Matthew 23:16-22 – Woe 3: Blind Guides and Gold MT23:16 “WOE to you blind guides who say, ‘It is useless to swear by the Divine Habitat;[1] but if you make an oath[2] by the gold of the Divine Habitat it is binding.’ MT23:17 Blind morons,[3] which is greater: the gold or the Divine Habitat which […]
Matthew 23:15 – Woe 2: Evangelists of Gehenna MT23:15 “WOE to you hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees, because you travel over land and sea[1] to make a single proselyte;[2] and, when he becomes such [a convert to Judaism] you make him a son of Gehenna[3] twice as much as you. * [1] Travel over land and […]
Matthew 23:13-14 – Woe 1: Shutting Up the Kingdom || Luke 11:52 MT23:13 “WOE to you hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees, because right in front of people[1] you are closing the door to the Realm of Heaven.[2] You do not enter and you prevent those who might from entering.[3] MT23:14 [[Woe to you hypocritical Scribes and […]
Matthew 23:1-12 – Prominence and Humility || Mark 12:38, 39; Luke 20:45, 46 MT23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds as well as his disciples, saying: MT23:2 “The Scribes and Pharisees sat down on the seat of Moses.[1] MT23:3 So, everything they preach to you, do and observe;[2] but do not imitate their actions,[3] for […]
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: A JEREMIAD AGAINST THE RELIGIOUS HYPOCRITES [“Woe to a Generation of Vipers”] (Key word: Woe!) Already in chapter 16 of Matthews’s account of Jesus his life the apostle wrote about Jesus warning them to be careful and to pay attention regarding the leaven (Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians (Matthew 16:6, 11, 12; Mark 8:15; […]
The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible created by Jews seeking a place of legitimacy for diaspora Jewishness and faith among the traditions of Hellenistic culture, was a monumental religious and cultural achievement. This Greek Old Testament, in its original form and revised versions, provided the scriptural basis for Judaism in the Greek-speaking diaspora, enabled the emergence and […]
Several times Jesus got tested. The Pharisees loved to tempt him to give the wrong answers or to give them something to show that he was not a real rebbe or master rabbi, not having enough knowledge of Scriptures. Jesus answered the Pharisees and Sadducees by going on with his ministry as it happened more, […]
II —The Ordeal of questions. {#Mt 22:15-46 } The open challenge has failed; but more subtle weapons may succeed. The Pharisees have found it of no avail to confront their enemy; but they may still be able to entangle Him. They will at all events try. They will spring upon Him some hard questions, of such […]
The Marriage Feast. {#Mt 22:1-14 } The manner in which this third parable is introduced leaves room for doubt whether it was spoken in immediate connection with the two preceding. The use of the word “answered” (ver. 1) would rather suggest the idea that some conversation not reported had intervened. But though it does not form […]
“41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Christ? {Or Messiah } Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied. 43 He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, 44 “‘The […]
