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Matthew 23
Matthew 23
← chapter 22 chapter 24 →
	Gospel of Matthew 23:30-34 on Papyrus 77, from c. AD. 200.
Book	Gospel of Matthew
Category	Gospel
Christian Bible part	New Testament
Order in the Christian part	1

Matthew 23 is the twenty-third chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible, and consists almost entirely of the accusations of Jesus against the Pharisees. 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.^[1]

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. 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 (c. 400)
Codex Washingtonianus (c. 400)
Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (c. 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 [his] disciples",^[2] and chapters 24-25, where he speaks "privately" (see Matthew 24:3) with his disciples.^[1]

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 Mark 12:38–40, and Luke has, according to Protestant theologian Heinrich Meyer, "inserted at Luke 11 portions of this discourse in an order different from the original".^[3] 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.^[4] 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.^[3]

Verse 2

"The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat."^[5]

Dale Allison states that "'Moses' seat' is ambiguous. It may either refer to a literal chair for synagogue authorities or be a metaphor 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 says.^[6]

Allison observes that "only here (in Matthew's gospel) are the Jewish leaders presented in a positive light: they should be obeyed".^[7] Moses "sat to judge the people" in Exodus 18:13, although Meyer counsels against the suggestion that the "seat of Moses" refers to this passage.^[3]

Meyer also suggests that the word ἐκάθισαν (ekathisan, "have sat down") should be read as "have seated themselves",^[8] meaning that they have "assumed to themselves the duties of this office".^[3]

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.^[9]

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".^[10] 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.^[4]

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.^[11]

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.^[12]

The phrase "enter the kingdom of heaven" appears three other times in the Gospel, at Matthew 5:20, 7:21, and 18:3.^[13]

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.^[14]

The "anise" mentioned in some translations is dill (A. graveolens), rather than anise. The Pharisees apparently grew it in order to pay some tithes.^[15]

Verse 36

Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.^[16]

"These things" in the Greek texts is ταῦτα πάντα (tauta panta) in the Textus Receptus and critical Westcott-Hort text, but Meyer points out that the reversed reading, πάντα ταῦτα (panta tauta), is also "well attested".^[3]

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 has rejected the call of God's last and greatest messenger and will receive judgment for it.^[17] Jesus departs from the city,^[3] anticipating both that he will return, and that calamities will befall it.^[18] Applying the term "Jerusalem" to the Jewish people, Methodist 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".^[18]

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!'^[19]

Citing Psalm 118:26, and echoing Matthew 21:19, Let no fruit grow on you ever again,^[20] these words are addressed to "the Jews in general, [the] men of Jerusalem in particular".^[18]

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 Jerusalem in verses 37–39.

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b 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
^ Matthew 23:1
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Meyer, H. A. W., Meyer's NT Commentary: Matthew 23, accessed 18 March 2021
^ ^a ^b France 1994, p. 934.
^ Matthew 23:2: New King James Version
^ Matthew 23:2: New Century Version
^ Allison, D. Jr., Matthew in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary, p. 875
^ As in the New American Standard Bible: Matthew 23:2
^ Matthew 23:5: NKJV
^ Carr, A. (1893), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Matthew 23, accessed 17 December 2022
^ Matthew 23:13: ESV
^ Note [a] on Matthew 23:13 in ESV
^ Gundry, Robert H. Matthew: a Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982. p. 131
^ Matthew 23:23: NKJV
^ EB (1878).
^ Matthew 23:36: NKJV
^ France 1994, p. 935.
^ ^a ^b ^c Benson, J. (1857), Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, Matthew 23, accessed on 24 August 2024
^ Matthew 23:39: NKJV
^ Coogan 2007, p. 45 New Testament.

Sources

Coogan, Michael David (2007). Coogan, Michael David; Brettler, Marc Zvi; Newsom, Carol Ann; Perkins, Pheme (eds.). The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 (Augmented 3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195288810.
France, R. T. (1994). "Matthew". In Carson, D. A.; France, R. T.; Motyer, J. A.; Wenham, G. J. (eds.). New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition (4, illustrated, reprint, revised ed.). Inter-Varsity Press. pp. 904–945. ISBN 9780851106489.
"Anise" , Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. II (9th ed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1878, pp. 57–58.

External links

Matthew 23 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.)

[hood-1] 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

[2] Matthew 23:1

[meyer-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Meyer, H. A. W., Meyer's NT Commentary: Matthew 23, accessed 18 March 2021

[FOOTNOTEFrance1994934-4] France 1994, p. 934.

[5] Matthew 23:2: New King James Version

[6] Matthew 23:2: New Century Version

[7] Allison, D. Jr., Matthew in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary, p. 875

[8] As in the New American Standard Bible: Matthew 23:2

[9] Matthew 23:5: NKJV

[10] Carr, A. (1893), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Matthew 23, accessed 17 December 2022

[11] Matthew 23:13: ESV

[12] Note [a] on Matthew 23:13 in ESV

[13] Gundry, Robert H. Matthew: a Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982. p. 131

[14] Matthew 23:23: NKJV

[FOOTNOTEEB1878-15] EB (1878).

[16] Matthew 23:36: NKJV

[FOOTNOTEFrance1994935-17] France 1994, p. 935.

[benson-18] Benson, J. (1857), Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, Matthew 23, accessed on 24 August 2024

[19] Matthew 23:39: NKJV

[FOOTNOTECoogan200745_New_Testament-20] Coogan 2007, p. 45 New Testament.

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Matthew 23