Matthew 23:16

Alas for you, you blind guides! You say ‘if any answer by the Temple, his oath counts for nothing; but, if any one swears by the gold of the Temple, his oath is binding him’!

Twentieth Century New Testament

In The King James Version

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!

In Context

15Alas for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You scour land and sea to make a single convert, and, when he is gained, you make him twice as deserving of the Pit as you are yourselves.

17Fools that you are and blind! Which is the more important? The gold? Or the Temple which has given sacredness to the gold?

Read all of Matthew 23

Cross References

Matthew 15:5but you say ‘Whenever any one says to his father or mother “Whatever of mine might have been of service to you is ‘Given to God,’”

Matthew 23:17Fools that you are and blind! Which is the more important? The gold? Or the Temple which has given sacredness to the gold?

Matthew 23:24You blind guides, to strain out a gnat and to swallow a camel!

Mark 7:10For while Moses said ‘Honour thy father and thy mother,’ and ‘Let him who reviles his father or mother suffer death,’

Galatians 5:3I again declare to every one who receives circumcision, that he binds himself to obey the whole Law.

Matthew Henry on Matthew 23:14-34

The Crimes of the Pharisees. 13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. 14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Matthew 23:16