Luke 10:29

10:29 But the expert, ¹  wanting to justify ²  himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Luke 11:39

11:39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean ³  the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. ⁴ 

Luke 18:11

18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ⁵  ‘God, I thank ⁶  you that I am not like other people: ⁷  extortionists, ⁸  unrighteous people, ⁹  adulterers – or even like this tax collector. ¹⁰ 

Luke 18:21

18:21 The man ¹¹  replied, “I have wholeheartedly obeyed ¹²  all these laws ¹³  since my youth.” ¹⁴ 

Luke 20:20

Paying Taxes to Caesar

20:20 Then ¹⁵  they watched him carefully and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. ¹⁶  They wanted to take advantage of what he might say ¹⁷  so that they could deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction ¹⁸  of the governor.

Luke 20:47

20:47 They ¹⁹  devour ²⁰  widows’ property, ²¹  and as a show make long prayers. They will receive a more severe punishment.”

Proverbs 20:6

20:6 Many people profess their loyalty, ²² 

but a faithful person ²³  – who can find? ²⁴ 

Matthew 6:2

6:2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, ²⁵  do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues ²⁶  and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, ²⁷  they have their reward.

Matthew 6:5

Private Prayer

6:5 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues ²⁸  and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward.

Matthew 6:16

Proper Fasting

6:16 “When ²⁹  you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive ³⁰  so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, ³¹  they have their reward.

Matthew 23:5

23:5 They ³²  do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries ³³  wide and their tassels ³⁴  long.

Matthew 23:25-27

23:25 “Woe to you, experts in the law ³⁵  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, ³⁶  so that the outside may become clean too!

23:27 “Woe to you, experts in the law ³⁷  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. ³⁸ 

Romans 3:20

3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him ³⁹  by the works of the law, ⁴⁰  for through the law comes ⁴¹  the knowledge of sin.

James 2:21-25

2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 2:22 You see that his faith was working together with his works and his faith was perfected by works. 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Now Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness,” ⁴²  and he was called God’s friend. ⁴³  2:24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 2:25 And similarly, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another way?

[10:29]  ¹ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the expert in religious law, shortened here to “the expert”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:29]  ² tn Or “vindicate.”

[11:39]  ³ sn The allusion to washing (clean the outside of the cup) shows Jesus knew what they were thinking and deliberately set up a contrast that charged them with hypocrisy and majoring on minors.

[11:39]  ⁴ tn Or “and evil.”

[18:11]  ⁵ tn Or “stood by himself and prayed like this.” The prepositional phrase πρὸς ἑαυτόν (pros eauton, “to/about himself”) could go with either the aorist participle σταθείς (staqeis, “stood”) or with the imperfect verb προσηύχετο (proshuceto, “he prayed”). If taken with the participle, then the meaning would seem at first glance to be: “stood ‘by himself’,” or “stood ‘alone’.” Now it is true that πρός can mean “by” or “with” when used with intransitive verbs such as ἵστημι ({isthmi, “I stand”; cf. BDAG 874 s.v. πρός 2.a), but πρὸς ἑαυτόν together never means “by himself” or “alone” in biblical Greek. On the other hand, if πρὸς ἑαυτόν is taken with the verb, then two different nuances emerge, both of which highlight in different ways the principal point Jesus seems to be making about the arrogance of this religious leader: (1) “prayed to himself,” but not necessarily silently, or (2) “prayed about himself,” with the connotation that he prayed out loud, for all to hear. Since his prayer is really a review of his moral résumé, directed both at advertising his own righteousness and exposing the perversion of the tax collector, whom he actually mentions in his prayer, the latter option seems preferable. If this is the case, then the Pharisee’s mention of God is really nothing more than a formality.

[18:11]  ⁶ sn The Pharisee’s prayer started out as a thanksgiving psalm to God, but the praise ended up not being about God.

[18:11]  ⁷ tn Here the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used as a generic and can refer to both men and women (NASB, NRSV, “people”; NLT, “everyone else”; NAB, “the rest of humanity”).

[18:11]  ⁸ tn Or “swindlers” (BDAG 134 s.v. ἅρπαξ 2); see also Isa 10:2; Josephus, J. W. 6.3.4 [6.203].

[18:11]  ⁹ sn A general category for “sinners” (1 Cor 6:9; Lev 19:3).

[18:11]  ¹⁰ sn Note what the Pharisee assumes about the righteousness of this tax collector by grouping him with extortionists, unrighteous people, and adulterers.

[18:21]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (the ruler mentioned in v. 18) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[18:21]  ¹² tn Grk “kept.” The implication of this verb is that the man has obeyed the commandments without fail throughout his life, so the adverb “wholeheartedly” has been added to the translation to bring out this nuance.

[18:21]  ¹³ tn Grk “these things.” The referent of the pronoun (the laws mentioned by Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:21]  ¹⁴ sn Since my youth. Judaism regarded the age of thirteen as the age when a man would have become responsible to live by God’s commands.

[20:20]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[20:20]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “righteous,” but in this context the point is their false sincerity.

[20:20]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “so that they might catch him in some word.”

[20:20]  ¹⁸ tn This word is often translated “authority” in other contexts, but here, in combination with ἀρχή (arch), it refers to the domain or sphere of the governor’s rule (L&N 37.36).

[20:47]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “who,” continuing the sentence begun in v. 46.

[20:47]  ²⁰ sn How they were able to devour widows’ houses is debated. Did they seek too much for contributions, or take too high a commission for their work, or take homes after debts failed to be paid? There is too little said here to be sure.

[20:47]  ²¹ tn Grk “houses,” “households”; however, the term can have the force of “property” or “possessions” as well (O. Michel, TDNT 5:131; BDAG 695 s.v. οἶκια 1.a).

[20:6]  ²² tn Heb “many a man calls/proclaims a man of his loyal love.” The Syriac and Tg. Prov 20:6 render the verb as passive: “many are called kind.” Other suggestions include: “most men meet people who will do them occasional kindnesses” (RSV); “many men profess friendship” (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 384); “many men invite only the one who has shown them kindness.” The simplest interpretation in this context is “many proclaim [themselves to be] a kind person (= a loyal friend).” The contrast is between many who claim to be loyal friends and the one who actually proves to be faithful.

[20:6]  ²³ tn The shift to the expression “a man of faithfulness[es]” in the second line indicates that of all those who claim to show faithful love, it is rare to find one who is truly reliable (as the word אֱמוּנִים [’emunim] indicates clearly); cf. NAB, NRSV “one worthy of trust.”

[20:6]  ²⁴ sn The point of the rhetorical question is that a truly faithful friend is very difficult to find.

[6:2]  ²⁵ tn Grk “give alms,” but this term is not in common use today. The giving of alms was highly regarded in the ancient world (Deut 15:7-11).

[6:2]  ²⁶ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[6:2]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[6:5]  ²⁸ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[6:16]  ²⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[6:16]  ³⁰ tn Here the term “disfigure” used in a number of translations was not used because it could convey to the modern reader the notion of mutilation. L&N 79.17 states, “‘to make unsightly, to disfigure, to make ugly.’ ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ‘for they make their faces unsightly’ Mt 6:16.”

[6:16]  ³¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[23:5]  ³² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:5]  ³³ sn Phylacteries were small leather cases containing OT scripture verses, worn on the arm and forehead by Jews, especially when praying. The custom was derived from such OT passages as Exod 13:9; 16; Deut 6:8; 11:18.

[23:5]  ³⁴ tn The term κράσπεδον (kraspedon) in some contexts could refer to the outer fringe of the garment (possibly in Mark 6:56). This edge could have been plain or decorated. L&N 6.180 states, “In Mt 23:5 κράσπεδον denotes the tassels worn at the four corners of the outer garment (see 6.194).”

[23:25]  ³⁵ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:26]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:27]  ³⁸ 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.

[3:20]  ³⁹ sn An allusion to Ps 143:2.

[3:20]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “because by the works of the law no flesh is justified before him.” Some recent scholars have understood the phrase ἒργα νόμου (erga nomou, “works of the law”) to refer not to obedience to the Mosaic law generally, but specifically to portions of the law that pertain to things like circumcision and dietary laws which set the Jewish people apart from the other nations (e.g., J. D. G. Dunn, Romans [WBC], 1:155). Other interpreters, like C. E. B. Cranfield (“‘The Works of the Law’ in the Epistle to the Romans,” JSNT 43 [1991]: 89-101) reject this narrow interpretation for a number of reasons, among which the most important are: (1) The second half of v. 20, “for through the law comes the knowledge of sin,” is hard to explain if the phrase “works of the law” is understood in a restricted sense; (2) the plural phrase “works of the law” would have to be understood in a different sense from the singular phrase “the work of the law” in 2:15; (3) similar phrases involving the law in Romans (2:13, 14; 2:25, 26, 27; 7:25; 8:4; and 13:8) which are naturally related to the phrase “works of the law” cannot be taken to refer to circumcision (in fact, in 2:25 circumcision is explicitly contrasted with keeping the law). Those interpreters who reject the “narrow” interpretation of “works of the law” understand the phrase to refer to obedience to the Mosaic law in general.

[3:20]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “is.”

[2:23]  ⁴² sn A quotation from Gen 15:6.

[2:23]  ⁴³ sn An allusion to 2 Chr 20:7; Isa 41:8; 51:2; Dan 3:35 (LXX), in which Abraham is called God’s “beloved.”