Matthew 15:5 Meaning and Explanation
“But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Sacred language can carry great weight, especially when it concerns a gift offered to God. Jesus shows why words that sound devout still require moral scrutiny. The immediate question is whether a declared religious gift can cancel a person's duty to honor and help parents. His answer unfolds in the next verse.
Jesus identifies a teaching that could let someone withhold needed help from a father or mother by calling the withheld benefit "a gift." He exposes an appeal to devotion that defeats God's command.
The Context of Matthew 15:5
After visitors from Jerusalem criticize the disciples' failure to follow a handwashing tradition, Jesus asks why they transgress God's command through their tradition. He has just cited the command to honor father and mother and the warning against cursing them. Matthew 15:5 begins Jesus' description of what his opponents say. A person could tell a father or mother, "It is a gift," regarding something from which the parent might otherwise receive help. Verse 6 completes the thought: this practice allowed the person to go without honoring the parent. Jesus concludes that their tradition had made God's command of no effect, then quotes Isaiah about worship and the heart.
What Does Matthew 15:5 Mean?
The words "But ye say" sharply contrast God's command with the teaching Jesus is examining. "Whosoever" broadens the issue beyond one unusual case. The person speaks to father or mother about a benefit they might have received: "It is a gift." In the flow of the next verse, the claim functions as a release from the obligation to honor them. Matthew does not explain every legal detail of the custom, so we need not supply details beyond the passage. Jesus' point is clear. A religious designation had been used in a way that could close a person's hand to parents who might properly be helped by that person's resources.
The chapter exposes a danger that reaches deeper than the particular practice. Tradition can preserve wise habits, teach communities, and order shared life. Its authority remains subordinate to God's command. Here, the tradition failed because it made room for disobedience to a command whose practical meaning included honoring parents. Jesus' concern is therefore about the purpose of worship as well as a rule of property. A gift associated with God cannot rightly become a shield for neglecting responsibilities God has already given. The following quotation from Isaiah explains the spiritual problem: lips may offer honor while the heart stays distant from God. A heart near to God receives his commands as a whole.
Jesus' teaching protects both devotion to God and mercy toward people. He does not disparage gifts offered to God. In Matthew's Gospel, giving, prayer, fasting, offerings, and worship all matter before the Father when they are done sincerely. The fault here lies in using a holy-sounding claim to frustrate a direct command of God. This accords with Jesus' appeal for mercy and his insistence that weightier matters of the law include judgment, mercy, and faith. The canon repeatedly joins love for God with faithful treatment of neighbors. Care for parents is one concrete place where that love takes visible shape, especially when it costs time, money, or convenience.
Bible Verses Related to Matthew 15:5
“And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.”
- Matthew 15:6
“But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.”
- Mark 7:11
“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?”
- Isaiah 58:6
“But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”
- 1 Timothy 5:8
Where Matthew 15:5 Echoes in Scripture
Mark 7:11 preserves the same controversy and names the declared gift "Corban." Mark's parallel confirms that Jesus is addressing a real religious formula that could be invoked against parental help. Matthew's wording keeps the pastoral issue in view: a parent might have profited from the child. The two accounts together warn us to judge religious claims by their faithfulness to the commands God has given.
How to Apply Matthew 15:5 Today
This verse gives us a searching question for decisions involving money, time, service, and family obligations: does our religious reasoning deepen obedience to God, including mercy and honor, or does it provide an escape from a clear responsibility? The question can be faced without simplistic judgments about every family need or every gift. Resources are limited, responsibilities sometimes conflict, and wise counsel may be needed. Still, we can speak plainly about our motives. We can plan generosity in ways that do not leave dependent parents unseen, and we can help one another carry burdens that exceed one household's strength.
Reflection & Prayer
Are there respectable words we use to avoid a responsibility God has already placed near us? Bring one area of giving, family care, or service before the Lord with honesty. Pray: "God of truth, purify our motives. Teach us to offer our gifts with clean hands and compassionate hearts, and guide us in the duties you have entrusted to us."