Matthew 23 is the twenty-third chapter in the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

section of the Christian

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, and consists almost entirely of the accusations of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

against the

Pharisee The Pharisees (; ) were a Jews, Jewish social movement and school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70), destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became ...

s. The chapter is also known as the Woes of the Pharisees or the "Seven Woes". In this chapter, Jesus accuses the Pharisees of hypocrisy. Some writers treat it as part of the fifth and final discourse of Matthew's gospel.Hood, J.
Matthew 23–25: The Extent of Jesus' Fifth Discourse
''Journal of Biblical Literature'', Fall 2009, volume 128, No. 3, pp. 527–543, accessed 17 December 2022

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

. This chapter is divided into 39 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: * Papyrus 77 (AD ~200; extant: verses 30–39) * Codex Vaticanus (325–350) * Codex Sinaiticus (330–360) * Codex Bezae ( 400) * Codex Washingtonianus ( 400) * Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus ( 450) * Codex Purpureus Rossanensis (6th century) * Codex Sinopensis (6th century; extant verses 1–35) * Papyrus 83 (6th century; extant verses 39)

Context

Some writers treat this chapter as part of the fifth and final discourse of Matthew's gospel, along with chapters 24 and 25, although in other cases a distinction is made between chapter 23, where Jesus speaks with "the multitudes and isdisciples", and chapters 24–25, where he speaks "privately" (see Matthew 24:3) with his disciples.

A warning against the scribes and the Pharisees (verses 1–12)

Matthew presents a concerted attack on the Jewish religious authorities at this point in his gospel narrative; there is a briefer warning about the scribes in , and Luke has, according to Protestant theologian Heinrich Meyer, "inserted at Luke 11 portions of this discourse in an order different from the original".Meyer, H. A. W.
Meyer's NT Commentary: Matthew 23
accessed 18 March 2021 The pharisees themselves have been silenced in Matthew 22. According to Richard Thomas France, this section shows Jesus as a fierce controversialist concerning the values of the kingdom of heaven as opposed to the superficial approach to religion. Meyer thinks that Matthew's account is closer to the actual directive of Jesus, "although much that was spoken on other occasions may perhaps be mixed up with it"; Heinrich Ewald, on the other hand, thinks that the discourse is made up of passages that were probably original, though uttered on very different occasions.

Verse 2

:''"The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat."'' Dale Allison states that "'

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

' seat' is ambiguous. It may either refer to a literal chair for

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

authorities or be a

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...

for teaching authority (cf. the professor's 'chair')." Thus, the New Century Version presents this verse as: :''The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the

law of Moses The Law of Moses ( ), also called the Mosaic Law, is the law said to have been revealed to Moses by God. The term primarily refers to the Torah or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Terminology The Law of Moses or Torah of Moses (Heb ...

says.'' Allison observes that "only here (in Matthew's gospel) are the Jewish leaders presented in a positive light: they should be obeyed". Moses "sat to judge the people" in , although Meyer counsels against the suggestion that the "seat of Moses" refers to this passage. Meyer also suggests that the word ἐκάθισαν (''ekathisan'', "have sat down") should be read as "have seated themselves", meaning that they have "assumed to themselves the duties of this office".

Verse 5

:''But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.'' Arthur Carr notes that "Jesus does not prohibit the practice of wearing phylacteries, but the ostentatious enlargement of them". He also observes that "it is thought by many that our Saviour Himself wore phylacteries". Their use is prescribed in Exodus 13:9 and Deuteronomy 6:8.

The scribes and Pharisees denounced (verses 13–36)

While the previous pericope was directed to the crowd and the disciples, this part addresses the scribes and Pharisees, in the form of 'seven woes', a powerful climax to repudiate their leadership.

Verse 13

:But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Some manuscripts add here (or after verse 12) verse 14: ''Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation''. The phrase "enter the kingdom of heaven" appears three other times in the Gospel, at Matthew 5:20, 7:21, and 18:3.

Verse 23

:''Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.'' The "anise" mentioned in some translations is dill ('' A. graveolens''), rather than anise. The

Pharisees The Pharisees (; ) were a Jews, Jewish social movement and school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. Following the Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70), destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, Pharisaic beliefs became ...

apparently grew it in order to pay some

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

Verse 36

:Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. "These things" in the Greek texts is ταῦτα πάντα (''tauta panta'') in the

Textus Receptus The (Latin for 'received text') is the succession of printed Greek New Testament texts starting with Erasmus' ''Novum Instrumentum omne'' (1516) and including the editions of Robert Estienne, Stephanus, Theodore Beza, Beza, the House of Elzevir ...

and critical Westcott-Hort text, but Meyer points out that the reversed reading, πάντα ταῦτα (''panta tauta''), is also "well attested".

The fate of Jerusalem (verses 37–39)

This final section of this chapter acts as the inevitable conclusion on the hypocrisy of the leaders to the total guilt of Israel in its rejection of God's messenger: ''

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

'' has rejected the call of God's last and greatest messenger and will receive judgment for it. Jesus departs from the city, anticipating both that he will return, and that calamities will befall it.Benson, J. (1857)
Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
''Matthew 23'', accessed on 24 August 2024 Applying the term "Jerusalem" to the Jewish people,

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

writer Joseph Benson suggests that Jesus "would have taken the whole body of them, if they would have consented to be so taken, into his church, and have gathered them all".

Verse 39

:For I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!': NKJV Citing Psalm 118:26, and echoing Matthew 21:19, '' Let no fruit grow on you ever again'', these words are addressed to "the Jews in general, hemen of Jerusalem in particular".

Other Gospels

Luke 11:37–54 parallels Matthew 23, but Luke's version has six, not seven, accusations, and is thus known as the "Six Woes". Luke's version is also shorter than Matthew's. Luke 13:34–35 parallels Jesus' lament over

in verses 37–39.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * .

External links

* King James Bible – Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Matthew chapters