23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law 1 and you Pharisees, hypocrites! 2 You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! 3 For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.
23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law 4 and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth 5 of mint, dill, and cumin, 6 yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You 7 should have done these things without neglecting the others.
23:27 “Woe to you, experts in the law 8 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. 9
1 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
2 tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so throughout this chapter).
3 tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”
4 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
5 tn Or “you tithe mint.”
6 sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.
7 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 Ë1,13 579 700 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.
8 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
9 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.