Matt 23.1-39 is one of the most misunderstood chapters in the Scriptures. It is used to show that Yeshua was against Judaism and the Pharisees, and it became the root of Christian anti-semitism. But in reality, this chapter was against a particular party of Pharisees, not all Pharisees. Many of his teachings were consistent with the house of Hillel, another party of Pharisees, and the Apostle Paul belonged to this group. Paul’s teacher was the grandson of Hillel. This chapter was addressed to one party of the Pharisees at the time, the house of Shammai primarily. They controlled Jewish life during the first century. They denied non-Jewish salvation unless one became a Jew and instituted what is known as the 18 Edicts which separated Jew from non-Jew. Yeshua is questioning the authority of their rabbis and saying that the Torah supersedes their oral law. When the Torah and the oral law conflict, the Torah always takes precedence. For information and a more detailed look into this subject, see the book called “Jesus the Pharisee” by Harvey Falk, and our teachings on this website called, “Torah and New Testament Foundations-The Pharisees, Sadducees and Yeshua” and “Torah and New Testament Foundations-Sanhedrin, Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai.”
v 1… Then Yeshua spoke to the multitudes and to his talmidim,
v 2…saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees (The Pharisees in this chapter will be from the School of Shammai, and this is made clear by later verses. They opposed Yeshua. For more information see our teachings on the Sanhedrin, Shammai and Yeshua on this site. There were several schools or “houses” of Pharisees however. Yeshua’s teachings many times agreed with the Pharisee School of Hillel, the school Paul was from, if it did not violate what was already in the Torah) have seated themselves (not put there by God’s design but their own) in the chair of Moses (interpreting the Torah, teaching, as Moses did “sitting”, which was the posture for teaching-Exo 18.13. These Pharisees from Shammai and Hillel had five basic principles, and these principles were passed down from generation to generation, and still rule the modern day Pharisees in Orthodox Judaism today. These principles are: Shammai said there are two Torah’s, one written and one oral-Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a, but this violates Deut 4.2, 12.32; the rabbis have absolute authority, even if their rulings violate the written Torah; irrational interpretations of the Torah through midrashic interpretations, but Deut 30.11-14 says it is not too difficult for us to interpret, and Deut 31.9-13 says the people were to gather every seven years to have the Torah read to them, and that even the children could understand it. Even the king was to write a copy of the Torah for himself; a custom or tradition of men is law if it has been sanctified over time, like wearing head-coverings and kippahs. But the Torah says we are not to add to or detract from the written Torah as seen in Deut 4.2, 12.32; and that man-made laws called the “takanot” or their rabbinical reforms are to be obeyed, like ritual handwashing and candle lighting on the sabbath, etc. These takanot nullified the Torah-Matt 15.6)
v 3… therefore all that they (Shem Tov Hebrew Matthew in “The Gospel According to a Primitive Hebrew Text” by George Howard” says “he” here referring to what Moses said concerning the written Torah and the Scriptures themselves and the plain truth, not their rabbinic traditions, see the book, “The Hebrew Yeshua vs. the Greek Jesus” by Nehemiah Gordon, p. 47-53, for more information on this. The Karaite Jews do not follow rabbinic decrees for these reasons) tell you do and observe (in the Torah of Moses), but do not do according to their deeds (Hebrew “takanot” or reforms, or “ma’asim” meaning precedents; don’t let their oral law and rabbinical traditions rule your lives if it doesn’t agree with what Moses said in the Scriptures, don’t imitate their practices. Many misguided messianic believers take this verse to mean that they should place themselves under the authority of the rabbis of today by observing rabbinic tradition. There are some who even “convert” to Judaism while maintaining a belief in Yeshua, but that is not what Yeshua is meaning here- Matt 15.3-9); for they say things (they talk about the Torah), and do not do them (Yeshua borrowed a phrase from 2 Kings 17.34 which is talking about the Samaritans; they talk about obeying the Torah, but don’t observe it-see p. 55-59 of Gordon’s book named above. They say that you must obey the rabbis, even if it contradicts the Torah, and there are many examples of this in the Talmud. Their laws are traditions, man-made and in some cases even obscure the clear message of the Scriptures. Yeshua is actually telling them not to obey the authority of the rabbis. Remember, the Sanhedrin was seen as an enemy of the faith-Matt 5.22, 10.17, 26.59; Mark 13.9, 15.1; Luke 22.66; John 11.47; Acts 4.15, 5.21, 5.27, 5.34, 6.15, 22.30, 23.1, 23.6, 23.15, 23.20, 23.28, 24.20. Yeshua taught that the teachings of the Pharisees were plants which will be uprooted-Matt 15.13 and planted by the enemy-Matt 13.37-39. He said their teachings reached the outer man, leaving the inner man untouched-Matt 23.25-28. Also, their teachings were leaven, and left unchallenged, would leaven the whole person-Matt 16.6-12).
v 4…And they tie up heavy loads (through their “burdensome” oral laws especially contained in the 18 Edicts of the house/school of Shammai) and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them (change these laws, remove them, ease the burden) with so much as a finger.
v 5…But they do all their deeds to be noticed of men (for approval and applause); for they broaden their phylacteries (a tradition of the rabbis, and not commanded by God, to wear some sort of apparatus. These were tied to the head and arm with Scriptures, supposedly fulfilling Exo 13.16 and Deut 6.8-9, but the meaning in these passages is that the people should bear a clear testimony in their action or hands, and their forehead or intellect, of the redemption from Egypt) and lengthen the tassels of their garments (the tzitzit, fringes, worn on the corners of their garments. Wearing these was a clear command from Num 15.37-41 and Yeshua wore them on his garments).
v 6…And they love the place of honor at banquets (these were meals consecrated to God, or what is called a “Lord’s Supper” in their “chavurah’s”. The Pharisees would eat together to make sure everything was kosher, ritually clean and tithed off of. These were groups of about 20 people and called a “chavurah” meaning fellowship. Their greatness was designated by where they sat at the table) and the chief seats in the synagogues (reserved for the best scholars and leaders with their back to the Ark, in full view of the people)
v 7…and respectful greetings in the market places and being called by men, Rabbi.
v 8..But do not be called ‘Rabbi’ for one is your teacher, and you are all brothers.
v 9…And do not call anyone on earth your father (he is saying we should reject all such names and titles that signify an authoritative power over people and their conscience in matters of faith and obedience), for one is your Father, who is in heaven.
v 10…And do not be called master (guide) for one is your master (guide), that is Messiah.
v 11… But the greatest among you shall be your servant.
v 12…And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted (another way of saying the “first shall be last and the last first”).
v 13… But woe (lamentation awaits you) to you (this phrase was common among the Jewish people and can be found in many Jewish writings, including the Mishnah) scribes and Pharisees (of the house of Shammai), hypocrites (“actors”-Yeshua was gentle, tender, true, righteous and stern as steel. He was tough on phony people. He was a terror to those who indulge in double-talk or false pretenses)! because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from men (This does not mean “eternal life” because they had no power over that. It means from “discovering the truth” in this context), for you do not enter in (the truth) yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering (finding out the truth for themselves) to go in.
v 14…Woe to you (lamentation awaits you), scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites (actors), because you devour widow’s houses (they took advantage of the helpless for monetary gain); even while for a pretense you make long prayers (making the widows believe they were “spiritual” and above the love of money; the same tactic is done today); therefore you shall receive greater condemnation.
v 15…Woe to you (lamentation awaits you), scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites (actors)! because you travel about on sea and land to make one proselyte (a non-Jewish convert to their particular sect of Judaism); and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves (they not only retained some of their former pagan ideas, but the Pharisees from Shammai added their errors to it. As a result, they were sometimes more vicious to the truth than the Pharisees).
v 16…Woe to you (lamentation awaits you), blind guides, who say ‘Whoever swears (to do something) by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold (the gifts given) of the temple, he is obligated’ (if you swore to give a gift to the temple, you were obligated. This showed their covetousness).
v 17…You fools and blind men, which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold (it was the temple, of course, because the gold was given for the service of the temple. Whatever holiness the gold had came from the temple)?
v 18…And, ‘Whoever swears (to do something) by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering (korban) upon it, he is obligated.’
v 19…You blind men, which is more important, the offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering (see verse 17)?
v 20…Therefore he who swears, swears by both the altar and everything upon it.
v 21…And he who swears by the Temple, swears both by the Temple and by him who dwells within it.
v 22…And he who swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
v 23… Woe to you (lamentation awaits you), scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin (something that neither the Torah or the oral law said to do, but they could if they wanted to) and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Torah; justice and mercy and faithfulness, but these are things you should have done without neglecting the others (if you felt obligated to tithe these).
v 24…You blind guides, who strain out a gnat (from their food or drinks in order to not eat anything unkosher-Lev 11.41) and swallow a camel (in other words, they were over-scrupulous about small things and were not over larger spiritual issues).
v 25…Woe to you (lamentation awaits you), scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean outside of the cup and of the dish (outward observances according to their traditions-Mark 7.4) but inside (the inner man) they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.
v 26…You blind Pharisee (from the house of Shammai), first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish (inner purity of the heart), so that the outside of it may become clean also (External purity must be consistent with inner purity. This is the whole point of Matt 15.1-20).
v 27…Woe to you (lamentation awaits you), scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs (they did this to decorate a tomb, and also before the festivals, so that travelers would recognize it as a tomb and not enter into it to escape bad weather or to stay overnight, thus defiling themselves from entering the temple) which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
v 28…Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (or Torah-less).
v 29…Woe to you (lamentation awaits you), scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (this is the seventh time, and last time meaning “complete”). For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,
v 30… and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets’ (in 20 BC members of Beit Hillel who opposed the 18 Edicts were killed by Zealots, who were aligned with Beit Shammai, before a vote was taken, passing the 18 Edicts of the house of Shammai-Talmud, Shabbat 13b-17a. This statement is also found in the Talmud where those killed were called “prophets”-Talmud, Sukkah 28a, Sanhedrin 11a and Bava Batra 134a. Yeshua is referring back to this incident involving the Pharisees and zealots from Shammai and they were the fathers of the Pharisees he is speaking to).
v 31…Consequently you bear witness against yourselves that you are sons (by this time they were the sons of those involved in the killing of the members of the school of Shammai 50 years earlier) of those who murdered the prophets (the Pharisees from Shammai were already plotting against Yeshua and will help murder him. Many today would not recognize Yeshua or the truth because they are immersed in replacement theology and persecute those who follow a Torah-observant lifestyle and reject the truth just like the scribes and Pharisees from Shammai did).
v 32… Fill up the measure of your fathers (they have not gotten to the end of their iniquity yet, just like the Amorites in Gen 15.16. Their fathers persecuted the prophets, but the measure will be filled when they murder the Messiah and the events leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple).
v 33… You serpents, you brood of vipers (these kill with their mouth, are venomous, crafty and subtle), how shall you escape the sentence of hell (how can you escape it, where else are you going to go but there)?
v 34…Therefore, behold (take note and see), I (notice he says “I”) am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes (they will be sent after his resurrection leading up to 70 AD), some of them you will kill (like Stephen) and crucify (like Simeon, the son of Cleophas), and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues (like John, Peter and Paul), and persecute from city to city (like they did to Paul and Barnabas),
v 35…that upon you may fall all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel (the first victim of a murder in the Tanak in relation to an altar) to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah (This could be a reference to Zechariah the prophet in Zech 1.1, but there is no record of how he died; or Yeshua is referring to someone whose death was hidden. Yeshua did say in v 34 that they “will kill” in the future, and Yeshua may be referring to someone future. Josephus does mention a Zechariah the son of Baruch who was killed in the Temple by Zealots in Wars, Book 4, Chapter 5.4, and we know that the Zealots were aligned with Beit Shammai. The fact is, nobody knows who this really is for sure), whom you murdered between the temple and the altar (whoever this was, he was the last victim of a murder by the altar in the Scriptures).
v 36…Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation (and it did when Rome encircled the city exactly 40 years later).
v 37…O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling (in other words, he would have gathered them under his ministry and prevented the coming judgment).
v 38…Behold, your house (the house of Shammai) is left to you desolate (Shammai comes from the word “shamen” meaning “desolate”, and this was also said about the house of Shammai by Bava Ben Buta, a sage who lived at the time of Herod-see, “Jesus the Pharisee” by Harvey Falk, p 58. Beit Shammai disappeared from the scene after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, and the house of Hillel ascended and reshaped Judaism into their image and that is what we call Rabbinic Judaism today)!
v 39…For I say to you, from now on you shall not see me until you say ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'”
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