Matthew 23:19

The NET Bible®

You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Blind people!

King James Version (1611)
Ye fooles and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the Altar that sanctifieth the gift?

King James Version
Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

English Standard Version
You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

New American Standard Bible
"You blind men, which is more important, the offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering?

New Century Version
You are blind! Which is greater: the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy?

Amplified Bible
"You [spiritually] blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?

Legacy Standard Bible
You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?

Berean Standard Bible
You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred?

Contemporary English Version
Are you blind? Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

Complete Jewish Bible
Blind men! Which is more important? the sacrifice? or the altar which makes the sacrifice holy?

Darby Translation
[Fools and] blind ones, for which is greater, the gift, or the altar which sanctifies the gift?

Easy-to-Read Version
You are blind! Can't you see that the altar is greater than any gift on it? It's the altar that makes the gift holy!

Geneva Bible (1587)
Ye fooles and blinde, whether is greater, the offering, or the altar which sanctifieth the offering?

George Lamsa Translation
O you fools and blind! for which is greater, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?

Good News Translation
How blind you are! Which is the more important, the gift or the altar which makes the gift holy?

Lexham English Bible
Blind people! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy?

Literal Translation
Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

American Standard Version
Ye blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

Bible in Basic English
You blind ones: which is greater, the offering, or the altar which makes the offering holy?

Hebrew Names Version
You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

International Standard Version
You blind men!blind and foolish men">[fn] Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy?Exodus 29:37;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
You foolish and sightless ! for which is greater, the oblation, or the altar that sanctifieth the oblation ?

Murdock Translation
Ye fools, and blind: for which is greater, the oblation, or the altar that sanctifieth the oblation?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Ye fooles and blynde, for whether is greater, the gyft: or the aulter that sanctifieth the gyft?

English Revised Version
Ye blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

World English Bible
You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Ye fools and blind; for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

Weymouth's New Testament
"You are blind! Why, which is greater? --the offering, or the altar which makes the offering holy?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Blynde men, for what is more, the yifte, or the auter that halewith the yifte?

Update Bible Version
You blind men: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

Webster's Bible Translation
[Ye] fools, and blind: for which [is] greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

New King James Version
Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

New Living Translation
How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

New Life Bible
You fools and blind men! Which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift holy?

New Revised Standard
How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Blind! for which is greater, The gift, or the altar that halloweth the gift?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Ye foolish and blind: for whether is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

Revised Standard Version
You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Ye foles and blinde: whether is greater ye offeringe or ye aultre which sanctifieth ye offeringe?

Young's Literal Translation
Fools and blind! for which [is] greater, the gift, or the altar that is sanctifying the gift?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Ye fooles and blynde, whether is greater? the offeringe, or the altare that sanctifieth the offerynge?

Mace New Testament (1729)
ye blind fools, which is most sacred, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

Simplified Cowboy Version

Contextual Overview

¹³ "But woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in. "Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves! "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.' Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.' You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it. "Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you neglect what is more important in the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You should have done these things without neglecting the others. Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel! "Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may become clean too! "Woe to you, experts in the law 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. In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. "Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? "For this reason I am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, 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, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, this generation will be held responsible for all these things! "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it! Look, your house is left to you desolate! 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! '" ¹⁴Seven Woes Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, "The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat. Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long. They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.' But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,' for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. And call no one your ‘father' on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,' for you have one teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. "But woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in. ¹⁵ "Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves! ¹⁶ "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.' ¹⁷ Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? ¹⁸ And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.' ¹⁹ You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. ²² And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

or: Exodus 29:37, Exodus 30:29

Reciprocal: Exodus 37:25 - General Exodus 40:26 - General Exodus 40:29 - the altar Leviticus 21:18 - a blind man Numbers 7:1 - sanctified them Deuteronomy 26:4 - before the Isaiah 60:2 - the darkness Haggai 2:12 - General Matthew 5:23 - thou Matthew 23:16 - ye blind Matthew 23:17 - or

Cross-References

Genesis 3:19
By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return."

Genesis 23:9
if he will sell me the cave of Machpelah that belongs to him; it is at the end of his field. Let him sell it to me publicly for the full price, so that I may own it as a burial site."

Genesis 23:10
(Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth.) Ephron the Hethite replied to Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth—before all who entered the gate of his city—

Genesis 47:30
but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place." Joseph said, "I will do as you say."

Genesis 50:13
His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite.

Genesis 50:25
Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He said, "God will surely come to you. Then you must carry my bones up from this place."

Job 30:23
I know that you are bringing me to death, to the meeting place for all the living.

Ecclesiastes 6:3
Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years— even if he lives a long, long time, but cannot enjoy his prosperity— even if he were to live forever— I would say, "A stillborn child is better off than he is!"

Ecclesiastes 12:5
and they are afraid of heights and the dangers in the street; the almond blossoms grow white, and the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper berry shrivels up— because man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about in the streets—

Ecclesiastes 12:7
and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the life's breath returns to God who gave it.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Ye fools, and blind,.... This is very justly repeated, since this is no less an instance of their folly, blindness, and stupidity. In three copies of Beza's the word "fools" is not; nor is it in the Vulgate Latin, nor in Munster's Hebrew Gospel; but the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions have it:

for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? The gift, or offering, before it was devoted to sacred use, and brought, and laid upon the altar, was common, had no ceremonial sanctity in it, and might be put to any use; but when it was brought, and laid upon the altar, it became holy; for, according to the law, whatever touched the altar, and indeed all, or any of the vessels of the sanctuary, was holy, Exodus 29:37. Christ speaks the sense of the law, and their own traditions, and in their own language, and argues from the same to the confutation of them: חמזבח מקדש, "the altar", they say u, "sanctifies" that which is fit for it; that is, that which is proper to be offered up upon it:

"as the altar sanctifies that which is fit for it, so the ascent unto it sanctifies; and as the altar, and the ascent, sanctify what is fit for them, so the vessels sanctify; the vessels for liquids sanctify the liquids, and the dry measures sanctify the dry; the vessels for liquids do not sanctify the dry, nor the dry measures sanctify the liquids; the holy vessels, which are bored, (or broken,) when they do the service they used to do, when whole, sanctify, if not, they do not sanctify; nor does anything sanctify but in the sanctuary.''

Now, since this is a clear case, that the altar sanctifies the gift, and not the gift the altar, our Lord's question is, which is the greater? A man that has the least share of common sense will easily see, that the altar must be the greater: wherefore these scribes and Pharisees must be wretchedly stupid to give out, that an oath made by the altar was not binding, when one that was made by the gift, or

Korban, was binding; seeing the gift, or offering, received its sanctity from the altar: hence, of the two, an oath made by the altar should be more sacred and obligatory than one made by the gift.

u Misn. Zebachim, c. 9. sect. 7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The altar that sanctifieth the gift - The altar, dedicated to God, gave all the value or holiness to the offering, and must therefore be the greatest or of the most importance. If, therefore, either bound to the fulfillment of an oath, it must be the altar.