Jeremiah 2:8

2:8 Your priests ¹  did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord?’ ² 

Those responsible for teaching my law ³  did not really know me. ⁴ 

Your rulers rebelled against me.

Your prophets prophesied in the name of the god Baal. ⁵ 

They all worshiped idols that could not help them. ⁶ 

Jeremiah 2:26

2:26 Just as a thief has to suffer dishonor when he is caught,

so the people of Israel ⁷  will suffer dishonor for what they have done. ⁸ 

So will their kings and officials,

their priests and their prophets.

Ezekiel 13:3

13:3 This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit but have seen nothing!

Ezekiel 34:2

34:2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds ⁹  of Israel; prophesy, and say to them – to the shepherds: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not shepherds feed the flock?

Zechariah 11:17

11:17 Woe to the worthless shepherd

who abandons the flock!

May a sword fall on his arm and his right eye!

May his arm wither completely away,

and his right eye become completely blind!”

Matthew 23:13-29

23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law ¹⁰  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! ¹¹  You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! ¹²  For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.

23:14 [[EMPTY]] ¹³ 

23:15 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹⁴  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, ¹⁵  and when you get one, ¹⁶  you make him twice as much a child of hell ¹⁷  as yourselves!

23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. ¹⁸  But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’ 23:17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 23:18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. ¹⁹  But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’ 23:19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 23:20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 23:21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. 23:22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law ²⁰  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ²¹  of mint, dill, and cumin, ²²  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ²³  should have done these things without neglecting the others. 23:24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel! ²⁴ 

23:25 “Woe to you, experts in the law ²⁵  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 23:26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, ²⁶  so that the outside may become clean too!

23:27 “Woe to you, experts in the law ²⁷  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. ²⁸  23:28 In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

23:29 “Woe to you, experts in the law ²⁹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You ³⁰  build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves ³¹  of the righteous.

Luke 11:42-52

11:42 “But woe to you Pharisees! ³²  You give a tenth ³³  of your mint, ³⁴  rue, ³⁵  and every herb, yet you neglect justice ³⁶  and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others. ³⁷  11:43 Woe to you Pharisees! You love the best seats ³⁸  in the synagogues ³⁹  and elaborate greetings ⁴⁰  in the marketplaces! 11:44 Woe to you! ⁴¹  You are like unmarked graves, and people ⁴²  walk over them without realizing it!” ⁴³ 

11:45 One of the experts in religious law ⁴⁴  answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult ⁴⁵  us too.” 11:46 But Jesus ⁴⁶  replied, ⁴⁷  “Woe to you experts in religious law as well! ⁴⁸  You load people ⁴⁹  down with burdens difficult to bear, yet you yourselves refuse to touch ⁵⁰  the burdens with even one of your fingers! 11:47 Woe to you! You build ⁵¹  the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors ⁵²  killed. 11:48 So you testify that you approve of ⁵³  the deeds of your ancestors, ⁵⁴  because they killed the prophets ⁵⁵  and you build their ⁵⁶  tombs! ⁵⁷  11:49 For this reason also the wisdom ⁵⁸  of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 11:50 so that this generation may be held accountable ⁵⁹  for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning ⁶⁰  of the world, ⁶¹  11:51 from the blood of Abel ⁶²  to the blood of Zechariah, ⁶³  who was killed ⁶⁴  between the altar and the sanctuary. ⁶⁵  Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against ⁶⁶  this generation. 11:52 Woe to you experts in religious law! You have taken away ⁶⁷  the key to knowledge! You did not go in yourselves, and you hindered ⁶⁸  those who were going in.”

[2:8]  ¹ tn Heb “The priests…the ones who grasp my law…the shepherds…the prophets…they…”

[2:8]  ² sn See the study note on 2:6.

[2:8]  ³ tn Heb “those who handle my law.”

[2:8]  ⁴ tn Or “were not committed to me.” The Hebrew verb rendered “know” refers to more than mere intellectual knowledge. It carries also the ideas of emotional and volitional commitment as well intimacy. See for example its use in contexts like Hos 4:1; 6:6.

[2:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “by Baal.”

[2:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they followed after those things [the word is plural] which do not profit.” The poetic structure of the verse, four lines in which a distinct subject appears at the beginning followed by a fifth line beginning with a prepositional phrase and no distinct subject, argues that this line is climactic and refers to all four classes enumerated in the preceding lines. See W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah (Hermeneia), 1:88-89. There may be a play or pun in the Hebrew text on the name for the god Baal (בַּעַל, ba’al) and the verb “cannot help you” (Heb “do not profit”) which is spelled יַעַל (ya’al).

[2:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “house of Israel.”

[2:26]  ⁸ tn The words “for what they have done” are implicit in the comparison and are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[34:2]  ⁹ tn The term shepherd is applied to kings in the ancient Near East. In the OT the Lord is often addressed as shepherd of Israel (Gen 49:24; Ps 8:1). The imagery of shepherds as Israel’s leaders is also employed (Jer 23:1-2).

[23:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:13]  ¹¹ 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).

[23:13]  ¹² tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”

[23:14]  ¹³ tc The most important mss (א B D L Z Θ Ë¹ 33 892* pc and several versional witnesses) do not have 23:14 “Woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ property, and as a show you pray long prayers! Therefore you will receive a more severe punishment.” Part or all of the verse is contained (either after v. 12 or after v. 13) in W 0102 0107 ˹³ Ï and several versions, but it is almost certainly not original. The present translation follows NA²⁷ in omitting the verse number as well, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations. Note also that Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 are very similar in wording and are not disputed textually.

[23:15]  ¹⁴ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:15]  ¹⁵ tn Or “one proselyte.”

[23:15]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “when he becomes [one].”

[23:15]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “a son of Gehenna.” Expressions constructed with υἱός (Juios) followed by a genitive of class or kind denote a person belonging to the class or kind specified by the following genitive (L&N 9.4). Thus the phrase here means “a person who belongs to hell.”

[23:16]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing.”

[23:18]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing.”

[23:23]  ²⁰ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:23]  ²¹ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ²² sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ²³ 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 Ë^1,13 579 700 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.

[23:24]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Blind guides who strain out a gnat yet who swallow a camel!”

[23:25]  ²⁵ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:26]  ²⁶ tc A very difficult textual problem is found here. The most important Alexandrian and Byzantine, as well as significant Western, witnesses (א B C L W 0102 0281 ˹³ 33 Ï lat co) have “and the dish” (καὶ τῆς παροψίδος, kai th" paroyido") after “cup,” while few important witnesses (D Θ Ë¹ 700 and some versional and patristic authorities) omit the phrase. On the one hand, scribes sometimes tended to eliminate redundancy; since “and the dish” is already present in v. 25, it may have been deleted in v. 26 by well-meaning scribes. On the other hand, as B. M. Metzger notes, the singular pronoun αὐτοῦ (autou, “its”) with τὸ ἐκτός (to ekto", “the outside”) in some of the same witnesses that have the longer reading (viz., B* ˹³ al) hints that their archetype lacked the words (TCGNT 50). Further, scribes would be motivated both to add the phrase from v. 25 and to change αὐτοῦ to the plural pronoun αὐτῶν (aujtwn, “their”). Although the external evidence for the shorter reading is not compelling in itself, combined with these two prongs of internal evidence, it is to be slightly preferred.

[23:27]  ²⁷ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:27]  ²⁸ sn This was an idiom for hypocrisy – just as the wall was painted on the outside but something different on the inside, so this person was not what he appeared or pretended to be (for discussion of a similar metaphor, see L&N 88.234; BDAG 1010 s.v. τοῖχος). See Deut 28:22; Ezek 13:10-16; Acts 23:3.

[23:29]  ²⁹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:29]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Because you.” Here ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated.

[23:29]  ³¹ tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75-76).

[11:42]  ³² 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).

[11:42]  ³³ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[11:42]  ³⁴ sn These small herbs were tithed with great care (Mishnah, m. Demai 2:1).

[11:42]  ³⁵ 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.

[11:42]  ³⁶ sn Justice was a major theme of OT ethics (Mic 6:8; Zech 7:8-10).

[11:42]  ³⁷ tn Grk “those”; but this has been translated as “the others” to clarify which are meant.

[11:43]  ³⁸ tn Or “seats of honor.” The term here is plural and is not a reference only to the lead “seat of Moses” in the synagogue, but includes the front seats near the ark.

[11:43]  ³⁹ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:15.

[11:43]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “and the greetings.”

[11:44]  ⁴¹ tc Most mss (A [D] W Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï it) have “experts in the law and Pharisees, hypocrites” after “you,” but this looks like an assimilation to the parallel in Matt 23:25, 27, 29. The shorter reading has earlier attestation from a variety of reliable mss (Ì^45,75 א B C L ˹ 33 1241 2542 lat sa).

[11:44]  ⁴² tn Grk “men.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females.

[11:44]  ⁴³ 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.

[11:45]  ⁴⁴ sn That is, an expert in the interpretation of the Mosaic law. They worked closely with the Pharisees.

[11:45]  ⁴⁵ tn For this term, see Matt 22;6; Luke 18:32; Acts 14:5; 1 Thess 2:2.

[11:46]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:46]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “said.”

[11:46]  ⁴⁸ tn Here “as well” is used to translate καί (kai) at the beginning of the statement.

[11:46]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “men.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females.

[11:46]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “you yourselves do not touch.” This could mean one of two things: (1) Either they make others do what they themselves do not (through various technical exceptions) or (2) they make no effort to help the others fulfill what they are required to do. Considering the care these religious figures are said to have given to the law, the second option is more likely (see L&N 18.11).

[11:47]  ⁵¹ sn The effect of what the experts in the law were doing was to deny the message of the prophets and thus honor their death by supporting those who had sought their removal. The charge that this is what previous generations did shows the problem is chronic. As T. W. Manson said, the charge here is “The only prophet you honor is a dead prophet!” (The Sayings of Jesus, 101).

[11:47]  ⁵² tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[11:48]  ⁵³ tn Grk “you are witnesses and approve of.”

[11:48]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”

[11:48]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the prophets) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:48]  ⁵⁶ tn “Their,” i.e., the prophets.

[11:48]  ⁵⁷ tc The majority of mss list a specific object (“their tombs”), filling out the sentence (although there are two different words for “tombs” among the mss, as well as different word orders: αὐτῶν τὰ μνημεῖα (autwn ta mnhmeia; found in A C W Θ Ψ 33 Ï) and τοὺς τάφους αὐτῶν (tou" tafou" autwn; found in Ë^1,[13] 2542 pc). This suggests that early copyists had no term in front of them but felt the verb needed an object. But since a wide distribution of early Alexandrian and Western mss lack these words (Ì⁷⁵ א B D L 579 1241 it sa), it is likely that they were not part of the original text of Luke. Nevertheless, the words “their tombs” are inserted in the translation because of requirements of English style.

[11:49]  ⁵⁸ sn The expression the wisdom of God is a personification of an attribute of God that refers to his wise will.

[11:50]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “that this generation may be charged with”; or “the blood of all the prophets… may be required from this generation.” This is a warning of judgment. These people are responsible for the shedding of prophetic blood.

[11:50]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “foundation.” However, this does not suggest a time to the modern reader.

[11:50]  ⁶¹ tn The order of the clauses in this complicated sentence has been rearranged to simplify it for the modern reader.

[11:51]  ⁶² sn Gen 4:10 indicates that Abel’s blood cried out for justice.

[11:51]  ⁶³ sn It is not clear which Zechariah is meant here. It is probably the person mentioned in 2 Chr 24:20-25.

[11:51]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “who perished.”

[11:51]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “and the temple”; Grk “and the house,” but in this context a reference to the house of God as a place of sanctuary.

[11:51]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “required from.”

[11:52]  ⁶⁷ sn You have taken away the key to knowledge is another stinging rebuke. They had done the opposite of what they were trying to do.

[11:52]  ⁶⁸ tn Or “you tried to prevent.”