Matius 23:15

23:15 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, ²  and when you get one, ³  you make him twice as much a child of hell ⁴  as yourselves!

Matius 23:23

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁵  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ⁶  of mint, dill, and cumin, ⁷  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ⁸  should have done these things without neglecting the others.

Matius 23:25

23:25 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

Matius 23:27

23:27 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹⁰  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. ¹¹ 

Matius 23:29

23:29 “Woe to you, experts in the law ¹²  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You ¹³  build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves ¹⁴  of the righteous.

[23:15]  ¹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:15]  ² tn Or “one proselyte.”

[23:15]  ³ tn Grk “when he becomes [one].”

[23:15]  ⁴ tn Grk “a son of Gehenna.” Expressions constructed with υἱός (Juios) followed by a genitive of class or kind denote a person belonging to the class or kind specified by the following genitive (L&N 9.4). Thus the phrase here means “a person who belongs to hell.”

[23:15]  sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[23:23]  ⁵ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:23]  ⁶ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ⁷ sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ⁸ tc ‡ Many witnesses (B C K L W Δ 0102 33 565 892 pm) have δέ (de, “but”) after ταῦτα (tauta, “these things”), while many others lack it (א D Γ Θ Ë^1,13 579 700 1241 1424 pm). Since asyndeton was relatively rare in Koine Greek, the conjunction may be an intentional alteration, and is thus omitted from the present translation. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[23:25]  ⁹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:27]  ¹⁰ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:27]  ¹¹ sn This was an idiom for hypocrisy – just as the wall was painted on the outside but something different on the inside, so this person was not what he appeared or pretended to be (for discussion of a similar metaphor, see L&N 88.234; BDAG 1010 s.v. τοῖχος). See Deut 28:22; Ezek 13:10-16; Acts 23:3.

[23:29]  ¹² tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:29]  ¹³ tn Grk “Because you.” Here ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated.

[23:29]  ¹⁴ tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75-76).