Matthew 23:5

But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, BUT ALL THEIR WORKS THEY DO FOR TO BE SEEN OF MEN. Whatever good they do, or zeal they show, has but one motive-human applause. THEY MAKE BROAD THEIR PHYLACTERIES - strips of parchment with Scripture-texts on them, worn on the forehead, arm, and side, in time of prayer. AND ENLARGE THE BORDERS OF THEIR GARMENTS - fringes of their upper garments ()....

5._And all their works they do that they may be seen by men. _He had lately said that the _scribes _live very differently from what they teach; but now he adds that, if they have any thing which is apparently good, it is hypocritical and worthless, because they have no other design than to please men, and to vaunt themselves. And here zeal for piety and a holy life is contrasted with the mask of those _works _which serve no purpose but for ostentation; for an upright worshipper of God will never give himself up to that empty parade by which hypocrites are puffed up. Thus not only is the ambition of _the scribes and Pharisees _reproved, but our Lord, after having condemned the transgression and contempt of the Law of God in their whole life, that they might not shield themselves by their pretended holiness, anticipates them by replying, that those things of which they boast are absolute t...

1-12 The scribes and Pharisees explained the law of Moses, and enforced obedience to it. They are charged with hypocrisy in religion. We can only judge according to outward appearance; but God searches the heart. They made phylacteries. These were scrolls of paper or parchment, wherein were written four paragraphs of the law, to be worn on their foreheads and left arms, Exodus 13:2; Exodus 13:11-2; Deuteronomy 6:4; Deuteronomy 11:13-5. They made these phylacteries broad, that they might be thought more zealous for the law than others. God appointed the Jews to make fringes upon their garments,...

Verse Matthew 23:5. _ALL THEIR WORKS THEY DO FOR TO BE SEEN OF MEN_] In pointing out the corruptions of these men, our Lord gives us the distinguishing characteristics of all false teachers, whether Jewish or Christian. 1. They live not according to the truths they preach. _They say,_ _and do not_, Matthew 23:3. 2. They are severe to others, point out the narrowest road to heaven, and walk in the broad road themselves. _They bind on_ _burdens_, c., Matthew 23:4. 3. They affect to appear righteous, and are strict observers of certain rites, c., while destitute of the power of godliness. _They make broad their phylacteries_, c.,...

THEIR PHYLACTERIES - The word “phylactery” comes from a word signifying to keep, preserve, or guard. The name was given because phylacteries were worn as amulets or charms, and were supposed to defend or preserve those who wore them from evil. They were small slips of parchment or vellum, on which were written certain portions of the Old Testament. The practice of using phylacteries was founded on a literal interpretation of that passage where God commands the Hebrews to have the law as a sign on their foreheads, and as frontlets between their eyes, Exodus 13:16; compare Proverbs 3:1, Proverbs 3:3; Proverbs 6:21.

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 23:1 _Denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees, and lamentation over Jerusalem which followed their guidance to her own destruction. _(Peculiar to St. Matthew.) MATTHEW 23:1 THEN SPAKE JESUS. Some small portion of this discourse, the close of our Lord's public teaching, is found in Mark 12:38 and Luke 20:45-42 (comp. also Luke 11:1., Luke 11:13.). It is here addres

BUT ALL THEIR WORKS THEY DO FOR TO BE SEEN OF MEN,.... All their prayers, alms deeds, and fastings, were all done in a public manner, that men might behold them, and they might have applause and glory from them: they sought neither the glory of God, nor the good of their fellow creatures, nor any spiritual advantage and pleasure to themselves, in their performances; they neither attended to moral duties, nor ceremonious rites, nor the traditions of their fathers, any further than they could be seen by men in them, and keep up their credit and esteem among them. Hence, THEY MAKE BROAD THEIR PHYLACTERIES: these were four sections of the law, wrote on parchments, folded up in the skin of a clean beast, and tied to the head and hand. The four sections were these following, viz. the "first", was Exodus 13:2 the "second", was...

PHYLACTERIES Passages of Scripture enclosed in a small case, bound upon arm or forehead, (Deuteronomy 6:8)....

11. THE WOES OF THE KING AND HIS LAMENTATION OVER JERUSALEM. CHAPTER 23 _ 1. The Hypocrisy of the Pharisees.(Matthew 23:1 .) 2. The Woes of the King upon Them.(Matthew 23:13 .) 3. The Lamentation over Jerusalem. (Matthew 23:37 .)_ For the last time we have seen the Pharisees in the presence of the Lord in the previous chapter. What an important part these ecclesiastical leaders of the professing people of God play in this Gospel. They rejected Him; hated Him without a cause, and after they found they could not ensnare Him they resorted to that which Satan had put into their wicked hearts “that they might kill Him.” That which the Lord had foretold in His parable of the vineyard is now soo

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. But, as Pfleiderer puts it, we must admit that in the attitude of Jesus towards the Mosaic Law different expressions which cannot be reconciled stand side by side, the most natural explanation of which may be found in a change of mood. _Cf._ p. 667. SIT: lit. sat. Plummer suggests that at the end of the verse we should supply when they taught you to observe the Law....