မဂ္ဂဇင်း 15:14

Myanmar Judson Bible

14 ထိုသူတို့ကိုရှိပါလေစေ။ သူတို့သည်လူကန်းတို့အား လမ်းပြသောလူကန်းဖြစ်၏။ လူကန်းချင်းတဦးကို တဦးလမ်းပြလျှင်၊ နှစ်ဦးတို့သည် တွင်းထဲသို့ကျကြလိမ့်မည်ဟု မိန့်တော်မူ၏။

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Let: Hosea 4:17, 1 Timothy 6:5

they: Matthew 23:16-24, Isaiah 9:16, Isaiah 42:19, Isaiah 56:10, Malachi 2:8, Luke 6:39

And if: Jeremiah 5:31, Jeremiah 6:15, Jeremiah 8:12, Ezekiel 14:9, Ezekiel 14:10, Micah 3:6, Micah 3:7, 2 Peter 2:1, 2 Peter 2:17, Revelation 19:20, Revelation 22:15

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 27:18 - General 2 Kings 17:28 - taught them Psalms 119:99 - than all Proverbs 4:19 - General Proverbs 9:8 - Reprove Proverbs 16:22 - the instruction Isaiah 3:12 - lead thee Isaiah 8:15 - stumble Isaiah 43:27 - and thy Isaiah 51:18 - none Isaiah 60:2 - the darkness Jeremiah 14:16 - the people Jeremiah 23:1 - pastors Jeremiah 23:32 - therefore Jeremiah 27:15 - ye Lamentations 4:14 - have wandered Hosea 4:6 - for Hosea 4:9 - like people Amos 4:5 - for Micah 3:5 - concerning Zephaniah 1:17 - they shall Zechariah 11:3 - a voice Zechariah 11:9 - that that dieth Zechariah 11:15 - a foolish Malachi 2:12 - the master and the scholar Matthew 16:4 - And he Matthew 21:27 - We cannot tell Mark 8:13 - General Mark 11:33 - We Luke 13:15 - Thou hypocrite Luke 20:8 - General John 3:10 - Art John 12:40 - hath Acts 19:9 - he departed Romans 1:24 - God Romans 2:19 - art confident 1 Corinthians 12:2 - even 1 Corinthians 14:38 - General 1 Timothy 1:7 - understanding Revelation 22:11 - that is unjust

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Let them alone,.... Have nothing to say, or do with them; do not mind their anger and resentment, their reproaches and reflections, nor trouble yourselves at the offence they have taken; if they will go, let them go; they are a worthless generation of men, who are not to be regarded, hearkened to, nor to be pleased; it matters not what they say of me, and of my doctrine:

they be blind leaders of the blind; the people that hearken to them, and are followers of them, are "blind", as to any true sense of themselves, their state, and condition by nature; as to any spiritual, saving knowledge of God; as to any acquaintance with the Messiah, and the method of salvation by him; as to the Spirit of God, and the work of grace, regeneration, and sanctification upon the soul; as to the Scriptures of truth, and doctrines of the Gospel; and the "leaders" of them were as "blind" as they: by whom are meant the Scribes and Pharisees, the learned doctors and rabbins of the Jewish nation; who thought themselves very wise and knowing, yet they were blind also; and none more than they. It was an old tradition g among the Jews,

"that there should be "blind teachers" at the time when God should have his tabernacle among them.''

This was predicted, in Isaiah 42:19 and all such leaders and teachers are blind, who, notwithstanding their natural abilities, and acquired parts, are in a state of unregeneracy; and have nothing more than what they have from nature, or have attained to at school; and as apparently all such are, who lead men from Christ, to mere morality, and to a dependence upon their own righteousness for justification, which was the darling principle of the blind leaders in the text.

And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch; of ignorance and error, immorality and profaneness, distress, if not despair, temporal ruin and destruction; which was notoriously verified in the Jewish people, and their guides: and of eternal damnation, the lake which burns with fire and brimstone; what else can be expected?

g Midrash Tillim in Psal. cxlvi apud Grotium in loc.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See also Mark 7:15-17.

And he called the multitude - In opposition to the doctrines of the Pharisees, the Saviour took occasion to show them that the great source of pollution was the heart. They supposed that external things chiefly defiled a man. On this all their doctrines about purification were founded. This opinion of the Jews it was of great importance to correct. The Saviour took occasion, therefore, to direct the people to the true source of defilement - their own hearts. He particularly directed them to it as of importance - “Hear and understand.”

Matthew 15:11

Not that which goeth into the mouth ... - The disciples were charged with being sinners for transgressing the tradition of the elders in eating with unwashed hands.

Christ replies that what they should eat could not render them sinners. The man, the moral agent, the soul, could not be polluted by anything that was eaten. What proceeds from the man himself, from his heart, would defile him.

Defileth - Pollutes, corrupts, or renders sinful.

Matthew 15:12

The Pharisees were offended - They were so zealous of their traditions that they could not endure that their absurdities should be exposed.

Matthew 15:13

Every plant ... - Religious doctrine is not inaptly compared to a plant. See 1 Corinthians 3:6-8. It is planted in the mind for the purpose of producing fruit in the life, or right conduct. Jesus here says that all those doctrines of which his Father was not the author must be rooted up or corrected. The false doctrines of the Pharisees, therefore, must be attacked, and it was no wonder if they were indignant. It could not be helped. It was his duty to attack them. He was not surprised that they were enraged; but, notwithstanding their opposition, their doctrine should be destroyed.

Matthew 15:14

Let them alone - That is, do not be troubled at their rage.

Be not anxious about it. This result is to be expected. They are greatly attached to their traditions, and you are not to wonder that they are indignant. They lead, also, the blind. They have a vast influence over the multitude, and it is to be expected that they will be enraged at any doctrines that go to lessen their authority or influence. By commanding them “to let them alone,” Christ does not mean that they were to be suffered to remain in error without any attempt to refute or correct them, for this he was doing then; but he meant to charge his disciples not to mind them or to regard their opposition - it was to be expected.

If the blind lead the blind ... - This was a plain proposition. A blind man, attempting to conduct blind men, would fall into every ditch that was in the way. So with religious teachers. If these Pharisees, themselves ignorant and blind, should be suffered to lead the ignorant multitude, both would be destroyed. This was another reason for confuting their errors, or for rooting up the plants which God had not planted. He wished, by doing it, to save the deluded multitude.

God often suffers one man to lead many to ruin. A rich and profligate man, an infidel, a man of learning, a politician, or a teacher, is allowed to sweep multitudes to ruin. This is not unjust, for those who are led are not compelled to follow such people. They are free in choosing such leaders, and they are answerable for being led to ruin.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Matthew 15:14. Let them alone — αφετε αυτους, give them up, or leave them. These words have been sadly misunderstood. Some have quoted them to prove that blind and deceitful teachers should not be pointed out to the people, nor the people warned against them; and that men should abide in the communion of a corrupt Church, because that Church had once been the Church of God, and in it they had been brought up; and to prove this they bring Scripture, for, in our present translation, the words are rendered, let them alone: but the whole connection of the place evidently proves that our blessed Lord meant, give them up, have no kind of religious connection with them, and the strong reason for which he immediately adds, because they are blind leaders. This passage does not at all mean that blind leaders should not be pointed out to the people, that they may avoid being deceived by them; for this our Lord does frequently, and warns his disciples, and the people in general, against all such false teachers as the scribes and Pharisees were; and though he bids men do that they heard those say, while they sat in the chair of Moses, yet he certainly meant no more than that they should be observant of the moral law when read to them out of the sacred book: yet neither does he tell them to do all these false teachers said; for he testifies in Matthew 15:6, that they had put such false glosses on the law, that, if followed, would endanger the salvation of their souls. The Codex Bezae, for αφετε αυτους, has αφετε τους τυφλους, give up these blind men. Amen! A literal attention to these words of our Lord produced the Reformation.

Probably the words may be understood as a sort of proverbial expression for - Don't mind them: pay no regard to them. - "They are altogether unworthy of notice."

And if the blind lead the blind — This was so self-evident a case that an apter parallel could nut be found - if the blind lead the blind, both must fall into the ditch. Alas, for the blind teachers, who not only destroy their own souls, but those also of their flocks! Like priest, like people. If the minister be ignorant, he cannot teach what he does not know; and the people cannot become wise unto salvation under such a ministry - he is ignorant and wicked, and they are profligate. They who even wish such God speed; are partakers of their evil deeds. But shall not the poor deceived people escape? No: both shall fall into the pit of perdition together; for they should have searched the Scriptures, and not trusted to the ignorant sayings of corrupt men, no matter of what sect or party. He who has the Bible in his hand, or within his reach, and can read it, has no excuse.