Matius 23:23

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ²  of mint, dill, and cumin, ³  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ⁴  should have done these things without neglecting the others.

Matius 23:28

23:28 In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Matius 15:3

15:3 He answered them, ⁵  “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition?

Matius 15:6-9

15:6 he does not need to honor his father.’ ⁶  You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition. 15:7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said,

15:8 ‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart ⁷  is far from me,

15:9 and they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” ⁸ 

[23:23]  ¹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:23]  ² tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ³ sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ⁴ tc ‡ Many witnesses (B C K L W Δ 0102 33 565 892 pm) have δέ (de, “but”) after ταῦτα (tauta, “these things”), while many others lack it (א D Γ Θ Ë^1,13 579 700 1241 1424 pm). Since asyndeton was relatively rare in Koine Greek, the conjunction may be an intentional alteration, and is thus omitted from the present translation. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[15:3]  ⁵ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.”

[15:6]  ⁶ tc The logic of v. 5 would seem to demand that both father and mother are in view in v. 6. Indeed, the majority of mss (C L W Θ 0106 ˹ Ï) have “or his mother” (ἢ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ, h thn mhtera autou) after “honor his father” here. However, there are significant witnesses that have variations on this theme (καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ [kai thn mhtera autou, “and his mother”] in Φ 565 1241 pc and ἢ τὴν μητέρα [“or mother”] in 073 ˹³ 33 579 700 892 pc), which is usually an indication of a predictable addition to the text rather than an authentic reading. Further, the shorter reading (without any mention of “mother”) is found in early and important witnesses (א B D sa). Although it is possible that the shorter reading came about accidentally (due to the repetition of –ερα αὐτοῦ), the evidence more strongly suggests that the longer readings were intentional scribal alterations.

[15:6]  tn Grk “he will never honor his father.” Here Jesus is quoting the Pharisees, whose intent is to release the person who is giving his possessions to God from the family obligation of caring for his parents. The verb in this phrase is future tense, and it is negated with οὐ μή (ou mh), the strongest negation possible in Greek. A literal translation of the phrase does not capture the intended sense of the statement; it would actually make the Pharisees sound as if they agreed with Jesus. Instead, a more interpretive translation has been used to focus upon the release from family obligations that the Pharisees allowed in these circumstances.

[15:6]  sn Here Jesus refers to something that has been set aside as a gift to be given to God at some later date, but which is still in the possession of the owner. According to contemporary Jewish tradition, the person who made this claim was absolved from responsibility to support or assist his parents, a clear violation of the Mosaic law to honor one’s parents (v. 4).

[15:8]  ⁷ tn The term “heart” is a collective singular in the Greek text.

[15:9]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.