Matthew 15:11 (KJV)

What does Matthew 15:11 mean?

Matthew 15:11 says that what a person eats does not make them spiritually unclean, but rather, it is the words that come out of a person’s mouth that can truly make them unclean. Jesus is teaching that inner attitudes and speech matter more than external rituals or dietary rules.

In this verse, Jesus is speaking to a crowd after the Pharisees questioned his disciples for not following traditional hand-washing rituals. He shifts the focus from outward religious practices to the importance of what comes from within a person. Jesus is challenging the common belief of his time that ritual purity comes from following food laws, emphasizing instead that moral and spiritual purity is about the heart and what a person says.

The Greek behind Matthew 15:11

• στόμα (stoma, "mouth"): This word appears twice and highlights the shift from physical eating to spoken words, stressing that speech reveals the heart’s condition.
• κοινόω (koinoō, "defileth"): This Greek word means to make something common or unclean, especially in a ritual or religious sense. Jesus uses it to redefine what truly makes someone impure, moving the idea from external actions to internal realities.
• ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos, "man"): This word refers to a human being in general, showing that Jesus’ teaching applies to everyone, not just a specific group.

Why Matthew 15:11 matters

• Matthew 15:11 clears up the misunderstanding that following food laws or rituals alone can make someone right with God, pointing instead to the deeper issue of the heart and speech.
• This verse marks a turning point in Jesus’ teaching, where he challenges traditional interpretations of the law and emphasizes personal responsibility for one’s words and attitudes.
• Matthew 15:11 connects to the wider passage by setting up Jesus’ later explanation to his disciples about the source of true defilement, helping readers see the difference between outward religion and inward transformation.