Matthew 13:52

13:52 Then he said to them, “Therefore every expert in the law ¹  who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and old.”

Matthew 21:15

21:15 But when the chief priests and the experts in the law ²  saw the wonderful things he did and heard the children crying out in the temple courts, ³  “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant

Matthew 23:13

23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law ⁴  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! ⁵  You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! ⁶  For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.

Matthew 23:15

23:15 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁷  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, ⁸  and when you get one, ⁹  you make him twice as much a child of hell ¹⁰  as yourselves!

Matthew 23:25

23:25 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

Matthew 23:27

23:27 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹²  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. ¹³ 

Matthew 23:34

23:34 “For this reason I ¹⁴  am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, ¹⁵  some of whom you will kill and crucify, ¹⁶  and some you will flog ¹⁷  in your synagogues ¹⁸  and pursue from town to town,

[13:52]  ¹ tn Or “every scribe.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4. It is possible that the term translated “expert in the law” (traditionally, “scribe”) here is a self-description used by the author, Matthew, to represent his role in conveying the traditions about Jesus to his intended audience. See David E. Orton, The Understanding Scribe [JSNTSup].

[21:15]  ² tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[21:15]  ³ tn Grk “crying out in the temple [courts] and saying.” The participle λέγοντας (legontas) is somewhat redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[23:13]  ³ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:13]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”

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

[23:15]  ⁵ tn Or “one proselyte.”

[23:15]  ⁶ tn Grk “when he becomes [one].”

[23:15]  ⁷ 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.”

[23:25]  ⁵ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:27]  ⁶ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:27]  ⁷ 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.

[23:34]  ⁷ tn Grk “behold I am sending.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[23:34]  ⁸ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:34]  ⁹ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[23:34]  ¹⁰ tn BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; s. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”

[23:34]  ¹¹ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.