Matthew 23

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 "Seven Woes" or Woes of the Pharisees. In this chapter, Jesus accuses the Pharisees of hypocrisy.

Matthew 23
Gospel of Matthew 23:30-34 on Papyrus 77, from c. AD. 200.
BookGospel of Matthew
CategoryGospel
Christian Bible partNew Testament
Order in the Christian part1
Gospel of
Matthew
Chapters

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:

A Warning Against Scribes and Pharisees (23:1–12)

This concentrated attack on the Jewish religious authorities is only included in the Gospel of Matthew, showing Jesus as a fierce controversialist concerning the important cause to contrast the values of the kingdom of heaven and the superficial approach to religion.[1]

The Scribes and Pharisees Denounced (23:13–36)

When the previous part was directed to the crowd and disciples, this part addresses the scribes and Pharisees, in the form of 'Seven Woes' as a powerful climax to repudiate their leadership.[1]

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.[2]

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.[3]

The phase "enter the kingdom of heaven" appears three other times in the Gospel, at Matthew 5:20, 7:21, and 18:3.[4]

Verse 36
Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.[5]

"These things" in the Greek texts are ταῦτα πάντα (tauta panta) in the Textus Receptus and critical Westcott-Hort text but Heinrich Meyer notes that the reversed reading, πάντα ταῦτα (panta tauta), is also "well attested".[6]

The Fate of Jerusalem (23:37–39)

This last part acts as the inevitable conclusion of 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.[7]

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!'[8]

Citing Psalm 118:26, echoing Matthew 21:19.[9]

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.

See also

Notes

The "anise" mentioned in some translations is dill (A. graveolens), rather than this plant. The Pharisees apparently grew it in order to pay some tithes.[10]

References

Citations
  1. France 1994, p. 934.
  2. Matthew 23:13 ESV
  3. Note [a] on Matthew 23:13 in ESV
  4. Gundry, Robert H. Matthew: a Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982. p. 131
  5. Matthew 23:36
  6. Meyer, H. A. W., Meyer's NT Commentary on Matthew 23, accessed 9 October 2019
  7. France 1994, p. 935.
  8. Matthew 23:39 NKJV
  9. Coogan 2007, p. 45 New Testament.
  10. EB (1878).

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, 9th ed., Vol. II, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1878, pp. 57–58.
Preceded by
Matthew 22		 Chapters of the New Testament
Gospel of Matthew		 Succeeded by
Matthew 24
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