# Matthew 23.13

<!-- type: passage | created: 2026-11-05 | updated: 2026-11-05 -->

**Book:** [Matthew](/codex/matthew/) · NASB95

## Immediate context (±2 verses)

**ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/))
> 11. <span class="rl-speech">But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.</span> 12. <span class="rl-speech">And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.</span>
>
> **13. <span class="rl-speech">But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter.</span>**
>
> 15. <span class="rl-speech">Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves.</span> (Matthew 23:11-15, ASV)

**WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/))
> 11. <span class="rl-speech">But he who is greatest among you will be your servant.</span> 12. <span class="rl-speech">Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.</span>
>
> **13. <span class="rl-speech">“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.</span>**
>
> 14. <span class="rl-speech">“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter.</span> 15. <span class="rl-speech">Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much of a son of Gehenna as yourselves.</span> (Matthew 23:11-15, WEB)

**KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/))
> 11. <span class="rl-speech">But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.</span> 12. <span class="rl-speech">And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.</span>
>
> **13. <span class="rl-speech">But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.</span>**
>
> 14. <span class="rl-speech">Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.</span> 15. <span class="rl-speech">Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.</span> (Matthew 23:11-15, KJV)

**YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/))
> 11. <span class="rl-speech">And the greater of you shall be your ministrant,</span> 12. <span class="rl-speech">and whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, and whoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.</span>
>
> **13. <span class="rl-speech">'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut up the reign of the heavens before men, for ye do not go in, nor those going in do ye suffer to enter.</span>**
>
> 14. <span class="rl-speech">'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye eat up the houses of the widows, and for a pretence make long prayers, because of this ye shall receive more abundant judgment.</span> 15. <span class="rl-speech">'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye go round the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and whenever it may happen, ye make him a son of gehenna twofold more than yourselves.</span> (Matthew 23:11-15, YLT)

## Setting

- **Speaker:** _TBD_
- **Audience:** _TBD_
- **Location:** _TBD_
- **Time period:** _TBD_

## Theological reading

_Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._

## Key words

_Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._

- None of the words in this verse has its own lexicon entry yet.


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## Quoted in

**Arguments and defeaters:**

- [Religion Was Invented to Control People Objection Defeater](/codex/religion-was-invented-to-control-people-objection-defeater/)

**Concepts:**

- [Jesus Said](/codex/jesus-said/), via [Matthew 23](/codex/matthew-23/)

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## Notes

_Your annotations._

## Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

- **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.