RSV ~ Matthew 23 Notes
Mt 23:1-36 | ISB Notes
Jesus warns the crowds and his disciples (23:1) that the scribes and the Pharisees (23:2) are dangerous and their false piety is unworthy of imitation. Jesus takes aim at Pharisaic attitudes (23:2-12) and announces seven âwoesâ indicting them as murderers (23:34-35).
Mt 23:2 | ISB Notes
Mosesâ seat: This may be an actual âchairâ, like those used in later synagogues, or only a symbol of teaching authority. The Pharisees thus preach the Mosaic Law with authority, but their failure to practice its âweightier mattersâ (23:23) should not be followed by others.
See topical essay: Who Are the Pharisees? at Mk 2.
Mt 23:5 | ISB Notes
their phylacteries: Small leather boxes containing Scripture verses. These are tied to the forearm and forehead while praying (Deut 6:8; 11:18). Making them broad, the Pharisees sought to parade their piety for public recognition.
fringes: See note on Mt 9:20.
Mt 23:7 | ISB Notes
rabbi: A Hebrew word meaning âmy great oneâ and a title for revered Jewish teachers (Jn 1:38).
Mt 23:9 | ISB Notes
call no man your father: Jesus uses hyperbole to post a warning that no one should pridefully desire honorific titles. His words are not meant literally. The NT writers elsewhere use father for natural fathers (Heb 12:7-11) and spiritual fathers in the Church (1 Cor 4:15; Philem 10).
⢠The spiritual fatherhood of New Covenant priests is an extension of its application to Old Covenant priests (Judg 17:10; 18:19).
Mt 23:13 | ISB Notes
woe to you: Recalls OT oracles of judgment (Is 5:8-23; Ezek 24:6, 9; Hab 2:6-20). This is the first of seven âwoesâ in Jesusâ denunciation of the Pharisees (23:1516, 23, 25, 27, 29). He presents a covenant lawsuit against unfaithful Israel and pronounces âwoesâ as covenant curses upon the impenitent (cf. Deut 27:15-26). In Matthew, these seven âwoesâ stand opposite the New Covenant âblessingsâ in the Beatitudes (5:3-12; cf. Lk 6:24-26).
⢠The OT background is likely Lev 26 and Godâs promise to exact âsevenfoldâ vengeance upon the Israelites if they violate his covenant (Lev 26:18, 21, 24, 28).
Mt 23:15 | ISB Notes
a single proselyte: i.e, a convert to Pharisaic Judaism.
Mt 23:16-22 | ISB Notes
The Pharisees made false and hair-splitting distinctions between oaths, supposing the object invoked (Temple, gold, altar) determined the binding force of sworn statements. Their distinctions, which made some oaths less binding than others, abused and devalued the sacredness of the practice (CCC 2153). See note on Mt 5:33.
Mt 23:23 | ISB Notes
mint and dill and cummin: Small seasoning herbs. According to the Law, a tenth part (tithe) of all produce must be offered to God (Lev 27:30; Deut 14:22-23). The Pharisees scrupulously adhered to this small command but neglected greater and more important principles; for justice, mercy, and faith are the foundations of the Mosaic Law and should inspire all obedience to God (cf. 9:13).
Mt 23:24 | ISB Notes
a gnat: One of the smaller unclean animals, which Jews were forbidden to eat (Lev 11:41-43). The Pharisees dutifully poured beverages through a cloth to strain them out before drinking.
a camel: One of the larger unclean animals (Lev 11:4). Jesusâ contrast exposes the Pharisees for observing the minute laws of God at the expense of greater principles of the spiritual life.
Mt 23:27 | ISB Notes
whitewashed tombs: Since contact with the dead makes Jews temporarily unclean, it was customary to whitewash grave sites to make them visible and help prevent inadvertent contact (Num 19:11-20). According to Jesus, the practice illustrates how the visible piety of many Pharisees only disguises their interior corruption and hypocrisy.
Mt 23:35 | ISB Notes
Abel to ⌠Zechariah: Some see this as a reference to the first (Gen 4:8) and last (2 Chron 24:20-22) murders in the OT. This is based on the Palestinian arrangement of the OT, where Genesis is the first book and 2 Chronicles is the last. This is difficult to maintain, because the Zechariah in 2 Chron 24:20 is the âson of Jehoiadaâ, not the son of Barachiah. Zechariah the âson of Barachiahâ is rather the OT prophet (Zech 1:1) whose death is nowhere recorded in the Bible. Jesus may instead be drawing from ancient tradition, just as Isaiahâs martyrdom is never mentioned in the OT but alluded to in Heb 11:37 as the prophet âsawn in twoâ. In fact, later rabbinic tradition maintains that Zechariah the son of Barachiah was killed in the Temple (e.g., Targum on Lamentations 2, 20). In any case, the cup of iniquity filled throughout history begins to overflow with the Phariseesâ intent to murder Jesus (12:14). By rejecting Godâs Messiah, Jesusâ generation calls down divine judgment stored up from the ages.
Mt 23:37 | ISB Notes
as a hen: The Holy City persistently rejected Godâs messengers. Jesus too stands rejected, though he desired to protect and gather its faithful (CCC 558).
⢠Jesusâ language evokes Is 31:5 and the Lordâs protection of Jerusalem. Other OT texts similarly portray God as a winged bird protecting Israel (Deut 32:10-12; Ps 91:4).
⢠Allegorically: the hen is the Church, who constantly calls out to her young lest they go astray. Just as a hen takes care of her own, so the Church regenerates the faithful in Baptism, feeds them with her preaching, and loves them with maternal affection (Auctor Imperfecti, Incomplete Commentary on Matthew).
Mt 23:38 | ISB Notes
your house is forsaken: The city and Temple of Jerusalem are abandoned by God to judgment (cf. Jer 12:7; Dan 9:17). Jesus, God-in-flesh, symbolically enacts this by exiting the Temple (Mt 24:1) and walking to the Mount of Olives (24:3).
⢠Jesusâ Temple exit recalls Ezekielâs vision in the OT. He witnessed Godâs glory leaving Solomonâs Temple and resting on the Mount of Olives, east of the city (Ezek 10:18; 11:23). Godâs departure was soon followed by the Templeâs first destruction in 586 B.C.