Proverbs 15:2

15:2 The tongue of the wise ¹  treats knowledge correctly, ² 

but the mouth of the fool spouts out ³  folly.

Proverbs 15:28

15:28 The heart of the righteous considers ⁴  how ⁵  to answer, ⁶ 

but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. ⁷ 

Matthew 15:14

15:14 Leave them! They are blind guides. ⁸  If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, ⁹  both will fall into a pit.”

Matthew 23:16-26

23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. ¹⁰  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. ¹¹  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 ¹²  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ¹³  of mint, dill, and cumin, ¹⁴  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ¹⁵  should have done these things without neglecting the others. 23:24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel! ¹⁶ 

23:25 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹⁷  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, ¹⁸  so that the outside may become clean too!

Luke 6:39-40

6:39 He also told them a parable: “Someone who is blind cannot lead another who is blind, can he? ¹⁹  Won’t they both fall ²⁰  into a pit? 6:40 A disciple ²¹  is not greater than ²²  his teacher, but everyone when fully trained will be like his teacher.

[15:2]  ¹ sn The contrast is between the “tongue of the wise” and the “mouth of the fool.” Both expressions are metonymies of cause; the subject matter is what they say. How wise people are can be determined from what they say.

[15:2]  ² tn Or “makes knowledge acceptable” (so NASB). The verb תֵּיטִיב (tetiv, Hiphil imperfect of יָטַב [yatav, “to be good”]) can be translated “to make good” or “to treat in a good [or, excellent] way” (C. H. Toy, Proverbs [ICC], 303). M. Dahood, however, suggests emending the text to תֵּיטִיף (tetif) which is a cognate of נָטַף (nataf, “drip”), and translates “tongues of the sages drip with knowledge” (Proverbs and Northwest Semitic Philology, 32-33). But this change is gratuitous and unnecessary.

[15:2]  ³ sn The Hiphil verb יַבִּיעַ (yabia’) means “to pour out; to emit; to cause to bubble; to belch forth.” The fool bursts out with reckless utterances (cf. TEV “spout nonsense”).

[15:28]  ⁴ tn The verb יֶהְגֶּה (yehgeh) means “to muse; to meditate; to consider; to study.” It also involves planning, such as with the wicked “planning” a vain thing (Ps 2:1, which is contrasted with the righteous who “meditate” in the law [1:2]).

[15:28]  ⁵ tn The word “how” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[15:28]  ⁶ tc The LXX reads: “the hearts of the righteous meditate faithfulness.”

[15:28]  ⁷ sn The form is plural. What they say (the “mouth” is a metonymy of cause) is any range of harmful things.

[15:14]  ⁸ tc ‡ Most mss, some of which are significant, read “They are blind guides of the blind” (א¹ C L W Z Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). The shorter reading is read by א*^,2 B D 0237 Epiph. There is a distinct possibility of omission due to homoioarcton in א*; this manuscript has a word order variation which puts the word τυφλοί (tufloi, “blind”) right before the word τυφλῶν (tuflwn, “of the blind”). This does not explain the shorter reading, however, in the other witnesses, of which B and D are quite weighty. Internal considerations suggest that the shorter reading is original: “of the blind” was likely added by scribes to balance this phrase with Jesus’ following statement about the blind leading the blind, which clearly has two groups in view. A decision is difficult, but internal considerations here along with the strength of the witnesses argue that the shorter reading is more likely original. NA²⁷ places τυφλῶν in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[15:14]  ⁹ tn Grk “If blind leads blind.”

[23:16]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing.”

[23:18]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing.”

[23:23]  ¹² tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:23]  ¹³ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ¹⁴ sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Blind guides who strain out a gnat yet who swallow a camel!”

[23:25]  ¹⁷ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:26]  ¹⁸ 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.

[6:39]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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.

[6:40]  ²¹ tn Or “student.”

[6:40]  ²² tn Or “significantly different.” The idea, as the next phrase shows, is that teachers build followers who go the same direction they do.