MATTHEW 23. CONDEMNATION OF SCRIBES AND PHARISEES. This long denunciation appears to have come from Q. Mk., reading it there, epitomised it in three verses (Matthew 12:38 ff.), Lk. (Luke 11:37) abbreviated by omitting points unsuited to Gentile readers. Mt. has probably expanded the original; there... [ Continue Reading ]
WARNINGS TO THE PEOPLE AND THE DISCIPLES. Matthew 23:2 f. Loisy regards this as an interpolation (by a Judaising redactor) out of harmony with the attack that follows. Holtzmann thinks it is Mt.'s, breathing special respect for the Law, like Matthew 5:17 ff., but irreconcilable with Matthew 15:3. B... [ Continue Reading ]
SEVEN WOES. Seven is a sacred number and often used in Mt., as in OT (_cf._ especially Isaiah 5) and _Rev._ The first three treat of Pharisaic teaching, the last three of Pharisaic character, the fourth is transitional. i.-iii. The Scribes refused to accept the preaching of Jesus, and deterred other... [ Continue Reading ]
A LAST WARNING. With Matthew 23:33 _cf._ the Baptist's words, Matthew 3:7. Matthew 23:34. Luke 11:49 *. Matthew 23:35. Abel: Genesis 4:8. ZACHARIAH: 2 Chronicles 24:20 ff. The reference is thus to all the martyrdoms recorded in the Heb. Scriptures, of which 2 Chronicles 13 the last book. Zachariah... [ Continue Reading ]
LAMENT OVER JERUSALEM (Luke 13:34 f.*). Matthew 23:37 may be part of the utterance ascribed by Jesus to the Wisdom of God. If not, Jesus is referring not so much to His earlier visits to Jerusalem as to His desire (when in Galilee) to come to the mother city and fold its people into discipleship an... [ Continue Reading ]