Bible Strands
Matthew 15:17
“Do you not yet realize that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then is eliminated?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses His disciples in Matthew 15, immediately after asking in Matthew 15:16 if they still lack understanding. He delivers this statement just before explaining in Matthew 15:18 that moral defilement originates from the heart.
The words — νοεῖτε (noeite) means “understand you,” and εἰσπορευόμενον (eisporeuomenon) translates literally as “entering.” These terms frame the verse as a direct command to grasp a physical process.
The thread — The distinction between physical intake and moral output runs through Luke 6:45 on the heart’s stored treasure, 1 Corinthians 6:13 on the stomach’s temporary function, and Matthew 7:19 on the necessity of observable fruit.
Why it lands — The text states that ingested food passes through the digestive system and exits the body. This demands readers cease equating ritual cleanliness with physical consumption and examine the internal source of their actions.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
Cross-references
- Luke 6:45 The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
- 1 Corinthians 6:13 “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will destroy them both. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
- Matthew 7:19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
- 2 Kings 10:27 They also demolished the sacred pillar of Baal. Then they tore down the temple of Baal and made it into a latrine, which it is to this day.
- Colossians 2:21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”?
- James 3:6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.