22:18 But Jesus realized their evil intentions and said, “Hypocrites! Why are you testing me?
23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law 1 and you Pharisees, hypocrites! 2 You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! 3 For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.
1 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
2 tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so throughout this chapter).
3 tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”
4 tc Most
5 tn Grk “men.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females.
6 sn In Judaism to come into contact with the dead or what is associated with them, even without knowing it, makes one unclean (Num 19:11-22; Lev 21:1-3; Mishnah, m. Demai 2:3). To Pharisees, who would have been so sensitive about contracting ceremonial uncleanness, it would have been quite a stinging rebuke to be told they caused it.
7 tn Grk “answered him and said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been shortened to “answered him.”
8 tn Grk “from the manger [feeding trough],” but by metonymy of part for whole this can be rendered “stall.”
9 sn The charge here is hypocrisy, but it is only part one of the response. Various ancient laws detail what was allowed with cattle; see Mishnah, m. Shabbat 5; CD 11:5-6.