Matthew 23:16-24

23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. ¹  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. ²  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 ³  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ⁴  of mint, dill, and cumin, ⁵  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ⁶  should have done these things without neglecting the others. 23:24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel! ⁷ 

Isaiah 9:16

9:16 The leaders of this nation were misleading people,

and the people being led were destroyed. ⁸ 

Isaiah 42:19

42:19 My servant is truly blind,

my messenger is truly deaf.

My covenant partner, ⁹  the servant of the Lord, is truly blind. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 56:10

56:10 All their watchmen ¹¹  are blind,

they are unaware. ¹² 

All of them are like mute dogs,

unable to bark.

They pant, ¹³  lie down,

and love to snooze.

Malachi 2:8

2:8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law; ¹⁴  you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,” ¹⁵  says the Lord who rules over all.

Luke 6:39

6:39 He also told them a parable: “Someone who is blind cannot lead another who is blind, can he? ¹⁶  Won’t they both fall ¹⁷  into a pit?

[23:16]  ¹ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing.”

[23:18]  ² tn Grk “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing.”

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

[23:23]  ⁴ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ⁵ sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Grk “Blind guides who strain out a gnat yet who swallow a camel!”

[9:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “and the ones being led were swallowed up.” Instead of taking מְבֻלָּעִים (mÿbulla’im) from בָּלַע (bala’, “to swallow”), HALOT 134 s.v. בלע proposes a rare homonymic root בלע (“confuse”) here.

[42:19]  ⁹ tc The precise meaning of מְשֻׁלָּם (mÿshullam) in this context is uncertain. In later biblical Hebrew the form (which appears to be a Pual participle from the root שָׁלַם, shalam) occurs as a proper name, Meshullam. The Pual of שָׁלַם (“be complete”) is attested with the meaning “repaid, requited,” but that makes little sense here. BDB 1023 s.v. שָׁלַם relates the form to the denominative verb שָׁלַם (“be at peace”) and paraphrases “one in a covenant of peace” (J. N. Oswalt suggests “the covenanted one”; Isaiah [NICOT], 2:128, n. 59) Some emend the form to מֹשְׁלָם (moshÿlam, “their ruler”) or to מְשֻׁלָּחִי (mÿshullakhi, “my sent [or “commissioned”] one”), which fits nicely in the parallelism (note “my messenger” in the previous line). The translation above assumes an emendation to כְּמוֹ שֹׁלְמִי (kÿmo sholÿmi, “like my ally”). Isaiah uses כְּמוֹ in 30:22 and perhaps 51:5; for שֹׁלְמי (“my ally”) see Ps 7:5 HT (7:4 ET).

[42:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like my messenger I send? Who is blind like my commissioned one, blind like the servant of the Lord?” The point of the rhetorical questions is that no one is as blind/deaf as this servant. In this context the Lord’s “servant” is exiled Israel (cf. 41:8-9), which is spiritually blind and deaf and has failed to fulfill God’s purpose for it. This servant stands in contrast to the ideal “Israel” of the servant songs.

[56:10]  ¹¹ sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.

[56:10]  ¹² tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”

[56:10]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew text has הֹזִים (hozim), which appears to be derived from an otherwise unattested verbal root הָזָה (hazah). On the basis of alleged cognates, BDB 223 s.v. הָזָה offers the definition “dream, rave” while HALOT 243 s.v. הזה lists “pant.” In this case the dog metaphor of the preceding lines continues. The reference to dogs at the beginning of v. 11 favors the extension of the metaphor. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has חזים (“seers”) here. In this case the “watchmen” are directly identified as prophets and depicted as lazy.

[2:8]  ¹⁴ tn The definite article embedded within בַּתּוֹרָה (battorah) may suggest that the Torah is in mind and not just “ordinary” priestly instruction, though it might refer to the instruction previously mentioned (v. 7).

[2:8]  ¹⁵ tn Or “the Levitical covenant.”

[6:39]  ¹⁶ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here it is “can he?”).

[6:39]  ¹⁷ sn The picture of a blind man leading a blind man is a warning to watch who one follows: Won’t they both fall into a pit? The sermon has been about religious choices and reacting graciously to those who oppose the followers of Jesus. Here Jesus’ point was to be careful who you follow and where they are taking you.