Bible Commentaries
Matthew 23

Verses 1-39

Mat 23:1-39

Section IV.
Denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees, Matthew 23:1-39

J.W. McGarvey

Their Moral Inconsistency, Matthew 23:1-4

1. to the multitude and to his disciples.—Jesus is still in the temple, and in the presence of the opponents with whom he had been disputing, but he now addresses himself to the disciples and the multitude. The change of his address is accompanied by a change in his subject-matter. Having exhausted on his hypocritical foes the power of proof and argument, he proceeds to deal with them as hopeless reprobates by depicting to the multitude their true character, and by heaping upon them the sentences of condemnation which were justly their due.

2, 3. sit in Moses’ seat.—He begins by recognizing his enemies as teachers of the law of Moses, and the only source of information on that subject accessible as yet to the uneducated people. But his advice, "All therefore whatsoever they bid you, that observe and do," must be understood as limited to things written in the law; for the traditions which the scribes taught he had already repudiated.

3, 4. do not after their works —While their teaching, so far as it was drawn from the law, was to be strictly observed, their example was to be carefully avoided. "They say, and do not." The "heavy burdens and grievous to be borne" which they bound and laid on men’s shoulders, were the traditions which they added to the law; for although the law itself was a yoke which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear (Acts 15:10), it could not be said of the law that it was a burden which the scribes bound and laid on men’s shoulders. They avoided the task of bearing these burdens themselves, not moving them with one of their fingers, by introducing a class of subtle distinctions like that of the corban (Matthew 15:4-6), and those in reference to oaths (Matthew 23:16-22).

Their Ostentation, Matthew 23:5-12.
(Mark 12:38-39; Luke 20:45-46)

5. to be seen of men.—While avoiding all heavy burdens, they performed some works, yet only such as would attract the attention of men and secure to themselves reputation for piety. These they carried to an excess, as is seen in the specifications mentioned below.

broad their phylacteries.—Phylacteries were pieces of parchment with certain portions of the law written on them, and worn usually on the sleeve of the left arm, though sometimes on the forehead, and sometimes on the breast. The authority for wearing them was entirely traditionary, the tradition having its origin in a literal interpretation of Exodus 13:9; Exodus 13:16, and Deuteronomy 11:18-21. For a minute description of them, and for some of the frivolous notions of the Rabbis concerning them, we refer the inquisitive to Smith’s Dictionary, article Frontlets. The sin of the Pharisees was not in wearing phylacteries, for it was in itself a harmless practice, but in making theirs broad for ostentatious display.

enlarge the borders.—The children of Israel were required by the law to make fringes in the borders of their garments, and to put upon the fringes "a ribband of blue." (Numbers 15:37-39.) The Pharisees made these, as they did their phylacteries, larger than did other people, in order to appear more religious than others.

6. uppermost rooms.—Not rooms in the modern sense, but reclining places (πρωτοκλισίας). The Jews, in the Savior’s time, like the Greeks and Romans, ate their meals in a reclining posture. Long couches were provided in their dining-halls, on each of which three persons would usually recline. The first, reclining on his left side, rested his left elbow on a cushion at the end of the couch, his feet thrown back toward the rear so as to allow another to recline just below and in front of him. The third was an equal distance below the second, the head of each being far enough below his neighbor above to keep from interfering with the free use of his hands in eating. The middle position was the position of honor, here called the uppermost room, and the Pharisees are charged with loving to secure it.

chief seats in the synagogues.—At the end of the synagogue building, opposite to the entrance, was the chest or ark containing the books of the law, and the seats near that end were the "chief seats in the synagogue."

7. greetings in the markets.—Not markets in the modern sense, but open spaces in the city to which the populace resorted for conversation and for business transactions of various kinds, and where judicial tribunals often held their sittings. There was one such in every city, called by the Greeks the agora, and by the Romans, the forum. The Pharisees delighted in the formal greetings and salutations which were here lavished on men of distinction by the fawning multitude.

8-11. Rabbi... father... master.—The ostentation which showed itself in the dress of the Pharisees and in their greediness for popular applause, was also seen in their fondness for honorary titles. Rabbi means teacher, but it was used not merely to point out the fact that one was a teacher, but as a title of honor; and it is only the latter use of it that is here prohibited. The apostles frequently applied the title teacher to those who were such in the churches. (See Acts 13:1; 1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11.) The term father was also applied figuratively by Paul to himself, when he said to the Corinthians, "You have not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel." (1 Corinthians 4:15.) He also called Timothy his "own son in the faith," thus by implication calling himself Timothy’s father. He had reference in each of these cases to his actual relationship in the gospel to these parties; hence it is the merely honorary use of the term which is prohibited. So of the title Master (καθηγηταί, leaders); its use in an honorary or complimentary style is alone prohibited. Our modern titles, Reverend, Right Reverend, Doctor of Divinity, etc., are all of the prohibited class and should be scrupulously avoided by men who desire to please God. Alford, in this place, combating a note by Albert Barnes, says that "to understand and follow such commands in the slavery of the letter, is to fall into the very Phariseeism against which our Lord is uttering the caution." This remark would be unaccountable but for the fact that the learned commentator was himself a dignitary in a church which has been peculiarly given to the practice here condemned. Surely it can not be Phariseeism to scrupulously avoid that for which the Pharisees were condemned; and in repudiating all honorary titles we are complying with the spirit of the command even more certainly than with the letter; for in the letter only three such titles are specified.

11, 12. shall be your servant.—In these two verses the meekness becoming a Christian is put in contrast with the ostentation of the Pharisees, and the consequences of both are stated. The pathway to true greatness is found in humble service for others, while self-exaltation insures abasement. The results are brought about providentially in this world, and judicially in the world to come.

Their Conduct toward Believers and Proselytes,
Matthew 23:13-15

13. ye shut up the kingdom.—Here the term "shut up" (κλείετε) is used metaphorically; for the scribes and Pharisees could not literally shut up the kingdom of heaven. There is a tacit comparison of the kingdom to a walled city, and of the conduct of the Pharisees to men standing at the gate but refusing to go in, and shutting the gate against those who would go in. The application is easy. Their refusal to go in represents their refusal to accept the doctrine of the kingdom of Christ; and their shutting the gate, their efforts to keep those who would accept this doctrine from doing so. To argue from this passage, as some have done, that the kingdom of heaven must have been already set up, is illogical, because the figure is as well suited to a kingdom about to be established as to one already in existence.

14. —This verse is omitted by the recent critics and by some of the best manuscripts. It was interpolated from Mark 12:40, or Luke 20:47, in both of which places it is genuine. We will consider it at the proper place in Mark.

15. to make one proselyte.—Not a proselyte from heathenism to the worship of the true God, but a Jewish proselyte to the sect of the Pharisees—to the traditionary observances and corrupt practices which they exalted above the word of God. To compass sea and land for the former purpose would have been most commendable, for it would have made men better; but for the latter purpose it was deplorable, because it made men worse. (See a fine article on Proselytes, in Smith’s Bible Dictionary.)

twofold more.—Their proselytes were worse than themselves, because it is the tendency of corrupt systems to make their adherents worse and worse, generation after generation; and also because the proselyte, having, as a general rule, less knowledge of the law than his teacher, was under less restraint from that source, and was more completely devoted to the traditions of the sect.

Their Folly in Reference to Oaths, Matthew 23:16-22

16. blind guides.—In this paragraph the denunciatory term is not hypocrites, as above and below, but "blind guides," "ye fools and blind;" for here it is not so much their hypocrisy as their folly which is exposed.

17-19. whether is greater.—The first point made against their teaching is that it reverses the relative importance of things. They esteemed more highly the gold of the temple (Matthew 23:16) than the temple which gave that gold all its sacredness; and the gift at the altar, than the altar which made the gift holy by its touch. (Exodus 29:37.)

20-22. whoso shall swear.—Here the people were taught the binding nature of every oath, and both the folly and wickedness of the distinction made by the Pharisees.

Their Corruption in Reference to Tithes and Morals,
Matthew 23:23-24

23. tithe of mint.—The articles here mentioned, mint, anise, and cummin, were garden herbs grown in small quantities and used chiefly for flavoring. To pay tithes of these was to be scrupulous to the last farthing, for the tithe was scarcely worth the trouble of removing it from the garden.

the weightier matters.—Weightier matters than paying tithes, because the interests of society are more deeply involved in them. "Judgment" means here right judgment of our fellow-men; "mercy," forbearance toward the guilty and compassion toward the suffering. "Faith" is both the belief of the truth and habitual manifestation of that belief in the life. The Pharisees omitted these habitually, and especially had they done so in reference to Jesus. They pronounced unjust judgments against him; they were unmerciful toward him in reference to the faults which they pretended to find in him; and they had no faith either in his word or the words of the prophets which were written of him. Greater extremes, of conscientiousness in some things and unrighteousness in others were never, perhaps, united in the same persons; nor has such wickedness ever been exposed in terms more felicitous than these words of Jesus. They have become household words wherever the gospel is known.

these ought ye.—It is not uncommon to understand Jesus as teaching in this paragraph that it is not important to be particular about small matters, provided we observe the weightier matters. But while he says in reference to the latter, "These ye ought to have done," he says of the former, "and not to leave the other undone." They should not have left undone even the tithe of mint, anise, and cummin.

24. strain at a gnat.—Greek. "strain out a gnat." Reference is had to the custom of straining wine as it was poured into the drinking-cup, lest a gnat, which was an unclean insect, should be swallowed. While thus particular about the gnats, if a camel were in the cup they would swallow him. The hyperbole is an extravagant one, but the more impressive on that account. The fault exposed does not consist in straining out the gnat, but in swallowing the camel. Jesus would have us to swallow neither the camels nor the gnats.

Their Outward Purity and Inward Corruption,
Matthew 23:25-28

25. clean the outside.—The reference is to their traditionary ablutions, such as had caused them to find fault with him when his disciples ate bread with unwashed hands. (See Matthew 15:2; Mark 7:3-4; Mark 7:8.) Their conduct is satirized by comparing it to that of a woman who would carefully cleanse the outside of a cup or plate, and leave the inside unclean; but when he comes to speak of the inside he passes from the figure to the reality, and says, "within they are full of extortion and excess."

26. that the outside may be clean.—Cleansing the inside of a cup would not necessarily cleanse the outside, yet ordinarily it so results: and so, if a man purify himself inwardly he will be pure externally, and far more certainly than in the case of the cup. He who aims at external purity of life, should therefore exert himself chiefly to cleanse that which is within, that the outside may also be clean.

27, 28. like whited sepulchers.—Jesus still has his eye on the wickedness of their hearts, but he now contrasts it, not with their care about tithing, nor with their legal cleanliness, but with their pretense of righteousness. (Matthew 23:28.) While they maintained such outward conduct as gave them great credit with the people, like the beautifully whited sepulchers which were "full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness," they were full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Their Imitation of the Ancient Persecutors,
Matthew 23:29-36

29-31. Wherefore ye be witnesses.—The argument is obscure. In building the tombs of the prophets and garnishing the sepulchers of the righteous, and also in their speech—"If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets"—they were acting and speaking commendably; but in this very speech they were acknowledging themselves to be the children of those who persecuted the prophets, and Jesus uses that circumstance against them. They were themselves witnesses that they were children of those persecutors, and he argues that notwithstanding their good professions, they, as children, inherited the very character which they were repudiating. Furthermore, by the term "hypocrites" with which he addresses them (Matthew 23:29), he assumes that all their good professions were hypocritical.

32. Fill up the measure.—The accumulating iniquity of the nation is represented as a measure which their fathers had provided and partly filled, and which they were now to fill to the brim. (Compare what is said of the Amorites, Genesis 15:16.)

33. how can ye escape.—This is the most fearful passage in the entire speech. "Ye serpents! Ye offspring (γεννήματα) of vipers!" What words could depict a more despicable character? And what sentence pronounced in advance of the final judgment can be compared with this: "How can ye escape the damnation of hell? By the figure of erotesis it is asserted with awful emphasis that for them there was no escape. It is well remarked by Alford that in this, the last public discourse of the Lord, he repeats almost verbatim the denunciation pronounced against these parties by John in the beginning of his ministry, "thus denoting the unchanged state of these men on whom the whole preaching of repentance had now been expended." He notes one point of difference, however, that John demanded of them, "Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" while Jesus demanded, "How can you escape?"

34. I send unto you.—The "prophets, wise men, and scribes" here mentioned are the apostles and their co-laborers, whom Jesus intended to send, and who are designated by titles familiar to his hearers.

35, 36. That upon you may come.—The expression, "upon you may come all the righteous blood," etc., can not mean that they would be held responsible for it all; for they could not be responsible for what occurred before they were born. But that course of iniquity which began with the murder of Abel, and which, so far as the Jews were as yet concerned, had terminated with the death of Zacharias, was to reach its final consummation in that generation by the crucifixion of Jesus; and the series of earthly judgments which had been visited on the world on account of such bloodshed, was also to reach its consummation by the unparalleled sufferings attendant upon the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. All these things came upon that generation in the sense that the consummation of earthly punishments for such deeds befell that generation.

Zacharias son of Barachias.—The only person mentioned in the Old Testament by this name is Zechariah the prophet (Zechariah 1:1); but if he perished in this way there is no other record of the fact now extant. Zachariah the son of Jehoiada was stoned "in the court of the house of the Lord," and it may be "between the temple and the altar;" but he would not be confounded with Zechariah the son of Barachiah. It is conjectured by Alford that the text was originally written, as in Luke 11:51, without the words "son of Barachiah," and that copyists at an early period inserted these words through a mistaken desire to make the reference more definite. If this conjecture shall be found, on further investigation, to be correct, we shall conclude that some more recent Zachariah is meant, and this would agree better with the force of the argument; but otherwise we shall be constrained to think that the prophet Zachariah is the one alluded to, and that he was slain as is declared in the text.

Lamentation over Jerusalem, Matthew 23:37-39

37. and ye would not.—The inimitable tenderness and pathos which breathe through this lamentation, following immediately the burning denunciations of the preceding speech, show plainly that the latter were not instigated by malice. They were judicial utterances wrung from a heart full of longings in behalf of the people denounced. Notwithstanding the killing of the prophets and the stoning of heavensent messengers in times gone by, his feeling toward them now was like the maternal tenderness of the hen when she nestles her brood under her wings; and the only obstacle to their salvation was, that they "would not." A stubborn will was, with them, as it is so likely to be with us, the only hindrance to the saving favor of God.

38. your house is left.—In the personification, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem," etc., the people of the city are addressed, and consequently their "house" must be the city in which they dwelt, and not the temple which belonged to all Israel. It was to be left desolate by his departure to return no more until the time indicated in the next verse.

39. till ye shall say.—The reference can not be to the return of Jesus after his resurrection, nor to what might be figuratively styled his appearance on the next Pentecost; for on neither of these occasions did the people of the city in general welcome him; but it is to his final coming, when, as the prediction clearly implies, the city will contain a believing population, and will welcome him, as the multitude had done at the time of his publics entry, with the acclamation, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."

Argument of Section 4

The argument for the claims of Jesus implied in the preceding section is identical in part with that of the third section (see Argument of § 3, p. 195), but it is here more elaborately presented. If his enemies had been the honest and candid men of his generation, it would have been difficult to reconcile this fact with the supposition that his character was unimpeachable and his miracles unquestionable. But when we find what is so clearly disclosed in this chapter, that his enemies were the hypocrites, the arrogant pretenders, the zealous partisans, the extenuators of perjury, the perverters of morals, the extortioners, the unclean at heart, and the bloody persecutors of innocent men, the argument is reversed, and the character of the opposition is found to be no mean proof of the righteousness of Jesus. A man of spotless purity and of uncompromising zeal against all iniquity is the very man to arouse the enmity of such people.

Seven Woes - Matthew 23:1-39

Open It

1. What topic(s) or situations really get you upset?

2. What is the worst name or label that someone could pin on you?

3. What does Jesus say about those who revile us and despitefully use us?

4. Why do some people object to "organized religion"?

Explore It

5. To whom was Jesus speaking? (Matthew 23:1)

6. About whom was Jesus speaking? (Matthew 23:2)

7. Of what did Jesus accuse the religious leaders? (Matthew 23:3)

8. What motivation did Jesus say governed the behavior of the Pharisees? (Matthew 23:5-7)

9. What eternal destiny did Jesus pronounce on religious hypocrites? (Matthew 23:13)

10. What are some of the names Jesus used to describe the respected, powerful, national leaders of Israel—the Pharisees? (Matthew 23:13; Matthew 23:15-16; Matthew 23:27; Matthew 23:33)

11. What did Jesus say about the Pharisees’ evangelism? (Matthew 23:15)

12. What kind of picky man-made traditions did Jesus accuse the religious leaders of following blindly? (Matthew 23:16-22)

13. What evidence of twisted priorities among the religious elite did Jesus give? (Matthew 23:23-26)

14. What analogies did Jesus use to show that Israel’s religious leaders were more interested in external credentials than internal character? (Matthew 23:25-28)

15. How did Jesus argue that the Pharisees had failed to learn the lessons of Israel’s history? (Matthew 23:29-36)

16. Because of her awful leadership, how did Jesus lament over Jerusalem? (Matthew 23:37)

Get It

17. How can a spiritual leader affect his or her followers?

18. What kinds of nitpicky rules and regulations tend to blind us to more serious sins?

19. In what ways do people sometimes fake the Christian life?

20. What are some of the dangers of having a "checklist" of dos and don’ts that go beyond God’s written Word?

21. What temptations are faced by those in positions of spiritual authority?

22. Which feeling best describes how you view non-Christians: sadness or anger?

23. In what area(s) have you been failing to practice what you preach?

24. How would you reach out to someone who has become embittered by religious hypocrites or empty religion?

Apply It

25. What attitudes or "matters of the heart" do you need to confess to God today so that your inside looks as good as your outside?

26. What could you do to help a young Christian grow stronger this week?

27. What older, more mature Christian can you spend time with this week to seek advice and wisdom?