Verse 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. To pollute, corrupt, to render sinful.

See Barnes on "Mt 15:10"

{h} "Not that" Ac 10:15; Ro 14:14,20; 1 Ti 4:4; Tit 1:15