1580 | MattheW 23:12
ser vant . 12 For those who ex alt them selves will be hum bled , and those who hum ble them selves will be ex alt ed .
Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees
13
“ Woe to you , teach ers of the law and Phar i sees , you hyp o crites ! You shut the door of the king dom of heav en in peo ple ’ s fac es . You your selves do not en ter , nor will you let those en ter who are try ing to . [ 14 ] a
15
“ Woe to you , teach ers of the law and Phari sees , you hyp o crites ! You trav el over land and sea to win a sin gle con vert , and when you have suc ceed ed , you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are .
16
“ Woe to you , blind guides ! You say , ‘ If anyone swears by the tem ple , it means noth ing ; but any one who swears by the gold of the tem ple is bound by that oath .’ 17 You blind fools ! Which is great er : the gold , or the tem ple that makes the gold sa cred ? 18 You also say , ‘ If any one swears by the altar , it means noth ing ; but any one who swears by the gift on the al tar is bound by that oath .’ 19 You blind men ! Which is great er : the gift , or the al tar that makes the gift sa cred ? 20 There fore , any one who swears by the al tar swears by it and by every thing on it . 21 And any one who swears by the tem ple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it . 22 And any one who swears by heav en swears by God ’ s throne and by the one who sits on it .
23
“ Woe to you , teach ers of the law and Phar i sees , you hyp o crites ! You give a tenth of your spices — mint , dill and cum in . But you have ne glect ed the more im por tant mat ters of the law — jus tice , mer cy and faith ful ness . You should have prac ticed the lat ter , with out ne glect ing the for mer . 24 You blind guides ! You strain out a gnat but swal low a cam el .
25
“ Woe to you , teach ers of the law and Phar i sees , you hyp o crites ! You clean the out side of the cup and dish , but in side they are full of greed and self-in dul gence . 26 Blind Phar i see ! First clean the in side of the cup and dish , and then the out side also will be clean .
27
“ Woe to you , teach ers of the law and Phar i sees , you hyp o crites ! You are like white washed tombs , which look beau ti ful on the out side but on the in side are full of the bones of the dead and ev ery thing un clean . 28 In the same way , on the outside you ap pear to peo ple as righ teous but on the in side you are full of hy poc ri sy and wick ed ness .
29
“ Woe to you , teach ers of the law and Phar i sees , you hyp o crites ! You build tombs for the proph ets and dec o rate the graves of the righ teous . 30 And you say , ‘ If we had lived in the days of our an cestors , we would not have tak en part with them in shed ding the blood of the proph ets .’ 31 So you tes tify against your selves that you are the de scen dants of those who mur dered the proph ets . 32 Go ahead , then , and com plete what your an ces tors started !
33
“ You snakes ! You brood of vi pers ! How will you es cape be ing con demned to hell ? 34 There fore I am send ing you proph ets and sages and teachers . Some of them you will kill and cru ci fy ; oth ers you will flog in your syn a gogues and pur sue from town to town . 35 And so upon you will come all the righ teous blood that has been shed on earth , from the blood of righ teous Abel to the blood of Zech a ri ah son of Ber e ki ah , whom you mur dered be tween the tem ple and the al tar . 36 Tru ly I tell you , all this will come on this gen er a tion .
a
14 Some manuscripts include here words similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 . term “ father ” was commonly used for teachers ( e . g ., Ac 22:1 ). 23:13 Woe A prophetic indictment for behavior that will lead to disaster ( e . g ., Isa 5:8 ; Hab 2:6 ; Zec 11:17 ; compare Mt 11:21 ). 23:15 twice as much a child of hell An exaggerated expression that highlights the destructive nature of the teaching of the scribes ( teachers of the law ) and Pharisees . Compare note on 5:22 . 23:16 blind guides See 15:14 and note . If anyone swears by the temple Refers to trivial distinctions about what made an oath binding . In the Sermon on the Mount , Jesus taught his followers to avoid swearing oaths ( 5:33 – 37 ). 23:23 you have neglected the more important matters of the law Jesus criticizes the religious leaders for paying meticulous attention to tiny details while disregarding the law ’ s true heart . 23:27 whitewashed tombs Jews would paint their tombs white so that other Jews would not become unclean through inadvertent contact with a corpse ( compare Nu 19:16 ; Lk 11:44 ). 23:29 You build tombs for the prophets Jesus denounces the scribes ( teachers of the law ) and Pharisees for honoring the graves of prophets whom their ancestors killed . 23:32 complete what your ancestors started By instructing them to finish their fathers ’ murderous deeds , Jesus alludes to the scribes ’ ( teachers of the law ) and Pharisees ’ role in his impending death . 23:33 You brood of vipers See note on Mt 3:7 . being condemned to hell Based on their current actions , the scribes ( teachers of the law ) and the Pharisees are on their way to experiencing God ’ s judgment and wrath . Jesus ’ rhetorical language warns the Pharisees of the inevitability of their judgment unless they change course . See note on 5:22 ; note on 5:30 . 23:35 the blood of righ teous Abel The first person to be killed in the Bible ( Ge 4:8,10 ). Zechariah son of Berekiah Jesus ’ statement about Abel and Zechariah likely is intended as a merism , a figure of speech that uses the ends of a range to indicate the whole ( e . g ., “ from head to toe ” refers to the entire body ). The text appears to be pointing to the prophet Zechariah ( Zec 1:1 ), whose death is not recorded . Alternatively , it could refer to the Zechariah of 2Ch 24:20 – 22 , who was killed in the temple courtyard . 23:36 all this will come on this generation In light