Matthew 15 is the fifteenth chapter in the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

section of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. It concludes the narrative about Jesus' ministry in

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...

and can be divided into the following subsections: *

Discourse on Defilement The Discourse on Defilement is an account of the teaching of Jesus recorded in the New Testament in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark . In the account in the Gospel of Matthew, the Pharisees complain to Jesus that his disciples break ...

(15:1–20) *

Exorcising the Canaanite woman's daughter The Exorcism of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter is one of the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels and is recounted in the Gospel of Mark in Chapter 7 () and in the Gospel of Matthew in Chapter 15 (). In Matthew, the story is recounted as the ...

(15:21–28) *Healing many on a mountain (15:29-31) * Feeding the 4000 (15:32–39)

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 39 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(325-350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

(330-360) *

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, designated by siglum D or 05 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 5 (in the von Soden of New Testament manuscript), is a codex of the New Testament dating from the 5th century writ ...

(~400) *

Codex Washingtonianus The Codex Washingtonianus or Codex Washingtonensis, designated by W or 032 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 014 ( Soden), also called the ''Washington Manuscript of the Gospels'', and ''The Freer Gospel'', contains the four biblical gospels an ...

(~400) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) designated by the siglum C or 04 {in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 3 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a ma ...

(~450) *

Codex Purpureus Rossanensis The Rossano Gospels, designated by 042 or Σ (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 18 ( Soden), held at the cathedral of Rossano in Italy, is a 6th-century illuminated manuscript Gospel Book written following the reconquest of the Italian penins ...

(6th century) *

Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus, designated by N or 022 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 19 ( Soden), is a Greek New Testament codex containing the four Gospels. It has been paleographically dated to the 6th century. Codex Petropolitanus Pu ...

(6th century; extant verses 14-31) *

Codex Sinopensis The Sinope Gospels, designated by O or 023 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 21 ( Soden), also known as the Codex Sinopensis, is a fragment of a 6th-century illuminated Greek Gospel Book. Along with the Rossano Gospels, the Sinope Gospels has ...

(6th century; extant verses 11-39) *

Uncial 0237 Uncial 0237 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 014 ( von Soden), is a Greek-Coptic uncial manuscript of the New Testament. Paleographically it has been assigned to the 6th-century. Description The codex contains two small parts of the Gospe ...

(6th century; extant verses 12-15,17-19)

Locations and timing

Most of the events recorded in this chapter took place in Galilee. Verse 1 refers to scribes and

Pharisees The Pharisees (; he, פְּרוּשִׁים, Pərūšīm) were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs bec ...

who have come from

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. The word order is "scribes and Pharisees" in the

Textus Receptus ''Textus Receptus'' (Latin: "received text") refers to all printed editions of the Greek New Testament from Erasmus's ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) to the 1633 Elzevir edition. It was the most commonly used text type for Protestant denomi ...

, but "Pharisees and scribes" in

Westcott and Hort ''The New Testament in the Original Greek'' is a Greek-language version of the New Testament published in 1881. It is also known as the Westcott and Hort text, after its editors Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (18 ...

's critical edition. Theologian

Johann Bengel Johann Albrecht Bengel (24 June 1687 – 2 November 1752), also known as ''Bengelius'', was a Lutheran pietist clergyman and Greek-language scholar known for his edition of the Greek New Testament and his commentaries on it. Life and career Be ...

makes the point that these events could not therefore have taken place at the time of the

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...

. Verses 21 to 28 refer to an excursion to the region of Tyre and

Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...

, after which Jesus returned to Galilee and 'skirted' or walked beside the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee ( he, יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ar, بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest ...

to a mountain on the lake's eastern shore. Harold H. Buls notes that "at this point in the life of Jesus", he is "less than a year from his suffering and death". At the close of the chapter (verse 39) he "got into the boat, and came to the region of

Magdala Magdala (Aramaic: מגדלא, ''Magdala'', meaning "tower"; Hebrew: , ''Migdal''; ar, المجدل, ''al-Majdal'') was an ancient Jewish city on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, north of Tiberias. In the Babylonian Talmud it is known as Magda ...

" or Magadan. According to

E. H. Plumptre Edward Hayes Plumptre (6 August 1821 – 1 February 1891) was an English Anglicanism#Anglican divines, divine and scholar born in London. Life He was born on 6 August 1821, being the son of Edward Hallows Plumptre, a London solicitor. Charles J ...

in Anglican bishop

Charles Ellicott Charles John Ellicott (1819–1905) was a distinguished English Christian theologian, academic and churchman. He briefly served as Dean of Exeter, then Bishop of the united see of Gloucester and Bristol. Early life and family Ellicott was bo ...

's ''Commentary'', "the better anuscriptsgive the reading ''Magadan''. The

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

translates this text as "the coasts of Magdala".

Heinrich Ewald Georg Heinrich August Ewald (16 November 18034 May 1875) was a German oriental studies, orientalist, Protestant theology, theologian, and Biblical exegete. He studied at the University of Göttingen. In 1827 he became extraordinary professor there ...

thinks the reference may be to

Megiddo Megiddo may refer to: Places and sites in Israel * Tel Megiddo, site of an ancient city in Israel's Jezreel valley * Megiddo Airport, a domestic airport in Israel * Megiddo church (Israel) * Megiddo, Israel, a kibbutz in Israel * Megiddo Junction, ...

, but

Heinrich Meyer Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer (10 January 1800 – 21 June 1873) was a German Protestant divine. He wrote commentaries on the ''New Testament'' and published an edition of that book. Biography Meyer was born in Gotha. He studied theology at Jena, ...

criticises this opinion because Megiddo is "too far inland". The parallel passage in

Mark's gospel The Gospel of Mark), or simply Mark (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). is the second of the four canonical gospels and of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells of the ministry of Jesus from his baptism by John the Baptist to ...

gives (in the majority of manuscripts) a quite different place name,

Dalmanutha Dalmanutha or Dalmanoutha (δαλμανουθα) is the unknown destination of Jesus on the shores of the Sea of Gallilee after he fed the four thousand, as recorded in Mark's gospel (). It is sometimes believed to be in the vicinity of Magdal ...

, although a handful of manuscripts give either ''Magdala'' or ''Magadan'', possibly through assimilation with the Matthean text.

Verse 16

:''Then he said, “Are you also still without understanding?"'' (

New Revised Standard Version The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches.New King James Version The New King James Version (NKJV) is an English translation of the Bible. The complete NKJV Bible was published in 1982 by Thomas Nelson, now HarperCollins. The NKJV is described by Thomas Nelson as being "scrupulously faithful to the origin ...

) : NKJV The word "Jesus" is probably an addition. Meyer, H. A. W.
Meyer's NT Commentary
on Matthew 15, accessed 12 September 2019

References

External links