46 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Whosoever therefore shall swear by the altar,.... Not that Christ allowed of swearing by the altar, or by the temple, or by heaven, or by any creature, animate or inanimate; for such swearing is elsewhere disapproved of by him, and forbid, but if a man did swear by the altar, he ought to know, and consider that he not only sweareth by it, but by...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And whoso shall swear by the temple,.... As we have before seen they used to do, and as appears from what the poet says (w): Ecce negas, jurasque mihi per templa tonantis Non credo: jura, verpe, per Anchialum. In which he intimates, that if the Jew swore by the temple, he would not believe him; as well he might not, since such an oath was...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he that shall swear by heaven,.... As the Jews were wont to do in common, but did not look upon such an oath as obligatory on them; [See comments on Matthew 5:34], though such an one sweareth by the throne of God; for heaven is God's throne, where he sits, and, in an eminent manner, displays the glory of his majesty: and by him that sitteth...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,.... Christ returns to the former epithets he had very rightly given to these men, and very pertinently repeats them here; and which are confirmed by the instances of their conduct and practice here alleged, which abundantly show their hypocrisy and deceit; since they were very strict in observing...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Ye blind guides,.... As in Matthew 23:16 who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel: the Syriac and Persic versions read the words in the plural number, gnats and camels. The Jews had a law, which forbid them the eating of any creeping thing, Leviticus 11:41 and of this they were strictly observant, and would not be guilty of the breach of it for...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,.... Our Lord cannot be thought to bear too hard upon these men, nor does he continue this character of them, and denunciations of woe against them, without a reason: for ye make clean the outside of the cup and platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. The allusion is to their...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Thou blind Pharisee,.... Well might Christ call such an one a blind Pharisee, who was so scrupulously careful to cleanse his cup and platter; and yet made no conscience of filling them with what was gotten in an unjust way, and so defiled himself and them: cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,.... It is much these men could bear to hear themselves so often called by this name; and it shows great courage in our Lord, so freely to reprove them, and expose their wickedness, who were men of so much credit and influence with the people: for ye are like unto whited sepulchres; or "covered with...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous,.... By making broad their phylacteries, enlarging the borders of their garments, praying long prayers, compassing sea and land to make one proselyte, paying tithes of all manner of herbs, and cleansing the outside of the cup and platter, and doing all their works, prayers, fastings, and alms deeds, to be...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,.... This is the seventh and last time, in which these words are delivered in this exact form by our Lord, in this chapter; and expresses the certainty, both of their sin and punishment: and the instance annexed to it, no less discovers the hypocrisy of these persons, and supports the character given...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And say, if we had been in the days of our fathers,.... Their ancestors and predecessors: signifying, that if they had lived in the times they did, or had been in the same post and office with them, they should have opposed, at least not consented to their measures: we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets; would not...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves,.... Or "against yourselves", as the Syriac reads; for what they said was a plain acknowledgment, and a full confession, what their fathers had done, and whose offspring they were; and from whom better things were not to be expected; since they were their fathers' own children, and of the same temper and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Of their sins; for there were bounds and limits set how far they should proceed, and no further; as yet they had not got to the end of their iniquity: their fathers had gone great lengths in sin, but their iniquity was not yet full, as is said of the Amorites, Genesis 15:16 these their sons were to fill...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? This is Christ’s utterance, let me remind you. Our modern preachers would not talk like this, even to scribes and Pharisees who were crucifying Christ afresh, and putting Him to an open flame. They would search the dictionary...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Ye servants, ye generation of vipers,.... The latter of these names, John the Baptist calls the Sadducees and Pharisees by, in Matthew 3:7 and Christ, in Matthew 12:34 both express their craft and subtlety, their inward poison, and venomous nature; their fair outside, and specious pretences; their hypocrisy, malice, and wickedness; in which they...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Wherefore, behold I send unto you prophets,.... To try them, whether they would show the respect to prophets, they pretended to have for them; by building and beautifying their sepulchres; by exclaiming against their forefathers for shedding their blood; and by declaring, that had they lived in their days, they would not have joined with them in...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: Which they did; the servants of Christ were thus worried and harried all over the land.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
That upon you may come all the righteous blood,.... Or "the blood of all the righteous men", as the Syriac: Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions read; for there is no righteousness in blood, nor any conveyed by it: all men are of one blood, and that is tainted, they that are righteous, are not so naturally, nor by any righteousness of their own,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. So they did. The destruction of Jerusalem was more terrible than anything that the...