Discovery BoxMatthew 3:7 
Context3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees 1 and Sadducees 2 coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Matthew 11:23
Context11:23 And you, Capernaum, 3 will you be exalted to heaven? 4 No, you will be thrown down to Hades! 5 For if the miracles done among you had been done in Sodom, it would have continued to this day.
Matthew 18:6
Context18:6 “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, 6 it would be better for him to have a huge millstone 7 hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea. 8
Matthew 23:13
Context23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law 9 and you Pharisees, hypocrites! 10 You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! 11 For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.
Matthew 23:27
Context23:27 “Woe to you, experts in the law 12 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. 13
Matthew 23:35
Context23:35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, 14 whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
Matthew 26:39
Context26:39 Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed, 15 “My Father, if possible, 16 let this cup 17 pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
1 sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.
2 sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.
3 sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region.
map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.
4 tn The interrogative particle introducing this question expects a negative reply.
5 sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside (Luke 10:15; 16:23; Rev 20:13-14).
6 tn The Greek term σκανδαλίζω (skandalizw), translated here “causes to sin” can also be translated “offends” or “causes to stumble.”
7 tn Grk “the millstone of a donkey.” This refers to a large flat stone turned by a donkey in the process of grinding grain (BDAG 661 s.v. μύλος 2; L&N 7.68-69). The same term is used in the parallel account in Mark 9:42.
sn The punishment of drowning with a heavy weight attached is extremely gruesome and reflects Jesus’ views concerning those who cause others who believe in him to sin.
8 tn The term translated “open” here (πελάγει, pelagei) refers to the open sea as opposed to a stretch of water near a coastline (BDAG 794 s.v. πέλαγος). A similar English expression would be “the high seas.”
9 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
10 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).
11 tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”
12 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
13 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.
14 sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).
15 tn Grk “ground, praying and saying.” Here the participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
16 tn Grk “if it is possible.”
17 sn This cup alludes to the wrath of God that Jesus would experience (in the form of suffering and death) for us. See Ps 11:6; 75:8-9; Isa 51:17, 19, 22 for this figure.
