Matthew 23:16 - Printer Friendly

ESV: “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’

NIV: Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.'

NASB: Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’

CSB: "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever takes an oath by the temple, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gold of the temple is bound by his oath.'

NLT: Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’

KJV: Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

NKJV: “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’

Jesus continues His condemnation of Israel's religious leaders, specifically the groups known as the scribes and the Pharisees. These were the primary self-professed teachers of Jewish law and spirituality. As the judge ordained by God (John 5:22), Jesus is pronouncing a series of "woes" against them. He now comes to the third such condemnation.

Highlighting their hypocrisy (Matthew 13:13) and false teaching (Matthew 23:15), Jesus repeats His criticism of these men as blind guides (Matthew 15:12–14; John 9:39–41). These religious leaders cannot hope to lead anyone to the correct conclusions since they can't see the truth themselves.

The specific example Christ gives of this spiritual blindness involves the taking of oaths in binding agreements. Swearing oaths was deeply built into the culture of this time, though it's not a practice most modern people understand. Under the ancient understanding, the responsibility of an oath was directly related to the power or sacredness of the object—or person—by which the oath was taken. During this period, the Israelites were not allowed to swear oaths on God Himself or even to speak the name of God directly. Instead, they would swear oaths by objects closely connected to God in some way, such as His throne, or the temple, or the altar.

Wallowing in legalism and loopholes, the Pharisees had apparently devised a system separating objects which would "truly" bind someone to their promise from objects not significant enough to require one to keep their word. This allowed a crafty person to swear an oath by something non-binding, leaving room to be deceptive about doing as they said. Jesus' example is one of those distinctions: If someone swears by the temple, it was not a meaningful oath, but if someone swore by the gold of the temple, he or she was bound to do what was agreed to.

Jesus has already condemned the practice of taking oaths to lend weight to one's word. During the Sermon on the Mount, He declared such tacked-on promises as unnecessary and as coming from evil. Instead, He insisted that people simply say "yes" and "no" and then do what they said (Matthew 5:33–37).

In these verses, the immediate criticism is how the Pharisees wrongly assign value according to worldly standards, not the standards of God.

Matthew 23:13–36 contains seven layers of condemnation, from Jesus, towards the religious leaders of His era. Each of these is introduced with the word "woe," which is an exclamation like "oh!" or "alas!" Pronouncing God's judgment on these men, He repeatedly describes them as "blind" and "hypocrites." Convincing others of their views only adds victims to hell. They follow the letters of manmade law to the tiniest detail but miss the real meaning of Scripture: God's heart for justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Their outer appearance of righteousness hides inner lives full of greed, self-indulgence, hypocrisy, and lawlessness. Those in Jesus' generation will pay for many of the righteous people unjustly killed in the past.

After thoroughly dismantling scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees in debate, Jesus even more thoroughly condemns these religious leaders for their religious hypocrisy. They do all their religious acts and works to be seen and approved of by other people. Jesus pronounces God's judgment on the scribes and Pharisees in a series of seven "woe to you" statements. He repeatedly calls them "blind" and "hypocrites." He concludes with a lament for Jerusalem and her children who rejected His protection. God's judgment is coming.

Matthew 23 concludes Matthew's multi-chapter account of all of Jesus' interactions in the temple during the last week before His arrest and crucifixion. After silencing the religious leaders with parables and brilliant responses (Matthew 21—22), He pronounces God's judgment on the scribes and Pharisees in a series of seven "woe to you" statements. Jesus mourns for the judgment that will come on Jerusalem for her rejection of God. This leads Jesus to leave the temple, sadly remarking on its impending destruction (Matthew 24:1–2). As the disciples ask about this, Jesus begins an extended teaching on the end times in chapter 24.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.