The gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 11 in Year A is Matthew 15. The first part concerns the dispute between Jesus and the Pharisees about the washing of hands, and his teaching of the disciples about whether ‘unclean’ food pollutes. It has often been read as Jesus setting aside the food laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy—but in fact that is not the case. The second half is Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman, called the Syro-Phoenician in Mark. But attention to the text, and the context of Matthew’s gospel, demonstrates how wrong this reading is.