23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law 2 and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth 3 of mint, dill, and cumin, 4 yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You 5 should have done these things without neglecting the others.
11:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! 6 You give a tenth 7 of your mint, 8 rue, 9 and every herb, yet you neglect justice 10 and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others. 11
1 tn Grk “teaches men” ( in a generic sense, people).
2 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
3 tn Or “you tithe mint.”
4 sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.
5 tc ‡ Many witnesses (B C K L W Δ 0102 33 565 892 pm) have δέ (de, “but”) after ταῦτα (tauta, “these things”), while many others lack it (א D Γ Θ Ë1,13 579 700 1241 1424 pm). Since asyndeton was relatively rare in Koine Greek, the conjunction may be an intentional alteration, and is thus omitted from the present translation. NA27 includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
6 tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so to the end of this chapter).
7 tn Or “you tithe mint.”
8 sn These small herbs were tithed with great care (Mishnah, m. Demai 2:1).
9 tn Grk “and rue.” Καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
10 sn Justice was a major theme of OT ethics (Mic 6:8; Zech 7:8-10).
11 tn Grk “those”; but this has been translated as “the others” to clarify which are meant.