Matius 23:17-39

23:17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 23:18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. ¹  But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’ 23:19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 23:20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 23:21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. 23:22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law ²  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ³  of mint, dill, and cumin, ⁴  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ⁵  should have done these things without neglecting the others. 23:24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel! ⁶ 

23:25 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁷  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 23:26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, ⁸  so that the outside may become clean too!

23:27 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. ¹⁰  23:28 In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

23:29 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You ¹²  build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves ¹³  of the righteous. 23:30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, ¹⁴  we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 23:31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 23:32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! 23:33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ¹⁵ 

23:34 “For this reason I ¹⁶  am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, ¹⁷  some of whom you will kill and crucify, ¹⁸  and some you will flog ¹⁹  in your synagogues ²⁰  and pursue from town to town, 23:35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, ²¹  whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 23:36 I tell you the truth, ²²  this generation will be held responsible for all these things! ²³ 

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ²⁴  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ²⁵  How often I have longed ²⁶  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ²⁷  you would have none of it! ²⁸  23:38 Look, your house is left to you desolate! 23:39 For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’” ²⁹ 

[23:18]  ¹ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing.”

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

[23:23]  ³ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ⁴ sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ⁵ 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.

[23:24]  ⁶ tn Grk “Blind guides who strain out a gnat yet who swallow a camel!”

[23:25]  ⁷ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:26]  ⁸ tc A very difficult textual problem is found here. The most important Alexandrian and Byzantine, as well as significant Western, witnesses (א B C L W 0102 0281 ˹³ 33 Ï lat co) have “and the dish” (καὶ τῆς παροψίδος, kai th" paroyido") after “cup,” while few important witnesses (D Θ Ë¹ 700 and some versional and patristic authorities) omit the phrase. On the one hand, scribes sometimes tended to eliminate redundancy; since “and the dish” is already present in v. 25, it may have been deleted in v. 26 by well-meaning scribes. On the other hand, as B. M. Metzger notes, the singular pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou, “its”) with τὸ ἐκτός (to ekto", “the outside”) in some of the same witnesses that have the longer reading (viz., B* ˹³ al) hints that their archetype lacked the words (TCGNT 50). Further, scribes would be motivated both to add the phrase from v. 25 and to change αὐτοῦ to the plural pronoun αὐτῶν (aujtwn, “their”). Although the external evidence for the shorter reading is not compelling in itself, combined with these two prongs of internal evidence, it is to be slightly preferred.

[23:27]  ⁹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:27]  ¹⁰ sn This was an idiom for hypocrisy – just as the wall was painted on the outside but something different on the inside, so this person was not what he appeared or pretended to be (for discussion of a similar metaphor, see L&N 88.234; BDAG 1010 s.v. τοῖχος). See Deut 28:22; Ezek 13:10-16; Acts 23:3.

[23:29]  ¹¹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:29]  ¹² tn Grk “Because you.” Here ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated.

[23:29]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75-76).

[23:30]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “fathers” (so also in v. 32).

[23:33]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”

[23:33]  sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[23:34]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “behold I am sending.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[23:34]  ¹⁷ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:34]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[23:34]  ¹⁹ tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”

[23:34]  ²⁰ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[23:35]  ²¹ sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).

[23:36]  ²² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[23:36]  ²³ tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”

[23:37]  ²⁴ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[23:37]  ²⁵ tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[23:37]  ²⁶ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[23:37]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ²⁸ tn Grk “you were not willing.”

[23:39]  ²⁹ sn A quotation from Ps 118:26.