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Matthew 23:16-24

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

16. Woe unto you, [ye] blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17. [Ye] fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 18. And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19. [Ye] fools and blind: for whether [is] greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20. Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 23. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier [matters] of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24. [Ye] blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

Matthew 23:16-24 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Matthew 23:16

Theological / Devotional

Blind guides. Jesus refers, of course, to spiritual blindness (see on John 9:39-41). The Jews prided themselves that they were guides to the blind Gentiles (Rom. 2:19); in fact, they went to great lengths to win proselytes (Matt. 23:15). But for a blind man to assume the role of leading others who are blind is the height of folly. Jesus proceeds immediately to illustrate what He means by spiritual blindness (vs. 16-24). This section of Jesus’ indictment of the Jewish leaders is longer than any of the others recorded in ch. 23. He would therefore seem to be placing emphasis on this aspect of their hypocrisy.

The only remedy for spiritual blindness is spiritual “eyesalve” (Rev. 3:18), but this they refused to purchase from the only Merchant who offered it for sale. Herein lies a sober warning for the church today.

Swear. See on ch. 5:33-37.

It is nothing. This is the first illustration of the spiritual blindness of the scribes and Pharisees. Perhaps the reasoning behind the distinction here mentioned is that an oath to be binding must be particular. For example, according to the Talmud (Nedarim 14b, Soncino ed., p. 38), “If one vows by the Torah, his words are of no effect; by what is written therein, his vow is binding; by it and by what is written therein, his vow is binding.” Notice the expression “are of no effect” and compare the expression of Jesus “it is nothing.”

He is a debtor. “He is bound by his oath” to fulfill what he promised, or to accept responsibility for what he has sworn to.

By SdaBc