Matthew 23:1-21

Seven Woes

23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 23:2 “The ¹  experts in the law ²  and the Pharisees ³  sit on Moses’ seat. 23:3 Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach. ⁴  23:4 They ⁵  tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them. 23:5 They ⁶  do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries ⁷  wide and their tassels ⁸  long. 23:6 They ⁹  love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues ¹⁰  23:7 and elaborate greetings ¹¹  in the marketplaces, and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’ 23:8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. 23:9 And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 23:10 Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one teacher, the Christ. ¹²  23:11 The ¹³  greatest among you will be your servant. 23:12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law ¹⁴  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! ¹⁵  You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! ¹⁶  For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.

23:14 [[EMPTY]] ¹⁷ 

23:15 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹⁸  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, ¹⁹  and when you get one, ²⁰  you make him twice as much a child of hell ²¹  as yourselves!

23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. ²²  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. ²³  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.

[23:2]  ¹ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

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

[23:2]  ³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[23:3]  ⁴ tn Grk “for they say and do not do.”

[23:4]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:5]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:5]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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).”

[23:6]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:6]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[23:7]  ¹¹ sn There is later Jewish material in the Talmud that spells out such greetings in detail. See H. Windisch, TDNT 1:498.

[23:10]  ¹² tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[23:11]  ¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[23:13]  ¹⁴ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:13]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”

[23:14]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:15]  ¹⁹ tn Or “one proselyte.”

[23:15]  ²⁰ tn Grk “when he becomes [one].”

[23:15]  ²¹ 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]  ²² tn Grk “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing.”

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