Passage

Matthew 23.23-28

Book: Matthew · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"21. And he that sweareth by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22. And he that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon."

"23. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone. 24. Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel! 25. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess. 26. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also. 27. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 28. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

"29. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous, 30. and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets." (Matthew 23:21-30, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"21. He who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who was living in it. 22. He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it."

"23. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. 24. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel! 25. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness. 26. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also. 27. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

"29. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous, 30. and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’" (Matthew 23:21-30, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"21. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon."

"23. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. ^{anise: Gr. dill} 24. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 28. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

"29. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30. And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets." (Matthew 23:21-30, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"21. and he who did swear by the sanctuary, doth swear by it, and by Him who is dwelling in it; 22. and he who did swear by the heaven, doth swear by the throne of God, and by Him who is sitting upon it."

"23. 'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye give tithe of the mint, and the dill, and the cumin, and did neglect the weightier things of the Law, the judgment, and the kindness, and the faith; these it behoved [you] to do, and those not to neglect. 24. 'Blind guides! who are straining out the gnat, and the camel are swallowing. 25. 'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye make clean the outside of the cup and the plate, and within they are full of rapine and incontinence. 26. 'Blind Pharisee! cleanse first the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside of them also may become clean. 27. 'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye are like to whitewashed sepulchres, which outwardly indeed do appear beautiful, and within are full of bones of dead men, and of all uncleanness; 28. so also ye outwardly indeed do appear to men righteous, and within ye are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

"29. 'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the tombs of the righteous, 30. and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets." (Matthew 23:21-30, 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; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

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 (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
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 for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.