Discovery BoxMatthew 23:13 
Context23:13 “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.
Matthew 23:15
Context23:15 “Woe to you, experts in the law 4 and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, 5 and when you get one, 6 you make him twice as much a child of hell 7 as yourselves!
Matthew 23:23
Context23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law 8 and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth 9 of mint, dill, and cumin, 10 yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You 11 should have done these things without neglecting the others.
Matthew 23:25
Context23:25 “Woe to you, experts in the law 12 and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
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 “one proselyte.”
6 tn Grk “when he becomes [one].”
7 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.”
sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.
8 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
9 tn Or “you tithe mint.”
10 sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.
11 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.
12 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
