Overview of Matthew

Matthew 23:1

Matthew 23:2

  • seated themselves in the seat of Moses: Or “appointed themselves to Moses’ place,” by presumptuously claiming his authority as interpreters of divine law.

Matthew 23:3

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Matthew 23:4

  • heavy loads: Evidently referring to rules and oral traditions that were burdensome for people to keep.

    budge them with their finger: This expression may refer to the unwillingness of the religious leaders to lift even one small regulation to make things easier for those on whom they imposed heavy loads.

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Matthew 23:5

  • the scripture-containing cases that they wear as safeguards: Or “their phylacteries.” These small leather cases containing four portions of the Law (Ex 13:1-10, 11-16; De 6:4-9; 11:13-21) were worn by Jewish men on their forehead and left arm. This practice had its origin in a literal interpretation of God’s direction to the Israelites at Ex 13:9, 16; De 6:8; 11:18. Jesus criticized the religious leaders because they enlarged their scripture-containing cases in order to impress others and because they wrongly considered them to be charms, or amulets, that would protect them.

    lengthen the fringes: At Nu 15:38-40, the Israelites were commanded to make fringes on their garments, but for show, the scribes and Pharisees make theirs longer than anyone else does.

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Matthew 23:6

  • front seats: Or “best seats.” Evidently, the presiding officers of the synagogue and distinguished guests sat near the Scripture rolls at the front of the synagogue, in full view of the congregation. These seats of honor were likely reserved for such prominent individuals.

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Matthew 23:7

  • marketplaces: Or “places of assembly.” The Greek word a·go·raʹ is here used to refer to an open area that served as a center for buying and selling and as a place of public assembly in cities and towns of the ancient Near East and the Greek and Roman world.

    Rabbi: Literally meaning “my great one,” from the Hebrew word rav, meaning “great.” In common usage, “Rabbi” meant “Teacher” (Joh 1:38), but it came to be used as an honorary title. Some learned men, scribes and teachers of the Law, demanded to be addressed by this title.

Matthew 23:8

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Matthew 23:9

  • father: Jesus here prohibits the use of the term “father” as a formalistic or religious title of honor applied to men.

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Matthew 23:10

  • leaders: The Greek word is a synonym for “Teacher,” found in verse 8, and here it conveys the idea of those who provide guidance and instruction, spiritual leaders. It was likely used as a religious title.

    Leader: Since no imperfect human can be the spiritual Leader of true Christians, Jesus is the only one rightly bearing this title.​—See preceding study note on leaders in this verse.

    the Christ: Here the title “Christ,” meaning “Anointed One,” is preceded by the definite article in Greek. This is a way of indicating that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the one who had been anointed in a special sense.​—See study notes on Mt 1:1 and 2:4.

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Matthew 23:11

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Matthew 23:12

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Matthew 23:13

  • Woe to you: This is the first in a series of seven woes pronounced on the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, in which Jesus identifies them as hypocrites and blind guides.

    hypocrites: See study note on Mt 6:2.

    shut up: Or “shut the door to,” that is, prevent people from entering.

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Matthew 23:14

  • A few manuscripts add the words: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you devour widows’ houses and for a pretense offer long prayers; on this account you will receive judgment more abundantly.” However, the earliest and most important manuscripts do not include this verse. Similar words, though, can be found at Mr 12:40 and Lu 20:47 as part of the inspired text.​—See App. A3.

Matthew 23:15

  • proselyte: Or “convert.” The Greek word pro·seʹly·tos denotes a Gentile who has converted to Judaism, which included circumcision for male proselytes.

    a subject for Gehenna: Lit., “a son of Gehenna,” that is, someone who is deserving of eternal destruction.​—See Glossary, “Gehenna.”

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Matthew 23:16

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Matthew 23:17

  • Fools and blind ones!: Or “You blind fools!” In Biblical usage, the term “fool” generally refers to an individual who spurns reason and follows a morally insensible course that is out of harmony with God’s righteous standards.

Matthew 23:18

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Matthew 23:19

Matthew 23:21

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Matthew 23:22

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Matthew 23:23

  • tenth of the mint and the dill and the cumin: Under the Mosaic Law, the Israelites were to pay the tithe, or a tenth, of their crops. (Le 27:30; De 14:22) Although the Law did not explicitly command that they give a tenth of herbs like mint, dill, and cumin, Jesus did not contradict the tradition. Rather, he reproved the scribes and Pharisees for focusing on minor details of the Law while failing to promote its underlying principles, such as justice and mercy and faithfulness.

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Footnotes
  • *

    Or “more important.”

  • *

    Or “faith.”

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Matthew 23:24

  • who strain out the gnat but gulp down the camel: The gnat and the camel were among the smallest and the largest unclean creatures known to the Israelites. (Le 11:4, 21-24) Jesus uses hyperbole, combined with a degree of irony, in saying that the religious leaders filter their beverages so as not to be ceremonially defiled by a gnat, while they completely disregard the weightier matters of the Law, an action comparable to swallowing a camel.

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Matthew 23:25

Footnotes
  • *

    Or “plunder; robbery.”

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Matthew 23:26

Matthew 23:27

  • whitewashed graves: It was a custom in Israel to whitewash graves as a warning so that those passing by would not accidentally become ceremonially defiled through contact with a burial place. (Nu 19:16) The Jewish Mishnah (Shekalim 1:1) says that this whitewashing was done annually, one month prior to the Passover. Jesus used this expression as a metaphor for hypocrisy.

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Matthew 23:28

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Matthew 23:29

  • tombs: Or “memorial tombs.”​—See Glossary, “Memorial tomb.”

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Matthew 23:30

Matthew 23:31

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Matthew 23:32

  • fill up the measure of your forefathers: Or “finish off the works that your forefathers started.” The literal meaning of this idiomatic expression is “to fill up a measure that someone else has started to fill.” Jesus is not commanding the Jewish leaders to finish what their ancestors started. Rather, he is using irony in foretelling that they would kill him, as their ancestors killed God’s prophets of former times.

Matthew 23:33

  • Serpents, offspring of vipers: Satan, “the original serpent” (Re 12:9), is in a spiritual sense the progenitor of opposers to true worship. Jesus, therefore, justly classified these religious leaders as “serpents, offspring of vipers.” (Joh 8:44; 1Jo 3:12) They caused deadly spiritual harm to those who were influenced by their wickedness. John the Baptist also used the expression “offspring of vipers.”​—Mt 3:7.

    Gehenna: See study note on Mt 5:22 and Glossary.

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Matthew 23:34

  • public instructors: Or “learned persons.” The Greek word gram·ma·teusʹ is rendered “scribe” when referring to Jewish teachers of the Law, but Jesus is here speaking about his disciples who are to be sent out to teach others.

    synagogues: See Glossary, “Synagogue.”

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Matthew 23:35

  • from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah: Jesus’ statement embraced all the murdered witnesses of Jehovah mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures, from Abel, listed in the first book (Ge 4:8), to Zechariah, mentioned at 2Ch 24:20, Chronicles being the last book in the traditional Jewish canon. So when Jesus said from “Abel to . . . Zechariah,” he was saying “from the very first case to the last.”

    son of Barachiah: According to 2Ch 24:20, this Zechariah was “the son of Jehoiada the priest.” It has been suggested that Jehoiada may have had two names, as is the case with others in the Bible (compare Mt 9:9 with Mr 2:14), or that Barachiah was Zechariah’s grandfather or an earlier ancestor.

    whom you murdered: While these Jewish religious leaders did not actually kill Zechariah, Jesus held them accountable because they had the same murderous disposition as their ancestors.​—Re 18:24.

    between the sanctuary and the altar: According to 2Ch 24:21, Zechariah was murdered “in the courtyard of Jehovah’s house.” The altar of burnt offering was in the inner courtyard, outside of and in front of the entrance to the sanctuary. (See App. B8.) This would correspond with the location Jesus mentioned for the incident.

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Matthew 23:36

Matthew 23:37

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Matthew 23:38

  • Look!: See study note on Mt 1:20.

    house: That is, the temple.

    is abandoned to you: Some ancient manuscripts add the word “desolate.”

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Matthew 23:39

  • Jehovah’s: In this quote from Ps 118:26, the divine name, represented by four Hebrew consonants (transliterated YHWH), occurs in the original Hebrew text.​—See App. C.

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Parallel Translations

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Parallel Account

Quotation

General

According to Matthew

23 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying: 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the seat of Moses. 3 Therefore, all the things they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds, for they say but they do not practice what they say.+ 4 They bind up heavy loads and put them on the shoulders of men,+ but they themselves are not willing to budge them with their finger.+ 5 All the works they do, they do to be seen by men,+ for they broaden the scripture-containing cases that they wear as safeguards+ and lengthen the fringes of their garments.+ 6 They like the most prominent place at evening meals and the front seats in the synagogues+ 7 and the greetings in the marketplaces and to be called Rabbi by men. 8 But you, do not you be called Rabbi, for one is your Teacher,+ and all of you are brothers. 9 Moreover, do not call anyone your father on earth, for one is your Father,+ the heavenly One. 10 Neither be called leaders, for your Leader is one, the Christ.+ 11 But the greatest one among you must be your minister.+ 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled,+ and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.+

13 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut up the Kingdom of the heavens before men; for you yourselves do not go in, neither do you permit those on their way in to go in.+ 14 ——

15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!+ because you travel over sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him a subject for Ge·henʹna twice as much so as yourselves.

16 “Woe to you, blind guides,+ who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is under obligation.’+ 17 Fools and blind ones! Which, in fact, is greater, the gold or the temple that has sanctified the gold? 18 Moreover, ‘If anyone swears by the altar,+ it is nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is under obligation.’ 19 Blind ones! Which, in fact, is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20 Therefore, whoever swears by the altar is swearing by it and by all the things on it; 21 and whoever swears by the temple is swearing by it and by the One inhabiting it;+ 22 and whoever swears by heaven is swearing by the throne of God and by the One sitting on it.+

23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you give the tenth of the mint and the dill and the cumin,+ but you have disregarded the weightier* matters of the Law, namely, justice+ and mercy+ and faithfulness.* These things it was necessary to do, yet not to disregard the other things.+ 24 Blind guides,+ who strain out the gnat+ but gulp down the camel!+

25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish,+ but inside they are full of greediness*+ and self-indulgence.+ 26 Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may also become clean.

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!+ because you resemble whitewashed graves,+ which outwardly indeed appear beautiful but inside are full of dead men’s bones and of every sort of uncleanness. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.+

29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!+ because you build the graves of the prophets and decorate the tombs of the righteous ones,+ 30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have shared with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Therefore, you are testifying against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.+ 32 Well, then, fill up the measure of your forefathers.

33 “Serpents, offspring of vipers,+ how will you flee from the judgment of Ge·henʹna?+ 34 For this reason, I am sending to you prophets+ and wise men and public instructors.+ Some of them you will kill+ and execute on stakes, and some of them you will scourge+ in your synagogues and persecute+ from city to city, 35 so that there may come upon you all the righteous blood spilled on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel+ to the blood of Zech·a·riʹah son of Bar·a·chiʹah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.+ 36 Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the killer of the prophets and stoner of those sent to her+—how often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings! But you did not want it.+ 38 Look! Your house is abandoned to you.+ 39 For I say to you, you will by no means see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in Jehovah’s name!’”+