Matthew 7:29

7:29 because he taught them like one who had authority, ¹  not like their experts in the law. ² 

Matthew 15:1

Breaking Human Traditions

15:1 Then Pharisees ³  and experts in the law ⁴  came from Jerusalem ⁵  to Jesus and said, ⁶ 

Matthew 23:2

23:2 “The ⁷  experts in the law ⁸  and the Pharisees ⁹  sit on Moses’ seat.

Matthew 2:4

2:4 After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, ¹⁰  he asked them where the Christ ¹¹  was to be born.

Matthew 17:10

17:10 The disciples asked him, ¹²  “Why then do the experts in the law ¹³  say that Elijah must come first?”

Matthew 23:25

23:25 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹⁴  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 ¹⁵  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. ¹⁶ 

Matthew 23:29

23:29 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹⁷  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You ¹⁸  build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves ¹⁹  of the righteous.

Matthew 26:57

Condemned by the Sanhedrin

26:57 Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, in whose house ²⁰  the experts in the law ²¹  and the elders had gathered.

Matthew 21:15

21:15 But when the chief priests and the experts in the law ²²  saw the wonderful things he did and heard the children crying out in the temple courts, ²³  “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant

Matthew 23:13

23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law ²⁴  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! ²⁵  You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! ²⁶  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 ²⁷  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, ²⁸  and when you get one, ²⁹  you make him twice as much a child of hell ³⁰  as yourselves!

Matthew 23:34

23:34 “For this reason I ³¹  am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, ³²  some of whom you will kill and crucify, ³³  and some you will flog ³⁴  in your synagogues ³⁵  and pursue from town to town,

Matthew 23:23

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law ³⁶  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ³⁷  of mint, dill, and cumin, ³⁸  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ³⁹  should have done these things without neglecting the others.

[7:29]  ¹ sn Jesus’ teaching impressed the hearers with the directness of its claim; he taught with authority. A study of Jewish rabbinic interpretation shows that it was typical to cite a list of authorities to make one’s point. Apparently Jesus addressed the issues in terms of his own understanding.

[7:29]  ² tn Or “their scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[15:1]  ³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[15:1]  ⁴ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[15:1]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:1]  ⁶ tn The participle λέγοντες (legontes) has been translated as a finite verb so that its telic (i.e., final or conclusive) force can be more easily detected: The Pharisees and legal experts came to Jesus in order to speak with him.

[23:2]  ⁵ tn Grk “saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

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

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

[2:4]  ⁷ tn Or “and scribes of the people.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[2:4]  ⁸ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[17:10]  ⁹ tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.

[17:10]  ¹⁰ tn Or “do the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:25]  ¹¹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:27]  ¹³ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:27]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:29]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Because you.” Here ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated.

[23:29]  ¹⁷ tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75-76).

[26:57]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “where.”

[26:57]  ¹⁸ tn Or “where the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[21:15]  ¹⁹ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[21:15]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:13]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”

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

[23:15]  ²⁴ tn Or “one proselyte.”

[23:15]  ²⁵ tn Grk “when he becomes [one].”

[23:15]  ²⁶ 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.”

[23:34]  ²⁵ 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]  ²⁶ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:34]  ²⁷ sn See the note on crucified in 20:19.

[23:34]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

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

[23:23]  ²⁸ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ²⁹ sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ³⁰ 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.