread enough for all (15:32).
Questions for Reflection
- Is your worship all lips, or does it come from a heart near to God?
- What "traditions" or preferences have you let quietly override God's clear word?
- Will your faith, like the Canaanite woman's, keep pressing through silence and delay?
- Do you bring your emptiness to the One who says, "I have compassion on the multitude"?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. Isaiah's prophecy of the lips and heart: Isaiah 29:13. The command to honor father and mother: Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16. The works of the LORD in healing: Isaiah 35:5-6. Worship in spirit and in truth: John 4:24. The parallel accounts: Mark 7:1-37; 8:1-10. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Tradition of the elders and what defiles a man: Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23; Isaiah 29:13.
- The faith of the Canaanite (Syrophenician) woman: Matthew 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30.
- Healings and the feeding of the four thousand: Matthew 15:29-39; Mark 7:31-8:10; Isaiah 35:5-6.