The Meaning of Matthew 15:12 Explained

Matthew 15:12

KJV: Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying?

YLT: Then his disciples having come near, said to him, 'Hast thou known that the Pharisees, having heard the word, were stumbled?'

Darby: Then his disciples, coming up, said to him, Dost thou know that the Pharisees, having heard this word, have been offended?

ASV: Then came the disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, when they heard this saying?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Then  came  his  disciples,  and said  unto him,  Knowest thou  that  the Pharisees  were offended,  after they heard  this saying? 

What does Matthew 15:12 Mean?

Context Summary

Matthew 15:10-20 - What Really Defiles
It is good to study our Lord's list of the sources of soul-pollution. Evil thoughts come first. We cannot prevent an evil suggestion being presented to our minds, but we can refuse to dwell on it. To resist the inclination to dwell on it strengthens us in the opposite direction; to yield to it is to commit the sin in our heart, which, in God's sight, is equivalent to the outward act. Notice that railing, that is, unkind and uncharitable speech, is in this black-list.
The heart, rather than the body, is the source of sin. Out of the heart! The body is the dial-plate on which the soul registers its improvement or deterioration. Do not find fault with your members: look to your heart and keep it beyond keeping, for out of it are the issues of life. Ask God to create in you a clean heart. See that you distinguish between the first Adam and the second. Deny what you inherit of human weakness and sin, and affirm all that is of Christ's imparting. The cross of Calvary and the uprising of the living Christ are facts of perpetual experience. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 15

1  Jesus reproves the Scribes and Pharisees
7  for transgressing God's commandments through their own traditions;
10  teaches how that which goes into the mouth does not defile a man
21  He heals the daughter of the woman of Canaan,
29  and other great multitudes;
32  and with seven loaves and a few small fish feeds four thousand men

Greek Commentary for Matthew 15:12

Were offended [εσκανδαλιστησαν]
First aorist passive. “Were caused to stumble,” “have taken offence” (Moffatt), “have turned against you” (Weymouth), “were shocked” (Goodspeed), “War ill-pleased” (Braid Scots). They took umbrage at the public rebuke and at such a scorpion sting in it all. It cut to the quick because it was true. It showed in the glowering countenances of the Pharisees so plainly that the disciples were uneasy. See note on Matthew 5:29. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 15:12

Mark 7:18 Are ye so without understanding also? [ουτως και υμεις ασυνετοι εστε]
See note on Matthew 15:16. You also as well as the multitude. It was a discouraging moment for the great Teacher if his own chosen pupils (disciples) were still under the spell of the Pharisaic theological outlook. It was a riddle to them. “They had been trained in Judaism, in which the distinction between clean and unclean is ingrained, and could not understand a statement abrogating this” (Gould). They had noticed that the Pharisees stumbled at the parable of Jesus (Matthew 15:12). They were stumbling themselves and did not know how to answer the Pharisees. Jesus charges the disciples with intellectual dulness and spiritual stupidity. [source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 15:12 mean?

Then having come near the disciples said to Him Know You that Pharisees having heard the saying were offended
Τότε προσελθόντες οἱ μαθηταὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῷ Οἶδας ὅτι Φαρισαῖοι ἀκούσαντες τὸν λόγον ἐσκανδαλίσθησαν

προσελθόντες  having  come  near 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: προσέρχομαι  
Sense: to come to, approach.
μαθηταὶ  disciples 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: μαθητής  
Sense: a learner, pupil, disciple.
λέγουσιν  said 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: λέγω 
Sense: to say, to speak.
αὐτῷ  to  Him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
Οἶδας  Know  You 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Indicative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: οἶδα  
Sense: to see.
ὅτι  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
Φαρισαῖοι  Pharisees 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: Φαρισαῖος  
Sense: A sect that seems to have started after the Jewish exile.
ἀκούσαντες  having  heard 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἀκουστός 
Sense: to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf.
λόγον  saying 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: λόγος  
Sense: of speech.
ἐσκανδαλίσθησαν  were  offended 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Plural
Root: σκανδαλίζω  
Sense: to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, metaph. to offend.