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MATTHEW 
have done, without neglecting the others. 24* k Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!
25* l “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. 26Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.
27* “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. 28m Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.
29* “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,* you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, 30n and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ 31o Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets; 32now fill up what your ancestors measured out! 33p You serpents, you brood of vipers, how can you flee from the judgment of Gehenna? 34* q Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, 35so that there may come upon you all the righteous blood shed upon earth, from the righteous blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36Amen, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
23:23
To “tithe” means to dedicate one-tenth of one’s produce to God. The Law applied this to wheat, wine, oil, and livestock (Deuteronomy 14:24), but
the conscientious Pharisees have extended this to include even spices like “mint and dill and cumin.” But all of these niceties are meaningless, Jesus says, if people neglect what is far more important
in God’s sight: “justice, mercy, good faith”.
23:29
The prophets of Israel foretold the coming of the Messiah and the kingdom of God. But they did not mince words, either, and often su ered for speaking the truth to those
in power. Where is the virtue in honoring the prophets of the past if we persecute and destroy the prophets of our own day?
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* [23:24] Cf. Lv 11:41–45 that forbids the eating of any “swarming creature.” The Pharisees’ scrupulosity about minor matters and neglect of greater ones (Mt 23:23) is further brought out by this contrast between straining liquids that might contain a tiny “swarming creature” and yet swallowing the camel. The latter was one of the unclean animals forbidden by the law (Lv 11:4), but it is hardly possible that the scribes and Pharisees are being denounced as guilty of so gross a violation of the food laws. To swallow the camel is only a hyperbolic way of speaking of their neglect of what is important.
* [23:25–26] The ritual washing of utensils for dining (cf. Mk 7:4) is turned into a metaphor illustrating a concern for appearances while inner purity is ignored. The scribes and Pharisees are compared to cups carefully washed on the outside but lthy within. Self-indulgence: the Greek word here translated means lack of self-control, whether in drinking or in sexual conduct.
* [23:27–28] The sixth woe, like the preceding one, deals with concern for externals and neglect of what is inside. Since contact with dead bodies, even when one was unaware of it, caused ritual impurity (Nm 19:11–22), tombs were whitewashed so that no one would contract such impurity inadvertently.
* [23:29–36] The nal woe is the most serious indictment of all. It portrays the scribes and Pharisees as standing in the same line as their ancestors who murdered the prophets and the righteous.
* [23:29–32] In spite of honoring the slain dead by building their tombs and adorning their memorials, and claiming that they would not have joined in their ancestors’ crimes if they had lived in their days, the scribes and Pharisees are true children of their ancestors and are de antly ordered by Jesus to ll up what those ancestors measured out. This order re ects the Jewish notion that there was an allotted measure of su ering that had to be completed before God’s nal judgment would take place.
* [23:34–36] There are important di erences between the Matthean and the Lucan form of this Q material; cf. Lk 11:49–51. In Luke the one who sends the emissaries is the “wisdom of God.” If, as many scholars think, that is the original wording of Q, Matthew, by making Jesus the sender, has presented him as the personi ed divine wisdom. In Luke, wisdom’s emissaries are the Old Testament “prophets” and the Christian “apostles.” Matthew’s prophets and wise men and scribes are probably Christian disciples alone; cf. Mt 10:41 and see note on Mt 13:52. You will kill: see Mt 24:9. Scourge in your synagogues. . .town to town: see Mt 10:17, 23 and the note on Mt 10:17. All the righteous blood shed upon the earth: the slaying of the disciples is in continuity with all the shedding of righteous blood beginning with that of Abel. The persecution of Jesus’ disciples by this generation involves the persecutors in the guilt of their murderous ancestors. The blood of Zechariah: see note on Lk 11:51. By identifying him as the son of Barachiah Matthew understands him to be Zechariah the Old Testament minor prophet; see Zec 1:1.
j. [23:23] Lv 27:30; Dt Lk 11:42.
14:22; l. [23:25–26] Mk 7:4; Lk 11:39.
m. [23:28] Lk 16:15; 18:9. n. [23:30] Lk 11:47.
o. [23:31] Acts 7:52.
p. [23:33] 3:7; 12:34.
q. [23:34–36] 5:12; Gn 4:8; 2 Chr 24:20–22; Zec 1:1; Lk 11:49–51; Rev 18:24.
k. [23:24] Lv 11:41–45.