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Matthew 23:23
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21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by aHim who dwells in it.  
22 And he who swears by heaven, swears by athe throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! aFor you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and bhave neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  
24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! aFor you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and1 self-indulgence.  
26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! aFor you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.  
Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
<< Matthew 23:22   Matthew 23:24 >>


Matthew 23:23

Ye tithe (apodekatoute). The tithe had to be paid upon "all the increase of thy seed" (Deuteronomy 14:22; Leviticus 27:30). The English word tithe is tenth. These small aromatic herbs, mint (to hduosmon, sweet-smelling), anise or dill (anhqon), cummin (kuminon, with aromatic seeds), show the Pharisaic scrupulous conscientiousness, all marketable commodities. "The Talmud tells of the ass of a certain Rabbi which had been so well trained as to refuse corn of which the tithes had not been taken" (Vincent).

These ye ought (tauta edei). Jesus does not condemn tithing. What he does condemn is doing it to the neglect of the

weightier matters (ta barutera). The Pharisees were externalists; cf. Luke 11:39-44.




Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Matthew 23:23:

Matthew 23:13
Luke 11:42
James 4:17

 

<< Matthew 23:22   Matthew 23:24 >>

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