Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Matthew 23

Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees

Matthew 23:¹ Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples,

Matthew 23:² saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.

• “In 1926, excavators found a chair (in Chorazin excavations), carved from a single block of basalt and inscribed in Aramaic, near the wall of the synagogue that faced Jerusalem. Scholars believe the stone chair was the so-called Seat of Moses. According to Jesus, as quoted in the Gospel of Matthew, rabbis made authoritative pronouncements from the Hebrew Scriptures while sitting in this chair. The original chair is in the Israeli Museum in Jerusalem, but a replica lies along the southern synagogue wall. Curiously, the Chorazin synagogue also featured a stone relief of the head of snake-haired Medusa. Why a synagogue used for worship by people forbidden to have graven images would include the representation of a monster from Greek mythology remains a mystery.” See: The Seat of Moses
  

Matthew 23:³ Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.

Matthew 23:⁴ For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

Matthew 23:⁵ But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.

Matthew 23:⁶ They love the best places at feasts, the best seats (Or place of honor) in the synagogues,

Matthew 23:⁷ greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’

Matthew 23:⁸ But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher (Leader), the Christ, and you are all brethren.

Matthew 23:⁹ Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.

Matthew 23:¹⁰ And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.

• Every believer can have a personal relationship with Jesus and go directly to the throne in prayer. Believers do not need to go through a priest, a pope, a minister, a reverend, a rabbi, a teacher, a pastor, an elder, a deacon, or church doctrine to find the truth in the scriptures. Believers in Christ and their fellow believers edify one another. One can have more understanding than another but all are on equal footing before God. God uses all true believers according to their unique gifts and insights given by God.
• Jesus is called “teacher”, the same meaning as “rain which comes down from heaven” and “faithful rain” understood to be the Jewish Messiah.

Matthew 23:¹¹ But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.

• God’s two greatest servants in the New Covenant Testament are John the Baptist and Paul of Tarsus.

Matthew 23:¹² And whoever exalts himself will be humbled (put down), and he who humbles himself will be exalted (lifted up).

Matthew 23:¹³ “But WOE to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

• Woe number one.

Matthew 23:¹⁴ WOE to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

• Woe number two.

Matthew 23:¹⁵ “WOE to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell (Greek: Gehenna) as yourselves.

• Woe number three.

Matthew 23:¹⁶ “WOE to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’

• Woe number four.

Matthew 23:¹⁷ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies (sanctified) the gold?

Matthew 23:¹⁸ And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’

Matthew 23:¹⁹ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

Matthew 23:²⁰ Therefore he who swears by the altar (swears an oath), swears by it and by all things on it.

Matthew 23:²¹ He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells (dwelt) in it.

Matthew 23:²² And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

Matthew 23:²³ “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.

• Woe number five.

THE LAW: The message of the Law is:
Justice (mint)	Mercy (anise)	Faith (cummin)

Matthew 23:²⁴ Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

Matthew 23:²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence (unrighteousness).

• Woe number six.

Matthew 23:²⁶ Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Matthew 23:²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

• Woe number seven.

Matthew 23:²⁸ Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Matthew 23:²⁹ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn (decorate) the monuments of the righteous,

• Woe number eight.

Matthew 23:³⁰ and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’

Matthew 23:³¹ “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

Matthew 23:³² Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ (ancestor’s) guilt.

Matthew 23:³³ Serpents, brood (offspring) of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

Matthew 23:³⁴ Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,

Matthew 23:³⁵ that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

Matthew 23:³⁶ Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Jesus Laments over Jerusalem

Matthew 23:³⁷ “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

Matthew 23:³⁸ See! Your house is left to you desolate;

Matthew 23:³⁹ 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!’ ”

• That statement occurs on the day of Jesus’ return to the earth with His angels and saints at the end of the seven year tribulation.
• Hosea 5:15 I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
• Zechariah 12:10 Mourning for the Pierced One: “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.