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 and the Scribes. The chapter is also known as the Woes of the Pharisees or the "Seven Woes". In this chapter, Jesus accuses the Pharisees of hypocrisy. Some writers treat it as part of the fifth and final discourse of Matthew's gospel.Hood, J., Matthew 23–25: The Extent of Jesus' Fifth Discourse, Journal of Biblical Literature, Fall 2009, volume 128, No. 3, pp. 527–543, accessed 17 December 2022
Scholars noted multiple parallels between the denunciations in Matthew 23 and ancient Jewish practice, arguing that the language reflects a form of rhetorical invective widely used by Jews themselves in inter-party disputes rather than a distinctively anti-Jewish polemic.
Recent scholarship tends to find more historical value in the controversy narratives between Jesus and the Pharisees than 20th century scholarship. This community may have been competing for authority within Judaism in Matthew's locale in the aftermath of the destruction of Jerusalem, when a coalition rooted in the Pharisaic tradition was consolidating into what would become rabbinic Judaism, the dominant stream of Jewish life in the centuries that followed.
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: Papyrus 77 (AD ~200; extant: verses 30–39) Codex Vaticanus (325–350) Codex Sinaiticus (330–360) Codex Bezae ( 400) Codex Washingtonianus ( 400) Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus ( 450) Codex Purpureus Rossanensis (6th century) Codex Sinopensis (6th century; extant verses 1–35) Papyrus 83 (6th century; extant verses 39)
Context Some writers treat this chapter as part of the fifth and final discourse of Matthew's gospel, along with chapters 24 and 25, although in other cases a distinction is made between chapter 23, where Jesus speaks with "the multitudes and [his] disciples", and chapters 24–25, where he speaks "privately" (see Matthew 24:3) with his disciples.
Source The chapter draws on and expands a brief denunciation of the scribes found in the Gospel of Mark. Bellinzoni further argues that Matthew and Luke used the hypothetical Q source to create a considerably longer and more severe passage than its Markan basis, though many scholars today have come to doubt rather than defend the existence of Q in favor of Luke's usage of Matthew. The chapter's polemical core began with a brief denunciation of the scribes in the Gospel of Mark (Mark 12:37–40), in which Jesus warns against those who seek public honor while exploiting the vulnerable, and expanded it into a broad assault on the integrity and authority of the scribes and Pharisees alike. The resulting text is considerably longer and more severe than its Marcan basis (Mark 12:38–44).
Luke and Matthew handle the shared material differently. Luke keeps the criticisms directed separately at the Pharisees and at the lawyers, and frames the episode primarily as instruction to Jesus's disciples (Luke 12:1). Matthew instead fuses the scribes and Pharisees into a single group. Luke 13:34–35 parallels Jesus' lament over Jerusalem in verses 37–39.
A warning against the scribes and the Pharisees (verses 1–12) Matthew presents a concerted attack on the Jewish religious authorities at this point in his gospel narrative; there is a briefer warning about the scribes in , and Luke has, according to Protestant theologian Heinrich Meyer, "inserted at Luke 11 portions of this discourse in an order different from the original".Meyer, H. A. W., Meyer's NT Commentary: Matthew 23, accessed 18 March 2021 The pharisees themselves have been silenced in Matthew 22. According to Richard Thomas France, this section shows Jesus as a fierce controversialist concerning the values of the kingdom of heaven as opposed to the superficial approach to religion. Meyer thinks that Matthew's account is closer to the actual directive of Jesus, "although much that was spoken on other occasions may perhaps be mixed up with it"; Heinrich Ewald, on the other hand, thinks that the discourse is made up of passages that were probably original, though uttered on very different occasions.
According to William David Davies and Dale C. Allison, this part of the chapter features a remarkably "Jewish character". They note that not one of the Jewish practices mentioned is explained to the reader, implying that the author assumed familiarity with them on the part of the audience, lending further evidence that Matthew's community was predominantly Jewish, with a substantial portion likely still participating in synagogue life.
Verse 2 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.": New King James Version Dale Allison states that "'Moses' seat' is ambiguous. It may either refer to a literal chair for synagogue authorities or be a metaphor for teaching authority (cf. the professor's 'chair')." Thus, the New Century Version presents this verse as: The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the law of Moses says.: New Century Version
Allison observes that "only here (in Matthew's gospel) are the Jewish leaders presented in a positive light: they should be obeyed".Allison, D. Jr., Matthew in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary , p. 875 Moses "sat to judge the people" in , although Meyer counsels against the suggestion that the "seat of Moses" refers to this passage.
Meyer also suggests that the word ἐκάθισαν (ekathisan, "have sat down") should be read as "have seated themselves",As in the New American Standard Bible: meaning that they have "assumed to themselves the duties of this office".
Verse 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.: New King James VersionThe instruction that the disciples should practice whatever the Pharisees tell them, but not what they do, is one of the most disputed verses in the Gospel of Matthew. Read in isolation it appears to commend adherence to the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees while denouncing only their failure to follow that teaching themselves, extending to the rest of Matthew the same reading would require Jesus to endorse Pharisaic positions on the Sabbath (12:1–14), handwashing (15:1–20), sacrifices (15:3–9), and divorce (19:3–9), all of which the Gospel elsewhere rejects.
Rabbinowitz draws on the works of several scholars who hold that Pharisaic halakhah, or rabbinic law, flourished in Judaism during the late Second Temple period, and was spread through the synagogue. As physical evidence he points to the spread of ritual baths (miqva'ot), the use of stone vessels to guard against ritual impurity, and the practice of reburying bones in ossuaries.
Verse 5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.: NKJV Arthur Carr notes that "Jesus does not prohibit the practice of wearing phylacteries, but the ostentatious enlargement of them". He also observes that "it is thought by many that our Saviour Himself wore phylacteries".Carr, A. (1893), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Matthew 23, accessed 17 December 2022 Their use is prescribed in Exodus 13:9 and Deuteronomy 6:8.
Verses 6–7 They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.': NKJVDavies and Allison situate these verses within the ancient habit of charging opponents of seeking elevated public status, common in Jewish and Greco-Roman polemics. The desires listed in these passages, prime placement at meals, front seating in synagogues, and public greetings, all share the same logic: the need to have one's standing constantly confirmed by others. The two scholars point to a range of parallels, from the Roman practice of reserving front theatre seats for senators, recorded by Suetonius in his biography of Augustus, to Jewish communal practices attested in both archaeology and rabbinic sources, suggesting that this was a phenomenon that Matthew's audience would have immediately understood.
Verse 8 But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.: NKJVDavies and Allison read this prohibition as a response to the growing formalization of "rabbi" as an official designation in late first-century Judaism. Because in Christianity all genuine teaching authority belongs to the Messiah, any earthly authority is by nature secondary and should produce humility rather than the desire for honorific distinction. Within the community, Davies and Allison note, the proper relationship among members is one of equality, making title seeking out of place.
Verse 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.: NKJVDavies and Allison consider several possible targets of this prohibition and settle on the view that it most plausibly addresses a practice of using "father" as an honorific for living religious authorities, whether Jewish or Christian. They rule out the reading that it concerns only dead teachers on the grounds that the surrounding context is preoccupied with humility among the living, not with commemoration.
Verses 11–12 But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.: NKJVDavies and Allison note that the section's concluding maxim was already a pre-existing proverb in the ancient world, appearing in multiple traditions, but insist that its meaning in verses 11–12 its meaning is not merely proverbial but eschatological. The passive constructions point to final judgment, giving the prohibition against titles a significance that extends beyond social etiquette. The section therefore concludes by grounding the call to humility in the prospect of God's verdict.
The scribes and Pharisees denounced (verses 13–36) While the previous pericope was directed to the crowd and the disciples, this part addresses the scribes and Pharisees, in the form of 'seven woes', a powerful climax to repudiate their leadership.
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.: ESV
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.Note [a] on Matthew 23:13 in ESV
The phrase "enter the kingdom of heaven" appears three other times in the Gospel, at Matthew 5:20, 7:21, and 18:3.Gundry, Robert H. Matthew: a Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982. p. 131
Verse 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.: NKJV The "anise" mentioned in some translations is dill (A. graveolens), rather than anise. The Pharisees apparently grew it in order to pay some tithes.
Verse 25–26