1 Machabæorum 23:14

Jerome's Latin Vulgate

Væ vobis scribæ et pharisæi hypocritæ, quia comeditis domos viduarum, orationes longas orantes! propter hoc amplius accipietis judicium.

Parallel Translations

Clementine Latin Vulgate (1592)
V� vobis scrib� et pharis�i hypocrit�, quia comeditis domos viduarum, orationes longas orantes ! propter hoc amplius accipietis judicium.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

for ye: Josephus says that this sect pretended to a more exact knowledge of the law, on which account the women were subject to them, as pretending to be dear to God. Exodus 22:22-24, Job 22:9, Job 31:16-20, Mark 12:40, Luke 20:47, 2 Timothy 3:6, Titus 1:10, Titus 1:11, 2 Peter 2:14, 2 Peter 2:15

long: That these were long we learn from Bab. Berachoth, where we are told that the very religious prayed nine hours a day.

therefore: Matthew 23:33-36, Matthew 11:24, Luke 12:48, James 3:1, 2 Peter 2:3

Reciprocal: Numbers 23:1 - seven altars 2 Samuel 15:7 - pay 1 Kings 21:9 - Proclaim a fast Job 20:18 - swallow Job 27:8 - General Psalms 109:7 - and let Psalms 145:18 - call upon Proverbs 4:17 - General Proverbs 21:27 - with a wicked mind Proverbs 30:14 - to devour Isaiah 1:15 - make many prayers Isaiah 3:12 - destroy Isaiah 5:8 - them Isaiah 10:2 - that widows Isaiah 32:6 - empty Isaiah 48:1 - not in truth Isaiah 57:12 - General Isaiah 58:4 - ye fast Isaiah 61:8 - I hate Jeremiah 7:10 - come Jeremiah 17:11 - he that Jeremiah 51:34 - swallowed Ezekiel 22:12 - greedily Ezekiel 22:25 - they have devoured Amos 5:21 - hate Amos 8:4 - swallow Micah 2:2 - so Micah 2:9 - cast Zechariah 7:10 - oppress Zechariah 11:5 - possessors Malachi 3:5 - a swift Matthew 6:1 - to be Matthew 6:5 - thou shalt not Matthew 7:5 - Thou hypocrite Matthew 23:13 - woe Luke 5:33 - and make Luke 16:14 - who Luke 19:46 - General John 10:10 - thief Acts 6:1 - their Acts 19:27 - that not Romans 2:21 - dost thou steal Romans 13:2 - receive 1 Corinthians 6:10 - thieves Philippians 1:18 - whether 1 Thessalonians 2:5 - a cloak 1 Timothy 5:3 - widows 1 Timothy 6:5 - supposing 1 Timothy 6:10 - the love 1 Peter 2:16 - a cloak

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,.... The same character is given as before, and the same woe denounced, and a fresh reason given of it:

for ye devour widows' houses; that is, the goods in the houses of such as were left with fatherless children, and but little to support them; who being left alone, and none to advise them, and being weak, and prone to superstition; these greedy dogs, as Isaiah calls them, who could never have enough, easily imposed upon them, wormed them out of all their substance, stripped them bare of the necessaries of life, prevailed on them to sell their houses and goods, and bestow them on them; or got their little estates into their hands, pretending to take care, and dispose of them for them, to their advantage:

and for a pretence make long prayers: as if they were very holy, good men; or pretended that the substance of these widows, which they got into their hands, was for their long prayers for them; or they made long prayers for them in return for their substance. Maimonides x says, that

"the ancient saints, or good men, used to stay an hour before prayer, and an hour after prayer, ומאריכם בתפלה שעה and "prolonged", or "held an hour in prayer":''

and this being three times a day, nine hours every day, as is observed in the Talmud y, were spent in this manner; and on this account they got the character of very devout and religious men, and hereby covered all their avarice, rapine, and oppression of the poor: but God will not be mocked;

therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation; both on account of their plundering and distressing the poor, the widows, and the fatherless; and also because of their hypocrisy in doing this under the cover of religion and holiness. Hence it appears, that there are degrees of punishment in hell, and that hypocrites, and all such who oppress the poor, under the mask of godliness, supposing gain to be that, will be partakers of the greatest degree of it. In Munster's Hebrew Gospel it is called משפט ארוך, "a long judgment", or "damnation", in allusion to their long prayers: and is the very reverse of what they expect on account of them: they say z

"three things prolong a man's days and years, בתפלתו

המאריך, "he that is long in his prayer"''

is the first mentioned; and he that is long at his prayer, it is an excellency, they say; but instead of a long and happy life, he shall have a long damnation. This verse is left out in some copies, and in others it stands before the former; in which order it is read in the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions.

x Hilch. Tephillah, c. 4. sect. 16. y T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 32. 2. z Ib. fol. 54. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Devour widows’ houses - The word “houses” is used here to denote “property” or possessions of any kind. You take away or get possession of the property of widows by improper arts and pretences. This was done in two ways:

1. They claimed a very exact knowledge of the law and a perfect observance of it. They pretended to extraordinary justice toward the poor, friendship for the distressed, and willingness to aid those who were in embarrassed circumstances. They thus induced “widows” and poor people to commit the management of their property to them as guardians and executors, and then took advantage of them and defrauded them.

2. They put on the appearance of great sanctity, and induced many conscientious but credulous women to give them much, under pretence of devoting it to religious purposes.

Long prayer - Their prayers are said to have been often three hours in length. One rule among them, says Lightfoot, was to meditate an hour, then pray an hour, and then meditate another hour - all of which was included in their “long prayers or devotions.”

Damnation - Condemnation. The word here probably refers to future punishment. It does not always, however. It means, frequently, no more than “condemnation,” or the divine disapprobation of a certain course of conduct, as in 1 Corinthians 11:29; “He that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh “damnation” to himself;” that is, he that eateth and drinketh in an unworthy manner disorderly, not with reverence - is guilty, and his conduct will be disapproved or condemned by God referring solely to the impropriety of the manner of partaking of the Lord’s supper, and not at all to the worthiness or unworthiness of the person. See the notes at that place. Compare Romans 14:23.

For a pretence - For appearance or show; in order that they might the better defraud poor people. They would not be condemned for “making” long prayers, but because they did it with an evil design. Public prayers should, however, be short, and always to the point. A man praying in a Sunday school should pray for the school, and, usually, not for everything else.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Matthew 23:14. Matthew 23:13.

-Verse Matthew 23:14. Ye devour widows' houses — On this subject I am in possession of nothing better than the following note of Dr. Whitby.

"This sect," says Josephus, (Ant. l. xvii. chap. 3,) "pretended to a more exact knowledge of the law, on which account the women were subject to them, as pretending to be dear to God. And when Alexandra obtained the government, (Jewish War, b. I. ch. 4,) they insinuated themselves into her favour, as being the exactest sect of the Jews, and the most exact interpreters of the law, and, abusing her simplicity, did as they listed, remove and dispose, bind and loose, and even cut off men. They were in vogue for their long prayers, which they continued sometimes three hours; that perhaps they sold them, as do the Roman priests their masses, or pretended others should be more acceptable to God for them; and so might spoil devout widows by the gifts or salaries they expected from them. Now this being only a hypocritical pretence of piety, must be hateful to God, and so deserve a greater condemnation."

Long prayer — For proofs of long prayers and vain repetitions among Jews, Mohammedans, and heathens, Matthew 6:7.