Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 15:3

"And he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?" — Matthew 15:3 (ASV)

By your tradition — It is better translated as, for the sake of your tradition. Our Lord’s answer, it should be noted, is an indirect one—an argumentum ad hominem. He shows that their traditional casuistry was in direct opposition to the “commandment” of God. The natural inference from that antagonism was that their tradition, in itself and apart from the commandment, had no binding authority as a rule of life.