Matthew 23:1-3 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Matthew 23:1-12

We find not Christ, in all his preaching, so severe upon any sort of people as upon these scribes and Pharisees; for the truth is, nothing is more directly opposite to the spirit of the gospel than the temper and practice of that generation of men, who were made up of pride, worldliness, and tyranny, under a cloak and pretence of religion; yet these were the idols and darlings of the people, who thought, if but two men went to heaven, one would be a Pharisee. Now Christ directs his discourse... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 23:1-39

If a man is characteristically and temperamentally an irritable, ill-tempered and irascible creature, notoriously given to uncontrolled outbursts of passionate anger, his anger is neither effective nor impressive. Nobody pays any attention to the anger of a bad-tempered man. But when a person who is characteristically meek and lowly, gentle and loving, suddenly erupts into blazing wrath, even the most thoughtless person is shocked into taking thought. That is why the anger of Jesus is so... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 23:1

Then spake Jesus to the multitude ,.... To the common people that were about him in the temple; the high priests and elders, Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees, having left him, being all nonplussed and silenced by him: and now, lest on the one hand, the people seeing the ignorance and errors of these men detected by Christ, should be tempted to conclude there was nothing in religion, and to neglect the word and worship of God, on account of the concern these men had in it; and on the other... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 23:2

Saying, the Scribes and Pharisees ,.... The Persic version adds, the priests: but Christ does not here speak of the sanhedrim, or grand council of the nation, and of their legislative power; but of those that were the teachers of the people, and the interpreters of the law; and of those, who, though they corrupted the word with their glosses and traditions, yet retained some truth, and at least came nearer truth, than the Sadducees; who therefore are omitted, and only Scribes and Pharisees... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 23:3

All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe ,.... This must be restrained to things that were agreeable to the chair of Moses, in which they sat, to the law of Moses, which they read and explained, to other parts of Scripture and truth in general; for otherwise many of their glosses and traditions were repugnant to the law, and ought not to be observed, as appears from Matthew 5:1 . The word "observe", in this clause, is omitted by the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, and in... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 23:2

The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat - Εκαθισαν . - They sat there formerly by Divine appointment: they sit there now by Divine permission. What our Lord says here refers to their expounding the Scriptures, for it was the custom of the Jewish doctors to sit while they expounded the law and prophets, ( Matthew 5:1 ; Luke 4:20-22 ;), and to stand up when they read them. By the seat of Moses, we are to understand authority to teach the law. Moses was the great teacher of the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 23:3

All therefore whatsoever - That is, all those things which they read out of the law and prophets, and all things which they teach consistently with them. This must be our Lord's meaning: he could not have desired them to do every thing, without restriction, which the Jewish doctors taught; because himself warns his disciples against their false teaching, and testifies that they had made the word of God of none effect by their traditions. See Matthew 15:6 , etc. Besides, as our Lord speaks... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 23:1

Verse 1 Matthew 23:1.Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes. This warning was highly useful, that, amidst contentions and the noise of combats, amidst the trouble and confusion of public affairs, amidst the destruction of proper and lawful order, the authority of the word of God might remain entire. The design of Christ was, that the people might not, in consequence of being offended at the vices of the scribes, (88) throw away reverence for the Law. For we know how prone the minds of men are to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 23:2

Verse 2 2.In the chair of Moses. Reasons were not wanting for inserting here what Luke relates at a different place. Besides that the doctrine is the same, I have no doubt that Luke, after having said that the scribes were sharply and severely reproved by our Lord, added also the other reproofs which Matthew delayed till the proper place; for already we have frequently seen that the Evangelists, as occasion required, collected into one place various discourses of Christ. But as the narrative of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 23:1

Then spake Jesus . Some small portion of this discourse, the close of our Lord's public teaching, is found in Mark 12:38-40 and Luke 20:45-47 (comp. also Luke 11:1-54 ., 13.). It is here addressed to the multitude, and to his disciples, and seems to have been designed to comfort the former under the difficulty of having accredited teachers who were proved to have misunderstood Scripture, and were incapable of interpreting it aright. He willed to show how far they were to follow these... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Matthew 23:1-12

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Matthew 23:1-39

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 23:1

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 23:2

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 23:3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 23:2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 23:3

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 23:1

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Matthew 23:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Matthew 23:1

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