Matthew 23:23

Matthew 23:23. For ye tithe the mint, and the dill and the cummin. In Leviticus 27:30, the Israelites were bidden to pay a tithe (tenth part) of the fruits of the field and of the trees, as an offering to the Lord. Other demands were made (Numbers 18:21; Deuteronomy 12:6; Deuteronomy 14:22-28), exacting in all nearly one third of the income of each Jew. It was doubtful whether the tithe of produce applied to the smallest garden herbs, yet the Pharisees, in their over-scrupulousness paid tithe of ‘these herbs of small value.' (‘The cummin' resembles fennel.)

Left undone the weightier matters. A striking and distinctive feature of Pharisaism. Scrupulous attention to some regulation of dress, of meat and drink, of outward observance, is often joined with an utter neglect of humility, faith, and charity.

Of the law. Comp. Micah 6:8; Hosea 12:6; Isaiah 1:17.

Judgment, care for the right; and mercy, care for those who are wrong; faith, in the Old Testament, fidelity to God, and trust in God; the New Testament idea is similar but more full.

These ye ought, etc. First, the ‘weightier matters;' then the lesser ones can be done in the right spirit. Our Lord does not decide the question of minute tithes, but teaches that if, having fulfilled the great duties, their consciences led them to this, not to leave it undone. Faithfulness in what is great, never leads to neglect of what is least. But attention first of all to what is least, leads to neglect of what is great.