Matthew 23:25-39 “How Will You Escape” (The Last 3 Woes)

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 07 July 2013

Translation

23:23 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,

because y’all are tithing your mint and your dill and your cumin, yet y’all are

letting go of the weightier matters of the law: the justice and the mercy and the faithfulness.

Now, it was necessary to do these things, while not letting go of those things either.

23:24 Blind trail-guides who strain out the gnat but swallow down the camel!”

 

23:25 “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,

because y’all are cleaning the exterior of the cup and of the saucer,

but interiorly they are loaded with stealing and injustice .

23:26 Blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and the saucer

in order that the outside of them might also become clean.

 

23:27 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,

because y’all are comparable to whitewashed tombs, which have a beautiful exterior shine,

but interiorly are loaded with dead men’s bones and every [kind of] unclean thing.

23:28 In this way you yourselves also make a shining exterior appearance as righteous to men,

but interiorly y’all are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

 

23:29 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,

because y’all are building edifices for the tombs of the prophets

and decorating the memorials of the righteous men,

23:30 and y’all are saying, ‘If we were in the days of our fathers,

we would not have been participants with them in the blood of the prophets.’

23:31 Thus y’all are testifying among yourselves

that you are sons of the ones who murdered the prophets.

23:32 So start filling out the standard of your fathers, y’all!

23:33 Snakes! Offspring of vipers! However can you escape the sentence of hell?

 

23:34 Look, it’s because of this that I myself am commissioning prophets and sages and scribes to y’all,

[yet] y’all will kill and crucify [some] of them,

and [some] of them y’all will whip in your synagogues and hunt down from city to city,

23:35 such that all the righteous blood shed upon the earth shall come upon y’all –

from the blood of Abel the righteous

up through the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah

(who was murdered between the temple and the altar).

23:36 Really, I’m telling y’all that all these things will arrive upon this generation.

23:37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones the men who have been sent her.

How often I wanted to gather up your children

in the way that a hen gathers up her [own] chicks under her wings,

yet y’all did not want [it].

23:38 Look, y’all’s deserted house is being left with you,

23:39 for I am telling y’all that you are never going to see me from now on,

until whenever y’all start saying that the One who comes in the name of the Lord is blessed.

Introduction

Exegesis

23:25 “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because y’all are cleaning the exterior of the cup and of the saucer, but interiorly they are loaded with stealing and injustice [or indulgence3].

Ουαι ‘υμιν γραμματεις και Φαρισαιοι ‘υποκριται ‘οτι ‘καθαριζετε το εξωθεν4 του ποτηριου και της παροψιδος[2] εσωθεν4 δε γεμουσιν εξ ‘αρπαγης και αδικιας[3]  

 

23:26 Blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and the saucer in order that the outside of them might also become clean.

Φαρισαιε τυφλε καθαρισον πρωτον το εντος[4] του ποτηριου και της παροψιδος[5]  ‘ινα γενηται και το εκτος4 αυτων[6] καθαρον.

 

Woe #7

23:27 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because y’all are comparable to whitewashed tombs, which have a beautiful exterior shine, but interiorly are loaded with dead men’s bones and every [kind of] unclean thing.

Ουαι ‘υμιν γραμματεις και Φαρισαιοι ‘υποκριται ‘οτι παρομοιαζετε[8] ταφοις κεκονιαμενοις ‘οιτινες εξωθεν μεν φαινονται ‘ωραιοι εσωθεν δε γεμουσιν οστεων νεκρων και πασης ακαθαρσιας

 

23:28 In this way you yourselves also make a shining exterior appearance as righteous to men, but interiorly y’all are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

‘ουτως και ‘υμεις εξωθεν μεν φαινεσθε τοις ανθρωποις δικαιοι εσωθεν δε μεστοι εστε ‘υποκρισεως και ανομιας.

 

Woes #6 and 7 are similar, with the recognition that without a clean heart and without spiritual life on the inside, we are cursed, no matter how good we look on the outside. Now, Woe #8 points even more clearly to the cure:

 

23:29 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because y’all are building edifices for the tombs of the prophets and decorating the memorials of the righteous men,

Ουαι ‘υμιν γραμματεις και Φαρισαιοι ‘υποκριται ‘οτι οικοδομειτε τους ταφους των προφητων και κοσμειτε τα μνημεια των δικαιων

 

23:30 and y’all are saying, ‘If we were in the days of our fathers, we would not have been participants with them in the blood of the prophets.’

και λεγετε Ει ημεν[11] εν ταις ‘ημεραις των πατερων ‘ημων ουκ αν ημεν κοινωνοι αυτων εν τω ‘αιματι των προφητων.

 

23:31 Thus y’all are testifying [bearing witness] among yourselves that you are sons of the ones who murdered the prophets.

‘Ωστε μαρτυρειτε ‘εαυτοις ‘οτι ‘υιοι εστε των φονευσαντων τους προφητας

 

23:32 So start filling out the standard of your fathers, y’all!

και ‘υμεις πληρωσατε το μετρον των πατερων ‘υμων.

 

23:33 Snakes! Offspring of vipers! However can you escape the sentence of hell[16]?

Οφεις γεννηματα εχιδνων πως φυγητε απο της κρισεως της γεεννης;

 

23:34 Look, it’s because of this that I myself am commissioning prophets and sages and scribes to y’all, [yet] y’all will kill and crucify [some] of them, and [some] of them y’all will whip [flog/scourge] in your synagogues and [persecute] hunt down from city to city,

Δια τουτο ιδου εγω αποστελλω προς ‘υμας προφητας και σοφους και γραμματεις [και[18]] εξ αυτων αποκτενειτε και σταυρωσετε και εξ αυτων μαστιγωσετε εν ταις συναγωγαις ‘υμων και διωξετε απο πολεως εις πολιν

 

23:35 such that all the righteous blood shed upon the earth shall come upon y’all – from the blood of Abel the righteous up through the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah (who was murdered between the temple and the altar).

οπως ελθῃ εφ’ ‘υμας παν αιμα δικαιον εκχυνομενον[21] επι της γης απο του ‘αιματος Αβελ του δικαιου ‘εως του ‘αιματος Ζαχαριου ‘υιου Βαραχιου ‘ον εφονευσατε μεταξυ του ναου και του θυσιαστηριου.

 

23:36 Really, I’m telling y’all that all these things will arrive upon this generation.

Αμην λεγω ‘υμιν [‘οτι[26]] ‘ηξει ταυτα παντα επι την γενεαν ταυτην.

 

23:37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem[27], the one who kills the prophets and stones the men who have been sent to her. How often I wanted to gather up your children in the way that a hen gathers up her [own] chicks under her wings, yet y’all did not want [it].

Ιερουσαλημ Ιερουσαλημ ‘η αποκτεινουσα[28] τους προφητας και λιθοβολουσα τους απεσταλμενους προς αυτην. Ποσακις ηθελησα επισυναγαγειν τα τεκνα σου ‘ον τροπον επισυναγει ορνις τα νοσσια [‘ε]αυτης[29] ‘υπο τας πτερυγας και ουκ ηθελησατε;

 

23:38 Look, y’all’s deserted house is being left with you,

Ιδου αφιεται ‘υμιν ‘ο οικος ‘υμων ερημος[30]

 

23:39 for I am telling y’all that you are never going to see me from now on[32], until whenever y’all start saying that the One who comes in the name of the Lord is blessed.

λεγω γαρ ‘υμιν ου μη με ιδητε απ’ αρτι ‘εως αν ειπητε ευλογημενος ‘ο ερχομενος εν ονοματι κυριου.

Conclusion

What brought these covenantal curses down on these people who had been the people of God, and how can we head in the opposite direction of God’s blessing?

  1. Stop holding sin in your hearts and maintaining an outward façade; ask for forgiveness and repent.
  2. Don’t cover up spiritual deadness; instead submit to the authority of God’s word and seek for the Spirit to breathe life into your bones!
  3. Pay attention to the messengers God sends and gather under Christ’s protection to escape God’s judgment against sin.

 

When I was a boy, my parents used to read a children’s book to me about a little red hen that was found on a farm after the barn burned down. She was found burnt to death, but under her charred wings was a whole brood of chicks that survived the blaze because they were tucked under her wings when she gave her life for them. It’s a powerful picture of our relationship to Christ. “How are you going to escape the sentence of hell?” By taking refuge ‘under His wings,’” the one who endured on the cross the judgment for sin, giving His life as a substitute for us so that we could be saved.



[1] Cf. Woes from Isaiah 5: 1. Woe, those who extend house with house, they adjoin field with field until there is no more place, (materialism, v.8), 2. Woe to those who, early in the morning, pursue alcohol; after dusk wine inflames them. (idolatry of food/drink, v.11), 3. Woe to those who draw iniquity, with cords of vanity and sin, with cart ropes. (hypocrisy, v.18), 4. Woe to those who say to evil, “Good!” and to good, “Evil!” (lying, perversion, v.20), 5. Woe those who are wise in their eyes and in front of their faces consider themselves intelligent. (pride/humanism, v.21), 6. Woe, those who are champions for drinking wine and men of valor for mixing alcohol… those who make righteous the wicked in order to gain a bribe… (misplaced heroism and injustice, vs.22-23).

[2] This is the only passage in the whole Greek Bible in which this word appears. The Greek word means “see-alongside,” so it is apparently not the main eating plate (“Side-dish” ~Vincent). The parallel passage in Luke 11:39 has a different Greek word pinakos which has the root meaning of “flat” (like our English words like platter and plate) and which is only used in the Greek Bible there and in the passages about the platter on which John the Baptizer’s head was displayed.

[3] I have somewhat-arbitrarily opted for the reading of the Byzantine edition of the Greek New Testament (“injustice”), which is the reading of the majority of the known Greek manuscripts (including C, K, W, and Γ), over that of the Critical editions and the Textus Receptus, which read ακρασιας (“excess/self-indulgence”). Neither the Nestle-Aland nor the UBS third edition gave any manuscript evidence for their reading in their critical apparatus.

[4] The Greek adverbs used in v.26 for inside and “outside” differ slightly from those used in v.25. It appears that exwthen and eswthen are used more for structural objects whereas entos and ektos are more used to describe persons, thus Jesus is personalizing the application of His object lesson.

[5] On the basis of two ancient manuscripts (D & Θ), Critical editions of the Greek New Testament (GNT) omit the phrase “and the platter/ plate/ dish.” Curiously, none of the English translations based upon the Critical text omit the phrase, though! And for good reason. It is supported by the majority of Greek manuscripts (including the most ancient ones א, B, C, K, L, W, X, Δ, Π, 0138) and the majority of ancient translations (including Syriac, Coptic, and Vulgate), and the traditional Byzantine and Textus Receptus(T.R.) editions of the GNT.

[6] Having two objects to wash (a cup and a plate) instead of only one (a cup – see footnote #1) makes a difference in the pronoun at the end of the sentence, as to whether it is singular or plural (viz. KJV “of them” vs. NAS & NIV “of it”). Critical editors, of course, opted for the singular since they didn’t believe the plate existed in the original and the verb is also singular. The singular form of the pronoun is supported not only by the two manuscripts that omit the plate, but also by B and f13. The majority of Greek manuscripts (including some of the most ancient ones: א, C, K, L, W, Δ, Π, 0138) read the plural form, and that is the rendering of the Byzantine and T.R. Since Jesus’ point does not hinge on whether the plate exists, and since He has indisputably mentioned the plate in other verses, its omission here would not constitute a significant change.

[7] The change to the singular in this verse invites personal application.

[8] This Greek word, a compound of para (“alongside”) and homoi (“similar”), is found nowhere else in the Greek Bible. The only word like it is the adjective παρόμοιος in Mark 7:13 “you do many things like that.”

[9] As best I can tell, taphous and mnemeia are full synonyms, both being burial places for the dead in cave-like places over which edifaces were later built. Both words are used to refer to the tomb where Jesus was laid, although the latter is used much more frequently to refer to it.

[10] The Greek word behind our English word  is kosmeite (from which we get the English word “cosmetic”). This Greek word is used of straightening up – cleaning and organizing – a building (in Eccl. 7:13, Ezekiel 23:41, and Matt. 12:44), and it is used of embellishing or decorating a building with precious stones, gold, tapestries, floor tiles, and furniture (in 2 Chron. 3:6, Esther 1:6, Luke 21:5, Rev. 21:19). Eighteenth Century Bible Commentator Adam Clarke mentions Jews honoring Abraham’s burial cave of Machpelah by lighting wax candles and burning perfumes at it.

[11] Critical editions read a Deponent form of this verb of being (ημεθα) both here and where it occurs later in this verse, but neither the UBS nor N-A third editions cite manuscript support in their critical apparatus for departing from the majority of Greek manuscripts. Regardless, this alternate spelling makes no difference in meaning. By the way, the grammar of this conditional clause (ei + Imperfect Indicative verbs) indicates that they know it is not true.

[12] Cf. Luke16:8 “sons of light,” Luke 20:34 “sons of this age,” and Eph 2:2 “sons of disobedience”

[13] It’s also possible, but I think less likely, that Jesus was implying that they were not descendents of the godly kings of Judah but were rather descendants of imposters like Jezebel and therefore had no legitimate claim to their priesthood. Chrysostom, on the other hand claimed that they built edifices to brag about the fact that their fathers had killed prophets: “it was not for the honoring of them that were slain, but as making a show of the murders, and afraid, lest, when the tombs had perished by time, the proof and memory of such daring should fade away, setting up these glorious buildings, as a kind of trophy, and priding themselves in the daring deeds of those men, and displaying them.” However, he also supports what I have said above by the comment, “And what blame is it to be a murderer’s son, if one partake not in the mind of one’s father? None. Whence it is evident… He brings it forward against them, hinting at their affinity in wickedness.” Calvin commented, “They were used to boast of their descent for all that they were descended from the bloody enemies of God… [But] boasting of sacred descent is vain, since you draw your line from sinful and criminal ancestors.”

[14] “not commanding, but declaring beforehand, what was to be” ~Chrysostom
“He is not telling them to continue what they are doing, putting holy teachers to death, but, in a manner of speech, He says that they have a hereditary right to rise up against the servants of God.” ~Calvin
Hendriksen makes an interesting comparison between this imperative and the one Jesus gave to Judas, “What you do, do it quickly” John 13:27.

[15] Compare Ephesians 4:13 “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” (NASB)

[16] Lit. Gehennah. See 10:28.

[17] Not only the opening interrogative, but also the subjunctive mood of the verb invite contemplation of this possibility.

[18] Although this conjunction is in the majority of Greek manuscripts (including some of the oldest ones C, D, L, 0133) and is in the T.R., it is not included in the Critical editions of the GNT due to its omission in a significant number of ancient Greek manuscripts (א, Β, W, Δ, Θ, 0138, f1, f13). Ancient Syriac and Latin translations are also divided on this. Even KJV translations are divided on this, with the 1769 edition including the “and” and the NKJV omitting it. No change in meaning occurs with or without it, however, so it’s no big deal.

[19] The parallel passage in Luke 11:49 says it is “the wisdom of God” who sends these prophets, a moniker synonymous with Jesus, cf. Proverbs 8, John 1.

[20] Hendriksen notes exact parallels between Mt. 23:34-35 and Jeremiah 7:25-29. This has all happened before!

[21] Critical editions double a letter in the middle (εκχυνομενον), but provide no manuscript basis for this in their critical apparatus. However, it makes no difference in meaning.

[22]http://targum.info/meg/tglam.htm 2:20. Also, note that it says Zachariah was high priest, but the book of Zachariah says that Joshua was the high priest.

[23] The parallel passage in Luke 11:51 does not include the father’s name.

[24] Two other less-likely explanations I’ve run across include 1) A certain Zachariah son of Baruch (which is the first half of Barachiah), mentioned by Josephus in his Wars of the Jews (iv.5.4), who was a righteous man killed in the temple several years after Jesus’ statement, shortly before the temple was destroyed. 2) And then there’s the legend that Zachariah, the father of John the Baptizer, was stoned to death in the temple for defending Mary’s virginity. Then there’s Ridderbos and Hendriksen who believed that it is a mistake introduced early on by a Bible copyist.

[25] Cf. God allowing the iniquity of the Amorites to come to a full head before sending Joshua to destroy them Gen. 15:16. “God has decided to lay open by an uninterrupted succession of gracious invitations your stubborn wickedness, and, on your conviction, to involve parents and children alike in one ruin… His message… is sometimes proclaimed to the reprobate whom He knows will remain obstinate, that it may be to them the savor of death unto death… [W]henever Scripture assigns the Jews to eternal death, [however], a remnant is excepted…” ~Calvin

[26] Although in the Majority of Greek manuscripts, it is not included in the T.R. or Critical editions of the GNT, and Byzantine editions are divided (it’s in my Athens one, but not in my e-Sword one). No difference in meaning, though.

[27] “What meaneth the repetition? this is the manner of one pitying her, and bemoaning her, and greatly loving her.” ~Chrysostom vis a vis Calvin: “The relevance of the name repeated is that no ordinary word of detestation was fit for such prodigious and incredible wickedness.” Hmm….

[28] The iota in the middle of this word is in the Byzantine, Critical, and T.R. editions of the GNT, but a slim Majority of Greek manuscripts spell the word without the iota. The Majority may be an irregular spelling, but is no different in meaning.

[29] Critical editions of the GNT spell this word in a less-emphatic form without the first letter, following a handful of ancient Greek manuscripts (p77, א, B1, D, W, Δ, 0138), but the full form of this word found in the majority of Greek manuscripts is also found in ancient manuscripts, albeit of somewhat less antiquity (א2, C, L, Θ, f1, f13), and in the Byzantine and TR editions of the GNT. This nuance made no difference among the standard English translations, which all read “her,” whether they followed the UBS Critical text or the T.R.

[30] A couple of Greek manuscripts (B, L) omit this word “deserted,” but it is in all the standard editions of the GNT except for some early Critical editions which were over-zealous about the Vaticanus.

[31] Hendriksen contended that it meant more than the temple and included the city of Jerusalem.

[32] “by these He intimated both His resurrection, and His second coming” ~Chrysostom

[33] Hendriksen follows Calvin in asserting that this is not about grace but about judgment, that Jesus is saying that the next time the reprobate Pharisees see Him will be on judgment day (Rev. 1:7), when they will involuntarily bow before Him (Phil. 2:10-11) and proclaim Him blessed, but it will be too late; they will be cast into the lake of fire. In this case the application is a sobering warning against obstinate rebellion to God because there is a limit to His mercy which is perilous to try.