Matthew 23

General context

Jesus speaks to the multitude and to his disciples about the scribes and the Pharisees, who sit in Moses' seat: observe what they bid you, but do not after their works, for they say, and do not. He says they bind heavy burdens on other men's shoulders, do their works to be seen of men, make broad their phylacteries, and love the chief seats and to be called Rabbi. He tells the disciples not to be called Rabbi, to call no man their father upon the earth, and not to be called masters, since the greatest among them shall be their servant. Eight times he says Woe unto you, charging that they shut the kingdom of heaven against men, devour widows' houses, compass sea and land to make one proselyte, divide oaths between the temple and its gold and between the altar and the gift, tithe mint and anise and cummin while omitting judgment, mercy and faith, strain at a gnat and swallow a camel, clean the outside of the cup, look like whited sepulchres, and build the tombs of the prophets, which he says witnesses that they are the children of them which killed the prophets. He calls them serpents and a generation of vipers, says he sends prophets, wise men and scribes whom they will kill, crucify, scourge and persecute, and that all the righteous blood from Abel to Zacharias will come upon this generation. He closes by addressing Jerusalem, saying he would have gathered her children as a hen gathers her chickens, that her house is left desolate, and that they will not see him until they say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Cited passages: Matthew 23:1, Matthew 23:2, Matthew 23:3, Matthew 23:4, Matthew 23:5, Matthew 23:7, Matthew 23:9, Matthew 23:11, Matthew 23:12, Matthew 23:13, Matthew 23:14, Matthew 23:15, Matthew 23:16, Matthew 23:18, Matthew 23:23, Matthew 23:24, Matthew 23:25, Matthew 23:27, Matthew 23:29, Matthew 23:31, Matthew 23:33, Matthew 23:34, Matthew 23:35, Matthew 23:37, Matthew 23:38, Matthew 23:39

Matthew 23 (KJV)

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Historical context

The narrator names the audience once, at the start, and then prints nothing but speech: everything from verse 2 to the end is Jesus talking. The addressees shift inside that speech, since the multitude and the disciples are told about the scribes and Pharisees in the third person, while the woes address them as you. The phrase Moses' seat is not explained. The instruction to observe what they bid stands in the text beside the charge against their works, and the chapter does not resolve the two. The named practices, phylacteries, borders of garments, tithes of mint and anise and cummin, and oaths sworn by temple, gold, altar and gift, are described only as far as the verses go, with no account of the customs themselves. Zacharias is identified as son of Barachias and as slain between the temple and the altar, and nothing else is said about him. The house left desolate is not further specified, and no date, ruler or year appears anywhere in the chapter.

Cited passages: Matthew 23:1, Matthew 23:2, Matthew 23:3, Matthew 23:5, Matthew 23:14, Matthew 23:16, Matthew 23:19, Matthew 23:23, Matthew 23:35, Matthew 23:36, Matthew 23:38, Matthew 23:39

Literary context

The chapter is one speech in three movements: a description of the scribes and Pharisees in the third person, a short set of instructions to the disciples about titles, and then the woes spoken straight at their targets. Seven of the eight woes carry the same line, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, and the remaining one reads Woe unto you, ye blind guides, so the refrain carries the section. The middle woes work by an inside and outside contrast: the cup clean without and full within, the sepulchres beautiful outward and full of bones, and then the application, that they outwardly appear righteous. The tomb-building woe turns the builders' own words against them, since their If we had been in the days of our fathers is taken as evidence. The last movement drops the accusation for a lament addressed to a city rather than to a group, and closes with a line the crowds had already shouted at the entry in chapter 21.

Cited passages: Matthew 23:3, Matthew 23:8, Matthew 23:14, Matthew 23:16, Matthew 23:25, Matthew 23:27, Matthew 23:28, Matthew 23:30, Matthew 23:31, Matthew 23:37, Matthew 23:39, Matthew 21:9

Key moments

1. Moses' seat (Matthew 23:2). Jesus tells the multitude and his disciples that the scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
2. Be not called Rabbi (Matthew 23:8). Jesus tells the disciples to refuse the titles Rabbi, father and master.
3. The first woe (Matthew 23:13). Jesus says they shut up the kingdom of heaven against men and do not go in themselves.
4. Mint, anise and cummin (Matthew 23:23). Jesus says they tithe herbs and omit judgment, mercy and faith.
5. Whited sepulchres (Matthew 23:27). Jesus compares them to tombs that look well outside and hold bones within.
6. From Abel to Zacharias (Matthew 23:35). Jesus says all the righteous blood shed will come upon this generation.
7. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37). Jesus laments over the city that kills the prophets and says its house is left desolate.

For reflection

Jesus tells the crowd to do what the scribes and Pharisees say and not what they do, and then speaks eight woes against the same men. What does the text ask a reader to hold together in those two instructions?

People in this chapter

• Jesus Christ
• Abel
• Moses

Also indexed here:

• Jehoiada
• Zechariah