Matthew 23:23

τὸ ἔλεος for τὸν ἔλεον, ἀφεῖναι for ἀφιέναι; and 30, ἤμεθα for ἦμεν twice; 35, ἐκχυννόμενον for ἐκχυνόμενον: all well supported changes.

23. ἀποδεκατοῦτε τὸ ἡδύοσμον καὶ τὸ ἄνηθον κ.τ.λ. ‘Mint and rue and all manner of herbs,’ (Luke 11:42). Zeal in paying tithes was one of the points of reform under the Maccabees.

ἀποδεκατοῦν. Unclassical, (1) ‘to pay tithes,’ here and Luke 18:12, ἀποδεκατῶ πάντα ὅσα κτῶμαι. (2) ‘to exact tithes,’ καὶ τὰ σπέρματα ὑμῶν καὶ τοὺς�, 1 Samuel 8:15 and Hebrews 7:5.

According to Lightfoot (Hor. Hebr. ad loc.) the tithes required by law were: (1) A fifth for the priests. (2) A tenth of the remainder for the Levites. (3) A further tenth of the remainder either to be eaten at Jerusalem or to be redeemed. Other views however are taken; see Smith’s Bib. Dict. III. 1517. These payments would be often evaded, and to be able to say ἀποδεκατῶ πάντα ὅσα κτῶμαι implied an exceptional strictness.

τὸ ἄνηθον, either = ‘anise’ as in E.V., or ‘dill,’ a plant similar in appearance, and used like anise as a sedative medicine and for cooking purposes.

τὸ κύμινον. See Isaiah 28:25; Isaiah 28:27, where the special method of beating out cummin seeds is named. ‘It is used as a spice, both bruised to mix with bread, and also boiled in the various messes and stews which compose an Oriental banquet.’ Tristram, Nat. Hist. of Bible.

τὰ βαρύτερα τοῦ νόμου. The distinction between great and small precepts of the law is found in the Talmud. Schöttgen gives many instances, p. 183. One saying is: ‘Observance of the lesser precepts is rewarded on earth; observance of the greater precepts is rewarded in heaven.’ The rival schools differed in their classification. Note, therefore, the Saviour’s enumeration of the ‘weightier precepts,’—κρίσις, ἔλεος, πίστις. Cp. Luke 11:42, παρέρχεσθε τὴν κρίσιν καὶ τὴν�. (ἔλεος and πίστις represent two aspects of ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ.)