‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who has been living in it. He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.
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Matthew 23:18-22 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who has been living in it. He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.
Parallel Translations
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‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?’
You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it.
He who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who has been living in it.
He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.
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And whosoever sweareth by the aulter it is nothinge: but whosoever sweareth by the offeringe that lyeth on the aultre offendeth.
Ye foles and blinde: whether is greater the offeringe or the aultre which sanctifieth the offeringe?
Whosoever therfore sweareth by the aultre sweareth by it and by all that there on is.
And whosoever sweareth by the temple sweareth by it and by hym that dwelleth therin.
And he that sweareth by heven swereth by the seate of God and by hym that sytteth theron.
Show all 3 translations
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And whosoeuer sweareth by the altar, it is nothing: but whosoeuer sweareth by the offering that is vpon it, offendeth.
Ye fooles and blinde, whether is greater, the offering, or the altar which sanctifieth the offering?
Whosoeuer therefore sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
And whosoeuer sweareth by the Temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
And he that sweareth by heauen, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
Cross-references (15)
- Exodus 29:37 (v19) Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall be…
- 1 Kings 8:13 (v21) I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever.”
- Psalms 26:8 (v21) Yahweh, I love the habitation of your house, the place where your glory dwells.
- Matthew 5:34 (v22) but I tell you, don’t swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God;
- Exodus 30:29 (v19) You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy.
Show all 15 cross-references
- 2 Chronicles 6:2 (v21) But I have built you a house and home, a place for you to dwell in forever.”
- Psalms 11:4 (v22) Yahweh is in his holy temple. Yahweh is on his throne in heaven. His eyes observe. His eyes examine the children of men.
- Isaiah 66:1 (v22) Yahweh says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build to me? Where will I rest?
- 1 Kings 8:27 (v21) But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I…
- 2 Chronicles 7:2 (v21) The priests could not enter into Yahweh’s house, because Yahweh’s glory filled Yahweh’s house.
- Psalms 132:13-14 (v21) For Yahweh has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation. “This is my resting place forever. I will live here, for I have desired…
- Acts 7:49 (v22) ‘heaven is my throne, and the earth a footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build me?’ says the Lord. ‘Or what is the place of…
- Ephesians 2:22 (v21) in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
- Colossians 2:9 (v21) For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily,
- Revelation 4:2-3 (v22) Immediately I was in the Spirit. Behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne that looked like a jasper stone…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v22 If heaven be God’s throne, then he is no…
If heaven be God’s throne, then he is no doubt above all this world.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv18–22 18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it…
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
Ver. 18. But whosoever sweareth by the gift, &c.] Ubi utilitas, ibi pietas, saith Epictetus, where there is gain there is godliness, οπου το συμφερον εκει το ευσεβες. And, Deos quisque sibi utiles cudit, saith another. All the worldling’s ploughing, sailing, building, buying, buts upon commodity, he knows no other deity. These Pharisees strove to reduce all offerings to their own purses and paunches, though they rendered men thereby not only irreligious, but unnatural, Mat 15:5-6. {See Trapp on "Mat 15:5"} {See Trapp on "Mat 15:6"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv18–22 Ye fools, and blind,.... This is very justly repeated,…
Ye fools, and blind,.... This is very justly repeated, since this is no less an instance of their folly, blindness, and stupidity. In three copies of Beza's the word "fools" is not; nor is it in the Vulgate Latin, nor in Munster's Hebrew Gospel; but the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions have it:
for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? The gift, or offering, before it was devoted to sacred use, and brought, and laid upon the altar, was common, had no ceremonial sanctity in it, and might be put to any use; but when it was brought, and laid upon the altar, it became holy; for, according to the law, whatever touched the altar, and indeed all, or any of the vessels of the sanctuary, was holy, Exo 29:37. Christ speaks the sense of the law, and their own traditions, and in their own language, and argues from the same to the confutation of them: , "the altar", they say (u), "sanctifies" that which is fit for it; that is, that which is proper to be offered up upon it:
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"as the altar sanctifies that which is fit for it, so the ascent unto it sanctifies; and as the altar, and the ascent, sanctify what is fit for them, so the vessels sanctify; the vessels for liquids sanctify the liquids, and the dry measures sanctify the dry; the vessels for liquids do not sanctify the dry, nor the dry measures sanctify the liquids; the holy vessels, which are bored, (or broken,) when they do the service they used to do, when whole, sanctify, if not, they do not sanctify; nor does anything sanctify but in the sanctuary.''
Now, since this is a clear case, that the altar sanctifies the gift, and not the gift the altar, our Lord's question is, which is the greater? A man that has the least share of common sense will easily see, that the altar must be the greater: wherefore these scribes and Pharisees must be wretchedly stupid to give out, that an oath made by the altar was not binding, when one that was made by the gift, or
Korban, was binding; seeing the gift, or offering, received its sanctity from the altar: hence, of the two, an oath made by the altar should be more sacred and obligatory than one made by the gift.
(u) Misn. Zebachim, c. 9. sect. 7.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v20 He that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it,…
He that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon - Not only by the gift, but by the holy fire, and the sacrifice; and above all, by that God to whom they belong; inasmuch as every oath by a creature is an implicit appeal to God.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv20–21 Verse 20. Whoso - shall swear by the altar]…
Verse 20. Whoso - shall swear by the altar] As an oath always supposes a person who witnesses it, and will punish perjury; therefore, whether they swore by the temple or the gold, (Mt 23:16), or by the altar or the gift laid on it, (Mt 23:18), the oath necessarily supposes the God of the temple, of the altar, and of the gifts, who witnessed the whole, and would, even in their exempt cases, punish the perjury.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 21, 22 The altar - The altar of burnt-offerings, in the…
The altar - The altar of burnt-offerings, in the court of the priests. See the notes at Mat 21:12. It was made of brass, about 30 feet in length and breadth, and 15 feet in height, 2Ch 4:1. On this altar were offered all the beasts and bloody oblations of the temple.
The gift that is upon it - The gift or offering made to God, so called because it was devoted or “given” to him. The gift upon this altar was always beasts and birds.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv19, 21 Sanctifieth. The altar is sanctified by our Lord’s body…
Sanctifieth. The altar is sanctified by our Lord’s body thereon. Theophylactus, the close follower of St. John Chrysostom, writeth thus upon this text: "In the old law, Christ will not allow the gift to be greater than the altar; but with us the altar is sanctified by the gift: for the bread, by the divine grace is converted into our Lord’s body, and therefore the altar is sanctified by it."
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv19–20 Ye fools, and blind! for whether is greater, the…
Ye fools, and blind! for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?--(See Exo 29:37).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 20, 22 By the altar. The great altar of burnt offerings,…
By the altar. The great altar of burnt offerings, according to the Mosaic ritual, was consecrated and dedicated with most remarkable solemnities, as the centre of sacrificial worship. (see Exo_29:36, etc.; Exo_30:28, 29 Num_7:10, etc.) The gift that is upon it. The victim, which, as being offered by themselves, was counted more worthy than the altar of God which sanctified the gift. This is, indeed, an instance of sight blinded by self-righteousness. He is guilty; ofeilei : he is a debtor, as ver. 16. Others see here the principle that the validity of oaths was differentiated by the nearness to the Person of God of the things by which they were taken. This, too, opened up large opportunities of evasion.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv18, 21 18–20. The altar. That of the temple, the only…
18–20. The altar. That of the temple, the only altar known in Israel. The gift. The offering placed on the altar.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv18, 20 The understood information can be made clear. AT: "And…
And
The understood information can be made clear. AT: "And you also say" (See: Ellipsis)
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it is nothing
"he does not have to do what he has sworn to do" or "he does not have to keep his oath"
the gift
This is an animal or grain that a person would bring to God by putting it on God's altar.
is bound to his oath
"is tied to his oath." Being required to do what one has said he would do in an oath is spoken of as if he is tied to the oath. AT: "must do what he promised to do" (See: Metaphor)
blind people
The Jewish leaders were spiritually blind. Although they thought of themselves as teachers, they were unable to understand God's truth. (See: Metaphor)
Which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy?
Jesus uses this question to rebuke the Pharisees for treating the gift as if it were more important than the altar. AT: "The altar that makes the gift holy is greater than the gift!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
the altar that makes the gift holy
"the altar that makes the gift special to God"
translationWords
oath
altar
gift
bind
holy
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.