Matthew 15:2

Matthew 15:2. Why do thy disciples transgress? They had seen them thus ‘transgress,' either at Jerusalem (Lange), or, as is more probable, in Galilee (comp. Mark 7:2). In reality a cautious and artful attack upon Christ Himself.

The tradition of the elders. Certain rules handed down by word of mouth from Moses and the fathers of the nation (comp. Galatians 1:14). ‘Elders' refers to the authors, not the upholders, of these traditional customs. ‘The Jews attached greater value to tradition than even to the written law, appealing in support of it to Deuteronomy 4:14; Deuteronomy 17:10. More especially did they pay respect to the traditionary injunction of washing the hands before meals, to which it was thought Leviticus 15:11 referred' (Meyer).

For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. Comp, the explanation in Mark 7:3-4. The washing referred to was not an act of cleanliness, but a ceremonial washing, performed with scrupulous care. ‘Rabbi Akiba, being imprisoned, and having water scarcely sufficient to sustain life given him, preferred dying of thirst to eating without washing his hands' (Alford). The Pharisees assumed the authority of this tradition. Our Lord opposes, not the custom, but the principle they assumed. Notice the belittling influence of legalism.