“Woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much of a son of Gehenna as yourselves.
Matthew 23:13-15
Matthew 23 [1.] Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sat on Moses’ seat. All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don’t do their works; for they say, and don’t do. For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad, enlarge the fringes of their garments, and love the place of honor at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’ by men. But don’t you be called ‘Rabbi,’ for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers. Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven. Neither be called masters, for one is your master, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you will be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Matthew 23 [13.] “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
Matthew 23 [14.] “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much of a son of Gehenna as yourselves.
Matthew 23 [16.] “Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who was living in it. He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.
Meaning:
Having warned the crowds and his disciples about the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-8), Jesus now speaks to the leaders directly in a series of “woes”. These first three woes concern what they did to other people: to widows, to those seeking God’s Kingdom, and to the converts they made. Mark and Luke record the first of them (Mark 12:40; Luke 20:47).
- “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!”
“Woe” is both a lament and a warning of judgment. The prophets used it in the same way: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20). The word “hypocrite” originally described an actor on a stage who wore a mask. The scribes and Pharisees played the part of holy men, but their hearts were far from God.
- “you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers”
Widows in that society often had no one to protect them. Some religious teachers took advantage of them, perhaps by accepting their property as gifts or managing their estates for their own gain, while making a show of long prayers to appear trustworthy. God’s law had warned, “You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child” (Exodus 22:22). Isaiah condemned leaders who made “widows ... their plunder” (Isaiah 10:2). God himself is “a defender of the widows” (Psalm 68:5). Using prayer as a cover for greed is a double sin, and so they “will receive greater condemnation.” Some Greek manuscripts reverse the order of verses 13 and 14, and some omit verse 13, as the PIB footnote explains.
- “you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men”
The scribes held the keys of knowledge of the Scriptures. Instead of opening the way to God, their teaching and example closed it. They rejected Jesus, the way into the Kingdom, and discouraged others from following him. Luke records, “you took away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered” (Luke 11:52).
- “you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte”
A proselyte was a Gentile who converted to Judaism. Some Pharisees were zealous to win converts, but they won people to their own system of rules rather than to the living God. A convert who took on their pride and legalism became “twice as much of a son of Gehenna” as his teachers. Gehenna was the valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem, where children had once been burned in idolatrous sacrifice (Jeremiah 7:31). It became a picture of the place of final judgment.
The Significance of Matthew 23:13-15
- True religion cares for the weak
Faith that harms the vulnerable is false, however many prayers it says. “Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27).
- Opening the door, not closing it
Those who teach about God carry a great responsibility. They should lead people to Christ, not to themselves or to a set of human rules. Zeal for winning others must be matched by faithfulness to the truth.
Cross-References:
Mark 12:40: “those who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.” Mark’s account.
Luke 11:52: “you took away the key of knowledge.” Hindering others from entering.
Matthew 6:5: “they love to stand and pray in the synagogues ... that they may be seen by men.” Prayer as performance.
Conclusion: In these woes Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees for exploiting widows while praying long prayers, for shutting the Kingdom of Heaven against those who wanted to enter, and for making converts who became worse than themselves. True religion protects the weak, opens the way to God, and points people to Christ.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible