Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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,
5. phylacteries ] Greek = “defences,” and in late Greek “amulets” or “charms.” The Hebrew name, tephillin, which is still in use, signifies “prayers.” They were slips of parchment inscribed with four portions of the Law (Exo 12:3-16; Deu 6:5-9; Deu 11:13-21) enclosed in little cases or boxes made of calf-skin, and fastened by leather straps to the left arm and on the forehead, in accordance with a literal interpretation of Exo 13:16 and Deu 6:8. To make the phylacteries, or rather the cases which contained them, broad and conspicuous was to assume a character of superior piety, for the phylacteries were symbols of devotion.
Jesus does not prohibit the practice of wearing phylacteries, but the ostentatious enlargement of them. It is thought by many that our Saviour Himself wore phylacteries.
enlarge the borders of their garments ] Strictly, the fringe of the talith, or cloak: another instance of ostentation; the blue threads in the fringe, the colour of the sky were a type of heavenly purity. Our Lord Himself wore the fringed talith (see ch. Mat 9:20); the offence of the Pharisees consisted in enlarging the symbolical fringes.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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, Exo 13:16; compare Pro 3:1, Pro 3:3; Pro 6:21. One kind of phylactery was called a frontlet, and was composed of four pieces of parchment, on the first of which was written Exo 12:2-10; on the second, Exo 13:11-21; on the third, Deu 6:4-9; and on the fourth, Deu 11:18-21. These pieces of parchment, thus inscribed, they enclosed in a piece of tough skin, making a square, on one side of which is placed the Hebrew letter shin ( sh) and bound them round their foreheads with a thong or ribbon when they went to the synagogue. Some wore them evening and morning; others only at the morning prayer.
As the token upon the hand was required, as well as the frontlets between the eyes Exo 13:16, the Jews made two rolls of parchment, written in square letters, with an ink made on purpose, and with much care. They were rolled up to a point, and enclosed in a sort of case of black calf-skin. They were put upon a square bit of the same leather, whence hung a thong of the same, of about a finger in breadth, and about 2 feet long. These rolls were placed at the bending of the left arm, and after one end of the thong had been made into a little knot in the form of the Hebrew letter yod ( y), it was wound about the arm in a spiral line, which ended at the top of the middle finger. The Pharisees enlarged them, or made them wider than other people, either that they might make the letters larger or write more on them, to show, as they supposed, that they had special reverence for the law.
Enlarge the borders of their garments – This refers to the loose threads which were attached to the borders of the outer garment as a fringe. This fringe was commanded in order to distinguish them from ether nations, and that they might remember to keep the commandments of God, Num 15:38-40; Deu 22:12. The Pharisees made them broader than other people wore them, to show that they had special respect for the law.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 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, Mt 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., Mt 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., Mt 23:5.
4. They love worldly entertainments, go to feast wherever they are asked, and seek Church preferments. They love the chief places at feasts, and chief seats in the synagogues, Mt 23:6.
5. They love and seek public respect and high titles, salutations in the market-place, (for they are seldom in their studies,) and to be called of men rabbi-eminent teacher, though they have no title to it, either from the excellence or fruit of their teaching. When these marks are found in a man who professes to be a minister of Christ, charity itself will assert he is a thief and a robber-he has climbed over the wall of the sheepfold, or broken it down in order to get in.
Phylacteries] , from , to keep or preserve. These were small slips of parchment or vellum, on which certain portions of the law were written. The Jews tied these about their foreheads and arms, for three different purposes.
1. To put them in mind of those precepts which they should constantly observe.
2. To procure them reverence and respect in the sight of the heathen. And
3. To act as amulets or charms to drive away evil spirits.
The first use of these phylacteries is evident from their name.
The second use appears from what is said on the subject from the Gemara, Beracoth, chap. 1., quoted by Kypke. “Whence is it proved that phylacteries, (, tephilin,) are the strength of Israel? – Ans. From what is written, De 28:10. All the, people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name [of Jehovah] – and they shall be afraid of thee.
The third use of them appears from the Targum, on Cant. So 8:3. His left hand is under my head, &c. “The congregation of Israel hath said, I am elect above all people, because I bind my phylacteries on my left hand, and on my head, and the scroll is fixed to the right side of my gate, the third part of which looks to my bed-chamber, that DAEMONS may not be permitted to INJURE me.”
An original phylactery lies now before me. It is a piece of fine vellum, about eighteen inches long, and an inch and quarter broad. It is divided into four unequal compartments: in the first is written, in a very fair character, with many apices, after the mode of the German Jews, the first ten verses of Exod. 10, (Ex 13:1-10) in the second compartment is written, from the eleventh to the sixteenth verse of the same chapter (Ex 13:11-16), inclusive in the third, from the fourth to the ninth verse (De 6:4-9), inclusive, of Deut. 6., beginning with, Hear, O Israel, c. in the fourth, from the thirteenth to the twenty-first verse, inclusive, of Deut. 11 (De 11:13-21).
These passages seem to be chosen in vindication of the use of the phylactery itself, as the reader will see on consulting them: Bind them for a SIGN upon thy HAND – and for FRONTLETS between thy EYES-write them upon the POSTS of thy HOUSE, and upon thy GATES all which commands the Jews took in the most literal sense.
Even the phylactery became an important appendage to a Pharisee’s character, insomuch that some of them wore them very broad, either that they might have the more written on them, or that, the characters being larger, they might be the more visible, and that they might hereby acquire greater esteem among the common people, as being more than ordinarily religious. For the same reason, they wore the fringes of their garments of an unusual length. Moses had commanded (Nu 15:38-39) the children of Israel to put fringes to the borders of their garments, that, when they looked upon even these distinct threads, they might remember, not only the law in general, but also the very minutiae, or smaller parts of all the precepts, rites, and ceremonies, belonging to it. As these hypocrites were destitute of all the life and power of religion within, they endeavoured to supply its place by phylacteries and fringes without. See Clark’s note on “Ex 13:9“.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Our Saviour had, Mat 23:4 blamed the Pharisees for not living up to what they taught, pressing the law of God on others, but not doing nor endeavouring to observe it themselves. Here he blames them for doing what good things they did for ostentation, to be seen of men; and abounding in their ritual performances of more minute concernment, in the mean time neglecting their moral duties.
All their works they do for to be seen of men; this is their main end, to be seen of men; for this he had reflected on them, Mat 6:1-34.
They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments. For the right understanding of this we must have recourse to Num 15:37-40, And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a riband of blue: and it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: that ye may remember, and do all my commandments. Deu 22:12, Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself. In obedience to this law, the Jews did generally wear such garments that had fringes and blue ribands annexed to them. The Jews at this day do it not, because, as they pretend, they have lost the true way of dying the blue colour, required in the law. The end why God commanded them is expressed, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and be restrained from their own inventions and imaginations in Gods service. They were also a note of distinction of the Jews from other people. Besides these, God commanding that they should bind his laws for a sign upon their hands, and as frontlets between their eyes, Deu 6:6-8, they made them parchments, in which the precepts of the law were written, which they bound to their foreheads and arms. These were called phylacteries, from , to keep, things wherein the law was kept. The Pharisees, for a boast how zealous keepers they were of the law of God, (than which they did nothing less), made these phylacteries and ribands broader, and their fringes much longer, than other mens: this is that making broad their phylacteries, and enlarging the borders of their garments, which our Lord here reflects upon, done only for ostentation, and that they might be seen of men.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. But all their works they do forto be seen of menWhatever good they do, or zeal they show, hasbut one motivehuman applause.
they make broad theirphylacteriesstrips of parchment with Scripture-texts on them,worn on the forehead, arm, and side, in time of prayer.
and enlarge the borders oftheir garmentsfringes of their upper garments (Nu15:37-40).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 Ex 13:2 the “second”, was
Ex 13:11 the “third”, was De 6:4 the “fourth”, was
De 11:13. Those that were for the head, were written and rolled up separately, and put in four distinct places, in one skin, which was fastened with strings to the crown of the head, towards the face, about the place where the hair ends, and where an infant’s brain is tender; and they took care to place them in the middle, that so they might be between the eyes. Those that were for the hand, were written in four columns, on one parchment, which being rolled up, was fastened to the inside of the left arm, where it is fleshy, between the shoulder and the elbow, that so it might be over against the heart u. These, they imagined, were commanded them by God, in
Ex 13:16 whereas the sense of these passages only is, that the goodness of God in delivering them out of Egypt, and the words of the law, should be continually before them, in their minds and memories, as if they had tokens on their hands, and frontlets between their eyes; but they understood them literally, and observed them in the above manner. These the Jews call “Tephillin”, because they use them in time of prayer, and look upon them as useful, to put them in mind of that duty: they are here called “phylacteries”, because they thought they kept them in the fear of God, preserved in them the memory of the law, and them from sin; yea, from evil spirits, and diseases of the body. They imagined there was a great deal of holiness in, and valued themselves much upon the use of them w; and the Pharisees, because they would be thought to be more holy and religious, and more observant of the law than others, wore these things broader than the rest of the people;
and enlarge the borders of their garments. These were the fringes which they put upon the borders of their garments, and on them a ribbon of blue, to put them in mind of the commandments, to obey them, Nu 15:38. The observance of this law is of so much consequence with the Jews, that they make all the commandments to depend on it x; and say, that it is equal to them all, and that he that is guilty of the breach of it, is worthy of death y: they ascribe the like virtue to these fringes, as to their phylacteries, and think themselves much the better for the wearing them; and the Pharisees, because they would appear with a greater air of sanctity and devotion than others, made their’s larger. We z read of one Ben Tzitzith Hacceseth, a man of this complexion, who was so called, because his Tzitzith, or fringes, were drawn upon, a pillow; and there are some that say, that the pillow was bore between the great men of Rome: it was drawn after him, not upon the ground, but upon a cloth or tapestry, and the train supported by noblemen, as is pretended. This was one of those, that enlarged the Tzitzith, or fringes, beyond the ordinary size; hence Mark calls it, “long clothing.”
u Targ. Jon. Jarchi, & Baal Hatturim in Exod. xiii. 16. & Deut. vi. 8. Maimon. Hilch. Tephillin, c. 1. sect. 1. & c. 2. sect. 2. & c. 3. sect. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. & c. 4. sect. 1, 2. w Maimon. ib. c. 4. sect. 25, 26. Moses Kotsensis Mitzvot Tora, pr. affirm. 3. 23. Targ. in Cant. viii. 3. x Maimon. Hilch. Tzitzith, c. 3. sect. 12. y T. Bab. Nedarim, fol. 25, 1. Shebuot, fol. 29. 1. & Menachot, fol. 43. 2. z T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 56. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
To be seen of men ( ). See 6:1 where this same idiom occurs. Ostentation regulates the conduct of the rabbis.
Phylacteries (). An adjective from , (to guard). So a fortified place, station for garrison, then a safeguard, protecting charm or amulet. The rabbis wore or prayer-fillets, small leather cases with four strips of parchment on which were written the words of Exod 13:1-10; Exod 13:11-16; Deut 6:4-9; Deut 11:13-21. They took literally the words about “a sign unto thy hand,” “a memorial between thine eyes,” and “frontlets.” “That for the head was to consist of a box with four compartments, each containing a slip of parchment inscribed with one of the four passages. Each of these strips was to be tied up with a well-washed hair from a calf’s tail; lest, if tied with wool or thread, any fungoid growth should ever pollute them. The phylactery of the arm was to contain a single slip, with the same four passages written in four columns of seven lines each. The black leather straps by which they were fastened were wound seven times round the arm and three times round the hand. They were reverenced by the rabbis as highly as the scriptures, and, like them, might be rescued from the flames on a sabbath. They profanely imagined that God wore the tephillin” (Vincent). It is small wonder that Jesus ridiculed such minute concern for pretentious externalism and literalism. These tephillin “are still worn at the present day on the forehead and left arm by Jews at the daily Morning Prayer” (McNeile) . “The size of the phylacteries indexed the measure of zeal, and the wearing of large ones was apt to take the place of obedience” (Bruce). Hence they made them “broad.” The superstitious would wear them as mere charms to ward off evil.
Enlarge the borders ( ). In 9:20 we see that Jesus, like the Jews generally, wore a tassel or tuft, hem or border, a fringe on the outer garment according to Nu 15:38. Here again the Jewish rabbi had minute rules about the number of the fringes and the knots (see on 9:20). They made a virtue of the size of the fringes also. “Such things were useful as reminders; they were fatal when they were regarded as charms” (Plummer).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
To be seen [ ] . See Mt 6:1, where the same word occurs. The scribes and Pharisees deport themselves with a view to being contemplated as actors in a theatre; so that men may fix their gaze upon them admiringly.
Phylacteries – Borders of their garments [] . Phylacteries, called by the Rabbis tephillin, prayer – fillets, were worn on the left arm, toward the heart, and on the forehead. They were capsules containing on parchment these four passages of Scripture : Exo 13:1 – 10; Exo 13:11 – 16; Deu 6:4 – 9; Deu 11:13 – 21. That for the head was to consist of a box with four compartments, each containing a slip of parchment inscribed with one of the four passages. Each of these slips was to be tied up with well – washed hair from a calf ‘s tail; lest, if tied with wool or thread, any fungoid growth should ever pollute them. The phylactery of the arm was to contain a single slip, with the same our passages written in four columns of seven lines each. The black leather straps by which they were fastened were wound seven times round the arm and three times round the hand. They were reverenced by the Rabbis as highly as the scriptures, and, like them, might be rescued from the flames on a Sabbath. They profanely imagined that God wore the tephillin.
The Greek word transcribed phylacteries in our version is from fulassw, to watch or guard. It means originally a guarded post, a fort; then, generally, a safeguard or preservative, and therefore an amulet. Sir J. Cheke renders guards. They were treated as such by the Rabbis. It is said, for instance, that the courtiers of a certain king, intending to kill a Rabbi, were deterred by seeing that the straps of his phylacteries shone like bands of fire. It was also said that they prevented all hostile demons from injuring any Israelite. See on Mt 9:20, for borders.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
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 trifles, and of no value whatever, because they spring from mere ostentation. He afterwards produces a single instance, by which that ambition was easily perceived, which was, that by the fringes of their robes they held themselves out to the eyes of men as good observers of the Law.
And make their phylacteries broad, and enlarge the fringes of their robes. For why were their fringes made broader, and their phylacteries more magnificent, than what was customary, except for idle display? The Lord had commanded the Jews to wear, both on their forehead and on their raiment, some remarkable passages selected out of the Law, (Deu 6:8.) As forgetfulness of the Law easily creeps upon the flesh, the Lord intended in this manner to keep it constantly in the remembrance of his people; for they were likewise enjoined to inscribe such sentences
on the posts of their houses, (Deu 6:9,)
that, wherever they turned their eyes, some godly warning might immediately meet them. But what did the scribes do? In order to distinguish themselves from the rest of the people, they carried about with them the commandments of God more magnificently inscribed on their garments; and in this boasting there was displayed an offensive ambition.
Let us also learn from this, how ingenious men are in mixing up vain deception, in order to conceal their vices under some pretext and cloak of virtues, by turning to the purposes of their own hypocrisy those exercises of piety which God has enjoined. Nothing was more profitable than to exercise all their senses in the contemplation of the Law, and it was not without good reason that this was enjoined by the Lord. But so far were they from profiting by these simple instructions, that, by making perfect righteousness to consist in the adorning of robes, they despised the Law throughout their whole life. For it was impossible to treat the Law of God with greater contempt, than when they imagined that they kept it by pompous dress, or pronounced masks contrived for enacting a play to be a keeping of the Law.
What Mark and Luke say about the robes relates to the same subject. We know that the inhabitants of Eastern countries commonly used long robes, — a custom which they retain to this day. But it is evident from Zechariah (Zec 13:4) that the prophets were distinguished from the rest of the people by a particular form of a cloak. And, indeed, it was highly reasonable that the teachers should dress in this manner, that there might be a higher degree of gravity and modesty in their dress than in that of the common people; but the scribes had made an improper use of it by turning it into luxury and display. Their example has been followed by the Popish priests, among whom robes are manifestly nothing more than the badges of proud tyranny.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
TEXT: 23:512
5 But all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi. 8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren. 9 And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, even he who is in heaven. 10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even the Christ. 11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS
a.
What is the difference between the Pharisees sin of doing all their works to be seen of men and Jesus exhortation to Christians to be the light of the world . . . the salt of the earth . . . a city set on a hill with the objective of letting your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works? How can Jesus promote the one and condemn the other?
b.
On the basis of Jesus warnings here, do you think it is wrong
(1)
for people to be specially noticed by the type of religious clothes they wear? How do you feel about robes and stoles for preachers or choir members who represent God in sermon and song?
(2)
for certain men to be referred to as Doctor Jones, Brother Jones or by some other distinguishing title given them because of their religious or scholarly distinctions above their brethren?
(3)
for anyone to be honored by special notice, special placement or seating or special greetings?
c.
By what right does Jesus in the same context associate Christ, as the one master of all, with your Father as their only true Father? Is this not implying something about the identity and position of the Christ?
d.
How did Jesus prove Himself worthy of our highest praise as the greatest of all?
e.
How did this section show that the Pharisees transgressed the first commandment to love God and the second commandment to love ones neighbor as oneself?
PARAPHRASE AND HARMONY
Everything they do is calculated to attract the attention and approval of others. In fact, they enlarge the Scripture-text boxes they wear on their foreheads and arms, and on their robes they lengthen the tassels that remind them of the Law. They enjoy walking around in their long robes, symbols of their scholarly rank. They love to be greeted respectfully in public places, to sit in the most important seats in the synagogues, the places of honor at banquets, and to be addressed as doctor. They grow fat on widows houses and, to hide the true state of things, pray long prayers. They will receive the more severe punishment!
But you must not allow yourselves to be called doctor, for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers in relation to each other. Address no man on earth as your spiritual father, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Further, you must not allow yourselves to be considered leader, since you have one Leader, the Messiah. The true superior among you is the one who serves others best. The person who proudly promotes his own interests shall be humiliated, but the one who humbly puts himself at the service of others shall be honored.
SUMMARY
All ambition for distinction above other common disciples of Jesus is condemned, whether this expresses itself by ostentation in dress, by prestigious titles or by positions of public honor. Such ambition despises the common brotherhood of all believers, ignores Him who is truly Father, and abases the Christ as unique leader. True superiority in Gods Kingdom is decided on the superiority of ones humble service. Humiliation and punishment await those who crush others to promote their own interests.
NOTES
The Exhibitionism of Arrogant Pretenders
Mat. 23:5 But all their works they do to be seen of men. While the Pharisees may have often violated their understanding of the Torah and its interpretations privately, that they NEVER kept them is proven untrue by this verse. Jesus affirms that they showed their great earnestness by keeping them publicly. So, He censures their base motive: they advertize their piety! He is not criticizing mere public notice, as if all kind helpfulness and generosity must be done in absolute secrecy. (See notes on Mat. 6:3-4.) The Lord had already urged His followers to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, the city set on a hill, so that men may see your good works and glorify your Father (Mat. 5:13 ff.). But this laudable goal for doing good in public did not satisfy the hypocrites ambition, since their aim is to divert glory from God to themselves. (See notes on Mat. 6:1-2; Mat. 6:5; Mat. 6:16.)
To long to be more really righteous than others is an appropriate aspiration. However, to long for the reputation and praise for it is evidence of an ambitious pride. Exceeding others in genuine goodness is Christian (Rom. 12:10), but this cannot be gained by a self-advertising ostentation. Jesus disciples are not to be dazzled by the pious pomp others paraded in awesome ceremony. And there before Jesus in the audience sat living object lessons, Pharisees with their enlarged fringes dangling and their conspicuous phylacteries on their foreheads like a spot of leprosy. Others may have been intimidated by such display. Jesus sees right through it.
They make broad their phylacteries. Taking passages like Deu. 6:8; Deu. 11:18; cf. Exo. 13:9; Exo. 13:16, literally, the stricter Hebrews created a small leather box to be strapped (hence called tephillin straps in Hebrew) either on the left arm or on the forehead between the eyes or both, naturally with the proper prescription for tying it on correctly. (See I.S.B.E., 2393.) In exactly four compartments (no more nor less!) the box contained scraps of Scripture such as Exo. 13:3-21; Deu. 6:4-9; Deu. 11:13-21. God had not intended such gross literalism. That He spoke figuratively is evident from other figurative expressions in these texts that are not taken literally by those formalists. He meant, rather, Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds, making them the object of your meditation (bind them on your forehead), make them the motive of your daily actions (tie them on your hands).
Beyond the unthinking literalism involved in wearing the phylacteries, their Greek name comes from phylsso which means to guard or protect and refers to something that preserves or defends, hence a fort or military station; preservative or defense; amulet or talisman (Rocci, cf. Arndt-Gingrich, 876). This latter definition points to a superstitious use of these boxes as protection against harm or demons, an evidence of less than total trust in a living God.
They enlarge the borders of their garments. These borders are the tassels with the blue cord to remind the wearer to remember the Lords ownership and obey all His commands (Num. 15:37-41; Deu. 22:12). However, the Law had not prescribed the length. So, to make them exceptionally long was popularly thought to distinguish the wearer as specially pious.
Note that Jesus does not condemn the wearing of phylacteries per se nor does He forbid the fringes. In fact, even He wore these tassels (Mat. 9:21 f; Mat. 14:36). Rather, He denounces the wearing of king-sized phylacteries and extra-long tassels that aimed at rendering the wearer more conspicuous to others as more conscientious and holy. But the scribes public strolling in long, flowing robes (stol: Mar. 12:38 = Luk. 20:46) intentionally sets them apart as persons of distinction. Broad fringes on their flowing robes combined to make their elegance also holy! Even if phylacteries were only worn during prayer, Pharisees loved to pray publicly! (Cf. Mat. 6:5; Edersheim, Life, I, 624f., esp. note 1, p. 625.)
Does this criticism of Pharisees distinctive dress bear on our approach to clothing? Jesus rejects external signs flashing the wearers piety. What of modern Christians who wear gaudy crosses for a Christian testimony? Contrast the unexceptional simplicity with which Jesus garbed Himself. How strikingly unlike the grand garments worn by the Pope and his imitators and colleagues!
Love of Power
Mat. 23:6 They love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues. (Cf. Luk. 11:43; contrast Joh. 13:4 f, Joh. 13:12-17.) The chief place signified prominence at those meals where guests would be invited. So, to be ushered to the best place meant recognition as someone of importance. (Cf. Josephus, Ant., XV, 2, 4; XX, 3, 2.) The custom of reclining on the left elbow on couches organized fan-like around three sides of a table, led people to consider the place farthest to the left as the most desirable. This position permitted the one reclining there to view the whole banquet table without having to lean back or turn his head. (Cf. Joh. 13:25; see I.S.B.E., 2015.)
The chief seats in the synagogues were located near the end of the building where the scrolls of the Law were kept in a chest called the holy ark. These seats faced the congregation and were occupied by its leadership. These places of honor represented power in the congregation, the equivalent of being ushered to a place on the speakers platform front and center in todays churches. There none could miss their sanctimonious pose. But they did not love such prominence merely for the psychological satisfaction of sitting up front. It was rather for the POWER that their ambition demanded to wield. Thus, their seeking precedence and prominence was all calculated to promote their own self-advancement. Such vain persons could have retorted, Well, SOMEONE has to sit in the chief seats! This honor is rightly mine: I earned it and I shall enjoy it!
According to Jesus, their mistake lies not in claiming what is their rightful privilege, but in their taking puerile delight in it, loving it, expecting it. Their resentment, when others were honored above them, accurately gauged how real and deep this self-worship was. This is no harmless pastime, because Jesus must expose this love of eminence and foolish pride of those whose ego-feeding depended on it (Luk. 14:7-11). Note even James and John were immune to this ambition (Mat. 20:20-28). This kind of self-love is an effective barrier to faith (Joh. 5:44)! John attacked this sin, naming the offender: Diotrephes, who loves to be first (3Jn. 1:9 f.). Sadly, the very disciples themselves who heard this warning, forgot it and squabbled over the best seats at the Last Supper (Luk. 22:24 as background for Joh. 13:2-17)!
Drive for Recognition
Mat. 23:7 (They love) the salutations in the marketplace, and to be called of men, Rabbi. The marketplace (= agor is Greek for the Latin forum) is not only the place where commerce was carried on, but was also a place of public concourse where public meetings assembled. Hence, to receive these ceremonious salutations in the marketplaces meant to be recognized as somebody important. To be called of men, Rabbi, meant a recognition of ones superior culture and grasp of the Law. This sin lies in loving these pompous titles and obsequious greetings and basking in the blighted glory of human praise. (Joh. 5:44; Joh. 12:43; Rom. 2:29; contrast 1Co. 4:1-5; 1Th. 2:6.) To seek to be called Rabbi is to pretend higher respect than that granted to ones earthly parents, because these only communicated ordinary physical life to the child, but the rabbi confers on him spiritual life. Rabbi is Hebrew: my Great One, but with the coloring of Master (krios) and not merely teacher (didskalos). (Kittel, T.W.N.T., VI, 962). From this point of view, the rabbi is higher than king, because, theoretically, he teaches the counsel and sound judgment, the understanding and moral strength by which kings reign and judges make laws. No wonder status-seekers in a religious state would seek to be publicly honored by this title! Nevertheless, Matthew Henry (V, 331) exposed the disqualification involved in turning into religious self-admiration what should have never been more than an example of good manners.
For him that is taught in the word to give respect to him that teaches is commendable enough in him that gives it; but for him that teaches to love it, and demand it, and affect it, to be puffed up with it and to be displeased if it be omitted, is sinful and abominable; and, instead of teaching, he has need to learn the first lesson in the school of Christ, which is humility.
The Essence of True Religion and the Character of Its Teachers
Mat. 23:8 But be not ye called Rabbi. This section (Mat. 23:8-12) is particularly addressed to His disciples. Note the emphatic pronoun, YOU, however (humes d), as opposed to the scribes. Those destined to become His official spokesmen would certainly feel the allure of this temptation, and even His followers with less spectacular gifts would be just as drawn to seek those gifts that led to the titles and honors too (1 Corinthians 12-14). This enticement would have been keenly felt by Jewish elders or those few doctors of the Law who became Christians, as they might not wish to discard the titles and the authority they previously knew. (Contrast Php. 3:4-11.) Nevertheless, most disciples feel tempted to confer such honors and titles on others, particularly their own deeply respected teachers (cf. Mat. 23:9 f.). This looks to the time when Jesus would be gone, as it would have been less likely for the disciples to call themselves Rabbi while the Master Himself was yet on earth with them.
But how could the disciples stop others from calling him Rabbi? The point is more probably the condemnation of expecting deference or demanding to be addressed this way.
Jesus gives two reasons for this injunction:
1.
One is your teacher.
a.
Anyone who has sensed the high holiness and divine origin of Jesus Christ cannot help but sense the chasmic distance that separates Him from every other human teacher, however holy or wise they may be. He is the final Word of God; they are but men to whom the word of God came, not its originators. (Cf. Joh. 10:35 f.) He is the absolutely perfect Revealer; they are but relatively imperfect expounders. His Word is Godsinfallible, authoritative, unmediated; theirs is a human interpretation, more or less correct, but possessing no more authority than the persuasion it carries in the mind of others as approximating the true sense of His word. Feel the majesty of Jesus deity as He widens the distance between Himself and every other human teacher, by claiming to be our only teacher, without the slightest embarrassment or apology (Mat. 23:10; Joh. 13:13).
b.
Avant-garde theologians and proud scholars must submit to this dictum as surely and as humbly as their less erudite brethren. In the absolute sense we must have only ONE THEOLOGIAN, Jesus Christ! In the academic world of Biblical and theological studies there will always be Christians with an intellectual grasp of the overall plan of God, broader than that of their brethren, or with specialized information in certain spheres of Christian knowledge of which others are uninformed. Scholarship per se is not in question here. Otherwise, there could be no distinctly Christian scribes (Mat. 13:52; Mat. 23:34) who love God with all their mind (Mat. 22:37) and no Christian teachers (Mat. 28:19; Eph. 4:11; 1Co. 12:29; 2Ti. 1:11; 2Ti. 2:2; Act. 13:1). But these latter must be people who never cease to be DISCIPLES of Jesus who aim to clarify and correctly apply the message of our one teacher.
c.
Where, then, does the Apostolic ministry enter in? Are these not our official teachers to reveal the mind of Christ (1Co. 2:6-16)? Indeed, there is no discipleship, not faithfulness to Jesus, that does not humbly submit to and faithfully continue in the Apostles doctrine (Act. 2:42; Gal. 4:14; 1Th. 2:13). To receive Jesus authorized messengers is to receive the Lord Himself (Mat. 10:40; Joh. 13:20; Luk. 10:16). However, to welcome the Apostles is only possible by believing and responding positively to their Spirit-given message; to do otherwise is to reject them, and, consequently, Jesus who sent them. This explains why the apostles doctrine is not really or merely theirs, but is the gospel of Christ, the doctrine of Christ (Gal. 1:6-11; 2Co. 4:5-7).
d.
How well Matthew himself learned this lesson of Jesus unique lordship! Although other Evangelists correctly refer to Jesus as rabbi (cf. Mar. 9:5; Mar. 10:51; Mar. 11:21; Joh. 1:38; Joh. 1:49; Joh. 3:2; Joh. 4:31; Joh. 6:25; Joh. 9:2; Joh. 11:8; Joh. 20:16), Matthew uses krie, Lord (Mat. 17:4 where Luke uses epistta, Master, Teacher, Doctor, Luk. 9:33; cf. Mat. 20:33 = Luk. 18:41, but Mark uses rabboun. None of Johns uses are parallel to Matthew.). Although these words may be considered synonymous, Matthews constant substitution of Lord for rabbi or teacher in the mouth of disciples, evidences an intention to teach that Jesus is no mere teacher in the standard Jewish sense of the word. Rather, He is the LORD of His disciples. The only disciple to use rabbi, in Matthews Gospel, is Judas Iscariot (Mat. 26:25; Mat. 26:49)!
2.
All ye are brethren.
a.
In this context, brethren implies a certain equality under the one Teacher. The uncomplicated simplicity of Christs Kingdom must not be spoiled by titles that mistakenly repeat the same aggressive awareness of rank and status that characterizes the very worldly society Jesus came to transform. Not only does titling certain brethren foster pride and a feeling of earned importance among those who are thus distinguished, but it also spawns jealousy and a sensation of lesser worth in those who do not. This splits Gods family into two categories: the worthy and the less worthy. It restructures Gods community along old pagan lines, violating the nature of Christs body (1 Corinthians 12; Rom. 12:3-8).
b.
Alford (228) commented:
Brethren: all substantially equalnone by office or precedence nearer to God than another; none standing between his brother and God. And the duty of all Christian teachers is to bring their hearers to the confession of the Samaritans in Joh. 4:42.
Splendid! However, even in the family from which this rich metaphor is taken, there are older and younger brothers whose judgment, information and experience differ from that of the others. Elders and deacons must still be qualified, teachers must still do their homework. Jesus is not sentencing the brilliant minds among His followers to plodding along a dull plateau of development or trudging along at the pace set by slower students of the Word. Nor is He damning the intellectual curiosity of the conscientious researcher. Rather, He is saying, No matter how much information you may acquire, your degrees and scholastic attainments do not lift you above your responsibility to be a BROTHER to all your brethren. He also devastates that bumptiousness and pride in personal achievements and worldly recognition that crows, We scholars . . . , Leading scholars teach that . . . , or The most advanced scholarships has proven that . . . , especially where the state of the questions involved is quite unsettled.
c.
So, how SHOULD Christians relate to their professors, teachers and preachers who are their psychological authority figures in the Kingdom? Distinguishing titles can be dropped without any loss, first and especially because, if these teachers intend to help people mature, they must be humble enough to see themselves as members of the larger family of God, not superior to it nor to its several members, including their own students. Second, because even the best of these titles smack of partiality, they may be dropped. Even to call one professor or preacher, Brother Fowler, while at the same time first-naming everyone else outside the professional chair or pulpit, immediately implies that, while everyone is theoretically equally a brother in Christ, some brothers are more equal than others, merely because of their expertise, experience or erudition!
This insidious partiality forces all of us to walk a tightrope between our respect for those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, . . . esteem them very highly in love because of their work (1Th. 5:12; Heb. 13:7; Heb. 13:17), while, contemporaneously, not addressing them by ecclesiastical titles like rabbi . . . father . . . master (Mat. 23:8-10).
Jesus could have argued: Do not be called Rabbi, because one is your teacher and you are all simply disciples, which would have shown that no one, however erudite, can ever surpass our common Teacher and must always learn from Him as an humble disciple. Nevertheless, He chose here to insist upon that common bond of brotherhood and belonging to each other that renders these stratifying titles absurd by comparison. So as to lay even more stress on our sense of family, Jesus passed from naming us brethren to naming our Father:
Mat. 23:9 And call no man your father on the earth. Father, here, cannot refer to ones own physical parent, since Jesus and the Apostles regularly spoke of this relationship positively, (Mat. 15:4-6; Mat. 21:31; Luk. 15:11-32; Heb. 12:7-11; Eph. 6:1-4, etc.). Rather, it is this precious association with our earthly fathers that Jesus uses to shape our initial concept of the heavenly Father (Mat. 7:9 ff.). For one is your Father, even he who is in heaven. The full criterion, by which our earthly parent is judged, is set by Him whose fatherhood furnishes the exalted standard of all fatherhood (Eph. 3:14 f.). Others may be our human fathers, but only God is rightly the Father of our spirits (Heb. 12:7-10). From this standpoint, why would anyone WANT to venerate an ultimately disappointing human being, when he belongs to the family of your heavenly Father? Who needs a mediating priesta father, Jewish, Latin, Greek or Protestant,when the King of the Universe is OUR FATHER?
Nevertheless, just as Jewish disciples tended to honor promised teachers of an earlier age as the Fathers because these giants were thought to have brought moral life to their spiritual children, begetting them, as it were, by their wise, life-giving doctrine (cf. Aboth 4:15; Sir. 44:1; Sir. 8:9, the prologue and chaps. 44:50), so Jesus disciples, too, would be tempted to perpetuate whatever misguided and misleading views the Fathers had taught. (Mat. 15:2; Mat. 15:12 f.; cf. Pirke Aboth, Sayings of the Fathers, a Pharisean treatise, and Roman Catholic dependence upon Church Tradition as one source of its present doctrine. Documents of The Second Vatican Council, 880888.) No amount of ecumenical wishful thinking can eliminate the fact that, because the modern Roman Catholic faith upholds the pope as the Holy Father, not merely as Peters successor, but as the true and legitimate, universal father and moderator of the universal Church, we must object to these claims of authority that rightly belong to God alone.
Contrary to Catholic use of Pauls reference to himself as father of the Corinthian Christians (1Co. 4:14 f.) or his calling Timothy his son in the faith (1Ti. 1:2) or Peters similar reference to Mark (1Pe. 5:13), it should be noticed that these are figurative expressions, not the creation of an honorary title to be taken literally. In Pauls case, he had literally converted these people personally, and so was, in a figurative way, their father, (cf. Phm. 1:10) just as he was the figurative mother of the Galatian Christians (Gal. 4:19). He was not making of this figurative relationship a badge of honor to exalt himself or even that they should exalt him above themselves. Rather, he urged that they remember this when tempted to exalt other ecclesiastical leaders who, by Catholic standards, should have been considered spiritual father (i.e. priests and popes) too. (See context of 1 Corinthians 1-3.)
How should we understand the fact that both Stephen (Act. 7:2) and Paul (Act. 22:1) addressed Sanhedrin members as fathers? Does not this violate Jesus express prohibition? Lenski (Acts, 899) answers: Brethren and Fathers is thus not to be understood from the Christian and spiritual but from the national standpoint . . . any wrong them who are in authority are honored by him as fathers should be honored. Their form of address is respectful and conciliatory, spoken as one under the authority of these national leaders as a member of the Jewish nation. It was a cultural carry-over, rather than a spiritual judgment of the councilors true fitness to lead the nation.
But this raises the question of our own cultural context: is it possible to honor all men (1Pe. 2:17), especially where they deserve it because of particularly noble, worthwhile achievements, without resorting to some expression of this fact stated in a name or title? Various commentaries conceive it possible to use titles and grant honors where especially deserved, truthful and modest. Further, even such titles as grandiose as Rabbi (my great One) or Pope (Father) have now become mere conventionalisms that denote the office without necessarily indicating respect and subservience on the part of the user. It would be less clear to modern hearers to speak of Mr. Karl Wojtyla rather than by his title, Pope John Paul II, and less clear to speak of a Jewish clergyman as Mr. Fishbein rather than as Rabbi Fishbein. Further, the user not only does not necessarily intend, but rather actually rejects, the original immodesty and presumption these titles originally communicated. Nevertheless, the continued wide-spread use of such titles, even though declassed to common designations, is unfortunate, because it perpetuates that gray area of confusion among those who really, however wrongly, accept the full significance of the titles, as well as among those who, while rejecting the spiritual implications of those pretentious designations, yet need a conventional word to refer to those figures who demand the titles.
Mat. 23:10 Neither be ye called master. Jesus says it both ways: Do not call others by pompous ecclesiastical titles, nor demand that others address you by them! Master (kathegets) anciently referred to any teacher, guide or leader, and in modern Greek is simply professor. The word does not refer to civil authorities nor to those who are lord or master of their slaves or servants concerning whom other instructions are given (Mat. 22:21; Rom. 13:7; 1Pe. 2:17 f.; Eph. 6:5-9). Master, rather, bespeaks that high, authoritative religious sense that rightly describes Jesus Christ, hence must not be granted to His inferiors. In fact, it is but a short step from assuming grandiose titles to assuming the authority and basking in the power they imply. But not lording it over those entrusted to you (1Pe. 5:1-4; 2Co. 1:24) gets forgotten by power-hungry, ladder-climbing wearers of titles, busy accrediting their own teachers, institutions and instruction.
After accepting acclaim as the Son of David, which everyone knew meant the Christ, Jesus asserts, For one is your master, even the Christ. In this context where He taught the high reverence to the ONE Father in heaven and now narrows earths theologians to the ONE Christ, this can be nothing short of a claim to be the only authoritative Teacher in Christianity, the only One who, along with the Father, is to be considered worthy of praise and veneration by titles. (Cf. also Mat. 11:25-27; Mat. 15:17-20; Mat. 15:27; Mat. 17:5; Mat. 28:18.)
You have one teacher . . . one Father who is in heaven . . . one master, the Christ. There is no time when we can say, On earth we have no teacher, father or master. His teaching office is never vacant, never needing vicars or a living teaching authority divinely inspired to communicate true doctrine. Jesus is ALWAYS our Teacher or Master for as long as God is our heavenly Father. We infer that He pictures these offices or functions as contemporaneous. So saying, Jesus taught three things:
1.
He forever freed us from servile submission to arrogant officialdom attempting to rule Gods people in the name of Christ, but in the spirit of the Devil! Our headquarters and our brains are not among men in any one city on earth. We are rightly independent of great assemblies that pass resolutions, approve doctrines and otherwise dictate faith and practice, and free from theological chairs that trifle with principles or doctor the faith.
2.
By means of three prohibitions and three reasons in three consecutive verses, He insistently and firmly placed us in total dependence upon Him, claiming full mastery over our thoughts, emotions, conscience and will. So doing, He developed our initiative and sense of personal responsibility to know and to do Gods will, quite independently of what others around us may do or think. Our very spiritual existence comes, not from some rabbi, earthly father or spiritual guide, but from God through Christ (1Co. 1:30 f.).
3.
Jesus Christ is as much our Teacher and only Theologian while He is physically away, as God is always our Father, although He never came to earth. So, although our Headquarters are in heaven (Php. 3:20 f.; Col. 3:1 ff.), He is able to rule, guard and feed us on earth as easily as our heavenly Father is able to beget, love and care for us from there. We need no human father-image or vicar of Jesus Christ, once we understand what we have in Him!
The Standard of True Greatness
Mat. 23:11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. (Study notes on Mat. 18:1-35, the Lords power structure; Mat. 20:26 f.; Mar. 9:35; Mar. 10:43 f.; Luk. 9:48; Luk. 22:26.) Jesus statement has the dual-toned ring of a promise and of an order, since commands in Hebrew are often stated in future indicative. (Cf. You shall not kill!)
1.
Command: Let him who is truly a servant be nominated to the high posts of importance and honor in the Church. Only such are qualified.
2.
Promise: Only the disciple who humbly serves others shall be considered greatest among Christians and rank highest in Gods favor.
Here is the key to solving the dilemma as to how to react to our authority figures: no one is truly great among Christians who is unwilling to be the servant of all, the humblest, most unassuming, most unpretentious of all. The truly great wear only one title: servant, because their one business in life is that of stooping to lift everyone up to God (1Co. 6:19 f.).
The secret of balance is to be found in that high regard we must have for everyone else who does not happen to be our superior, teacher or authority figure. That is, if we raise our level of appreciation for every single person on the basis of their importance to God, be they Christian or not, and, if at the same time, we reverence in our hearts Christ as Lord, we will probably not fall into that servile obsequiousness toward certain authority figures that Jesus here disapproves. Rather, our adoration of a perfect Lord and Master should liberate us from getting overexcited about even the best of human teachers, fraught as they are with all-too-human weaknesses. Our sensitive concern for the weakest, the wobbliest, the less-than-lovely people, that seeks to elevate them to the level of kings and queens whom we may serve as unto Christ, will not only make new men and women out of them as they respond to this unexpected, new kind of love. It will also transform us to the point that we recognize our authority figures to be of only relative importance anyway. We begin to see them as useful to us only as they, by example and teaching, show us how to perform our Christian ministry.
In short, if our teacher does not measure up to the standard of servanthood, he is not worthy of the title, and no granting him the title will substitute for measuring up! If he measures up, he will be the first to teach us not to tack the title on him. Either way, the title is superfluous.
The Fall of the Pharisee
Mat. 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted. (Cf. Mat. 18:4; Luk. 14:11; Luk. 18:14. An ancient principle: Pro. 11:2; Pro. 15:33; Pro. 16:18; Pro. 18:12; Pro. 22:4; Pro. 29:23; Isa. 66:2; Dan. 4:30-37.) Even while announcing the ruin of proud, self-exalting, presumptuous people, Jesus still does not crush out our desire to advance by bold and active enterprise and initiative. Rather, He redirects our aggressive energies into useful channels where our ambition can do some real good. Anyone who really cares about Gods approval and promises of exaltation will humble himself by putting himself at the service of everyone (Php. 2:3-8; Joh. 13:1-7). James (Mat. 4:6; Mat. 4:10) unblushingly promotes exaltation by God as a valid motivation for humbling ourselves. (Cf. 1Pe. 5:5-6.)
Who will be the humbling and who the exalting?
1.
MEN? Even in this world, unbelievers and Christians alike sooner or later recognize that true greatness which is rightly the possession of those wise individuals whose service to mankind is born of real, unstinting concern for others. We also tend to distrust and deflate those self-important people who consider themselves Gods elder brother. If we share the mind of Christ, we must resist the pretentiousness and arrogance of pushy church members who love the pre-eminence (3Jn. 1:9), steam-rollering others while promoting their own pet programs or views. (1Co. 3:21; 1Co. 14:38; 2 Corinthians 10-13; Gal. 2:4 f; Gal. 4:17; Gal. 5:9 f.; Eph. 5:3-12; Php. 2:21; Php. 3:2; Php. 3:18; Col. 2:8; Col. 2:16 ff.; 1Ti. 6:3-5; 2Ti. 2:15-18; 2Ti. 3:1-9; 2Ti. 3:12 f.; Tit. 1:10-16; Tit. 3:9-11.) Similarly, Christians are exhorted to honor those unassuming leaders, among them who labor in humble, useful service on Christs behalf, not abusing their position, but quietly, loyally working (1Co. 16:15-18; 1Ti. 5:17 ff.; Rom. 16:1 f.; Heb. 13:7; Heb. 13:17).
2.
GOD!
a.
Even before the final Judgment, God breaks the pride of Pharaoh (Exodus 4-14), Sennacherib (Isaiah 36, 37), Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4; Jer. 50:17 f; Jer. 51:34), Herod Agrippa (Act. 12:20-24) and numerous lesser dignitaries (Mal. 2:1-9). Even non-Biblical Jewish thought, undoubtedly based on divine revelations, grasped this, (Cf. Sir. 1:28 ff.) God can exalt or debase men in this life as well as in the next!
b.
Final judgment, with its exaltation to eternal glory or its humiliation and dishonor, is His prerogative (1Co. 4:5; Joh. 5:44; 2Co. 10:18; 2Co. 5:9 f.). Our judgment is relative and fallible, while His never fails to hand down the perfect verdict. Honest self-humiliation on its knees, with open-eyed wonder will have the happy surprise of seeing the Almighty Creator and Ruler of the universe stoop to lift His servant (Isa. 57:15; Rom. 14:4). As one wise Christian put it, The only degree worth the effort to attain it is the A.U.G. Degree, i.e. approved unto God! (2Ti. 2:15).
How radically Jesus overturns the pagan structures that prevail, not merely in worldly society, but also in so-called Christian institutions, conventions and congregations! Rather than automatically single out the Churchs highest officials, the Lord hands the crown to those humble, often obscure, people who patiently minister in His name at whatever level they are needed and can function. Rather than becoming proud of achieving the highest levels of professional competence, these simply give themselves unselfishly in generous Christian ministry. Matthew Henry (V, 332) summarized it thus:
In this world the humble have the honor of being accepted with the holy God and respected by all wise and good men; of being qualified for, and often called out to, the most honorable services; for honor is like the shadow, which flees from those that pursue it, and grasp at it, but follows those that flee from it. However, in the other world, they that have humbled themselves in contrition for their sin in compliance with their God, and in condescension to their brethren, shall be exalted to inherit the throne of glory; shall not only be owned, but crowned, before angels and men.
FACT QUESTIONS
1.
What are phylacteries? In what does making them broad consist? What was the Pharisees purpose for doing this?
2.
What was the purpose of enlarging the borders of ones garments? What were these borders and why did the Pharisees enlarge them?
3.
What was the chief place at feasts?
4.
Where were the chief seats in the synagogues generally located?
5.
What greetings addressed to religious leaders did Jesus condemn?
6.
What reason does Jesus assign for not calling any given person teacher?
7.
What reason does Jesus assign for not calling any man on earth father?
8.
What Scriptures help determine whether He meant ones spiritual or physical father?
9.
What reason did Jesus assign for calling no man master?
10.
Show how the deity of Christ is revealed in this section?
11.
According to Jesus, who is the greatest, or on what basis is true greatness determined?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(5) To be seen of men.As with a clear insight into the root-evil of Pharisaism, and of all kindred forms of the religious life, our Lord fixes, as before in Mat. 6:1-18, on the love of mans applause as that which vitiated the highest ethical teaching and the most rigorous outward holiness. The fact, which we learn from Joh. 12:42-43, that many among the chief rulers were in their hearts convinced of His claims, and yet were afraid to confess Him, gives a special emphasis to the rebuke. They may have been among those who listened to it with the consciousness that He spake of them.
Phylacteries.The Greek word (phylacterion) from which the English is derived signifies safe-guard or preservative, and was probably applied under the idea that the phylacteries were charms or amulets against the evil eye or the power of evil spirits. This was the common meaning of the word in later Greek, and it is hardly likely to have risen among the Hellenistic Jews to the higher sense which has sometimes been ascribed to it, of being a means to keep men in mind of the obligations of the Law. Singularly enough, it is not used by the LXX. translators for the frontlets of Exo. 13:16, Deu. 6:8; Deu. 11:18 and the only place in the Old Testament where it is found is for the cushions of Eze. 13:18. The Hebrew word in common use from our Lords time onward has been tephillin, or Prayers. The things so named were worn by well-nigh all Jews as soon as they became Children of the Law, i.e., at thirteen. They consisted of a small box containing the four passages in which frontlets are mentioned (Exo. 13:2-16; Deu. 6:4-9; Deu. 11:13-22), written on four slips of vellum for the phylactery of the head, and on one for that of the arm. This is fastened by a loop to thin leather straps, which are twisted in the one case round the arm, with the box on the heart, in the other, round the head, with the box on the brow. They were worn commonly during the act of prayer (hence the Hebrew name), and by those who made a show of perpetual devotion and study of the Law, during the whole day. The Pharisees, in their ostentatious show of piety, made either the box or the straps wider than the common size, and wore them as they walked to and fro in the streets, or prayed standing (Mat. 6:5), that men might see and admire them.
The borders of their garments.The word is the same as the hem of the garment (Mat. 9:20) worn by our Lord. The practice rested on Num. 15:37-41, which enjoined a ribband or thread of blue (the colour symbolical of heaven) to be put into the fringe or tassels of the outer cloak or plaid. The other threads were white, and the number of threads 613, as coinciding with the number of precepts in the Law, as counted by the scribes. The fringes in question were worn, as we see, by our Lord (see Notes on Mat. 9:20; Mat. 14:36), and probably by the disciples. It was reserved for the Pharisees to make them so conspicuous as to attract mens notice.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Phylacteries The Greek word signifying preservatives. The phylactery was a passage of Scripture, written on parchment, folded up, and tied on the forehead, so that it should be always in front of their eyes. This was a kind of mechanical observance of Deu 6:8, where Moses says of his laws: “Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.” The phylactery became in popular estimation, an amulet to repel demons, diseases, and other evils. Enlarge the borders of their garments Moses had ordered the Israelites to distinguish themselves from the heathen by fringes of blue, in the borders of their garments. So, as circumcision distinguished their bodies, these borders distinguished their dress. To mark their intense Judaism, these men affected a very broad border. A strong exhibition of national feeling in this way was intended to secure popularity. It was done in order to be seen of men.
a “But all their works they do to be seen of men,
b For they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders (or tassels) of their garments,
b And love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
a And the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi.”
Note that in ‘a’ they want to be seen of men and in the parallel they want men to admire them and salute them and call them ‘Rabbi’ (my great one). In ‘b’ and its parallel we have a description of the works that they were good at and put a lot of effort into, which were all for self-aggrandisement.
But not only did they inflict heavy burdens on people, they also did what they did in order to be ‘seen of men’. That had become more important to them than their actual obedience. The emphasis here is thus on the fact that they were mainly all outward show. They did many of the right things, but they did them for totally the wrong reasons (see Mat 6:1-18). Their whole life was a public display in order that they might obtain credit for themselves, both before God (Luk 18:11-12) and before men (‘to be seen of men’). And yet at the same time they actually convinced themselves that they were being ‘righteous’. For were not the things that they did proof of their obedience to the Law? They did not appreciate the fact that those who are truly righteous are those who are least aware of the fact. Compare here especially Mat 6:1-2; Mat 6:5; Mat 6:16. The ideas in mind here are thus very similar to those in the Sermon on the Mount.
But they worked very hard in one way. ‘They made large phylacteries.’ Phylacteries were leather pouches which contained citations of the Law (e.g. usually Exo 13:1-16; Deu 6:4-9; Deu 11:13-21, although the texts could vary as we see from examples from Qumran) which they wore on their forehead and on their arm. This was done in literal fulfilment of Exo 13:9; Deu 11:18. They were mainly worn at morning and evening prayers, although some had taken to wearing them all the time. But they were not satisfied with simply wearing them. Just small ones would have achieved their purpose of reminding them of God’s law. The point here is that they manufactured and wore large ones so that everyone could see how pious they were, for all would know that they had been able to write the citations in large letters (compare Gal 6:11 where large letters were used for the right reason, to glorify Jesus), and so be more aware of the need to observe them.
The tassels that every Jewish man wore on his cloak were again intended to be a reminder of the commandments of God (Num 15:37-38). So these Scribes and Pharisees wore very large ones so that no one could be in any doubt of their respect for God’s commandments. By this they made their cloaks longer, and those tassels would sway ostentatiously on their cloaks as they went around paradoxically misusing or misrepresenting the Law of God. These were, of course, but two examples of their whole attitude towards life. Compare the idea of their blowing trumpets in order to draw attention to their righteous acts in Mat 6:2. And Jesus was not just speculating about this. He had seen it.
Some, however, see the enlarging of the borders as referring to some way in which they drew attention to their own distinctiveness by the size of a type of special border on their cloaks. But either way the point is the same. They were trying to draw attention to how righteous they were to be seen to be.
‘They love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues.’ Furthermore they were men of ‘love’. They loved the chief place at the feasts they went to, vying for the top positions (compare Luk 14:7-11), and once they had achieved them they loved sitting there aware that men were looking at them admiringly. The tables were often arranged in a U formation with the bottom of the U indicating the placing of the chief tables, to which all could look. The central table would be occupied by the host with his most important guests on his right hand and his left (compare James’ and John’s request in Mat 20:21 demonstrating how near to this attitude the Apostles were). And then the places would go in descending order of importance. Thus they were delighted when they were placed near the top. And they loved the chief seats in the synagogues, where chairs would be set in the front, possibly on a platform, so that they could sit in them and face the people. We can no doubt recognise a similarity with our own customs today. But it is not to be so among Christians, for none are more important than any others before God.
‘And the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi.’ And they loved the respectful salutations in the marketplaces as they moved around, especially because of the recognised principle that the lesser saluted the greater. For they loved not only to be seen of men but for their superiority to be verbally acknowledged, and to hear men calling them ‘Rabbi’ (my great one) which was not yet an official title, but was regularly used of respected Teachers (it was used as a courtesy of both John the Baptist and Jesus, although neither sought it or wanted it). One of their main aims in life was thus to be highly esteemed, and to be treated as though they were important, and thus be publicly acknowledged as such. It made all their religious activity worthwhile. It was very much a case of ‘us’ and ‘them’.
Their passion for honor from men:
v. 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,
v. 6. and love the uppermost rooms at feasts and the chief seats in the synagogues,
v. 7. and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
In public, where they were before the eyes of the people, the Pharisees and scribes were models of piety and virtue. Their works, all their public acts, were done with that object in mind, for they were actors that performed beautifully. A few instances of such hypocritical behavior are given. God had commanded the Jews, Deu 6:8, that they should bind His words for a sign upon the hand and as frontlets between the eyes. This the Jewish leaders explained in the literal sense. Hence the phylacteries, or remembrancers, strips of vellum or parchment, about an inch wide and from twelve to eighteen inches long, on which were written Deu 11:13-21; Deu 6:4-9; Exo 13:11-16; Exo 13:1-10. These were placed in tiny chests or boxes, one of which was fastened to the forehead, for the intellect and mind, the other to the left arm, for the heart. The Pharisees made these remembrancers of the Law exceptionally large, either in the size of the parchment or of the letters in which the texts were written. In the same way the Pharisees exaggerated in the matter of the borders, tassels, or fringes on their garments, which the Jews wore according to Num 15:37-40, to remind them of the commandments of the Lord. They were fastened to the garments with blue ribbons, since blue was the symbolical color of God, of heaven, of His covenant, and of faithfulness. Verses from the Law were usually woven into these strips. In making these borders very wide and conspicuous, the scribes and Pharisees wanted to parade their zeal for the Law of God. In the same way they dearly loved, and always tried to get for themselves, the highest seat, the first sofa, the place of honor at a festive meal; they always chose the seat reserved for the elders in the synagogue; their vanity craved the formal address of the public teacher, when the lay people deferentially called them Rabbi. It was an inordinate, a sickening ambition.
Mat 23:5-7. All their works they do, &c. “Any good action which they happen to perform, is vitiated by the principle from which it proceeds. They do it with a view to popular applause, and not from a regard to God, or from a love of goodness. They are proud and arrogant, as is plain from their affected gravity of dress, from the anxietywhich they discover to get the principal seats at feasts and all public meetings, as belonging to them on account of their superior worth, and from their courting to be saluted in the streets with particular marks of respect, and to be addressed with pompous and high sounding titles of rabbi, father, and master, thinking such public acknowledgement of their merit due from all who meet them.” Concerning the Phylacteries, see the note on Deu 6:8. What the borders of their garments, or fringes ( ) were, may be gathered from Deu 22:12. From this use of the garment on which the fringes were to be put, it is supposed to have been the veil, which they then wore on their heads; and the fringes are thought to have been tufts of twined thread, fastened to the four corners of it with a ribbon, in a manner, that each tuft hung at a little distance from the corner of the veil to which it was fastened. Hence we see the propriety of the expression, they make the fringes of their garments great, or large; hence also we learn that these fringes were considered as badges of holiness, and that the Pharisees wore a larger kind of them than ordinary, to give themselves the appearance of uncommon gravity, piety, and wisdom. The doctors had seats by themselves, with their backs towards the pulpit in which the law was read, and their faces towards the people. These were accounted the most honourable, and therefore these ambitious Scribes and Pharisees contended for them. The word rabbi properly signifies great, and was prefixed to the names of those doctors who had rendered themselves remarkable by the extent of their learning; or who were the authors of new schemes in divinity, heads of sects, whose fame had gained them many followers. The Jewish doctors were particularly fond of this title, because it was a high compliment paid to their understanding, gave them vast authority withtheir disciples, and a very significant appearance in the eyes of the world. See Macknight, and Gale’s Sermons, vol. 1: p. 80.
Mat 23:5-7 . Comp. Luk 11:43 f.
, amulets, were the , the strips of parchment with passages of Scripture, viz. Deu 11:13-22 ; Deu 6:4-10 , Exo 13:11-17 ; Exo 13:1-11 , written upon them. They were enclosed in small boxes, and, in accordance with Exo 13:9 ; Exo 13:16 , Deu 6:8 ; Deu 11:18 , worn during prayer, some on the forehead, some on the left arm next the heart. They were intended to remind the wearer that it was his duty to fulfil the law with head and heart, and, at the same time, to serve the purpose of protecting him from the influence of evil spirits. Joseph. Antt. iv. 8. 13; Lund, Jd. Heiligith., ed. Wolf, p. 898 ff.; Keil, Arch. I. p. 342 f.
] they broaden their , i.e. they make them broader than those of others, in order that they may thereby become duly conspicuous. Corresponding to this is: , they enlarge. On the , see on Mat 9:20 .
] the foremost couch at table, i.e. according to Luk 14:8 ff. (Joseph. Antt. xv. 2. 4), the uppermost place on the divan, which the Greeks also regarded as the place of honour (Plut. Symp. p. 619 B). The Persians and Romans, on the other hand, looked upon the place in the middle as the most distinguished. The term is met with only in the synoptical Gospels and the Fathers. Suidas: .
, ] , ( , Joh 1:39 ; with yod paragogic). The reduplication serves to show how profound the reverence is. Comp. Mar 14:15 ; Mat 7:21 f. For the view that Rabbi (like our “Dr.”) was the title used in addressing learned teachers as early as the time of Jesus (especially since Hillel’s time), see Lightfoot, also Pressel in Herzog’s Encykl. XII. p. 471; Ewald, Gesch. Chr. p. 305.
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,
Ver. 5. To be seen of men ] Theatrically, thrasonically, and for ostentation, as stage players, or painted faces. See Trapp on “ Mat 6:2 “ See Trapp on “ Mat 6:5 “ Saints more seek to be good than seem to be so.
They make broad their phylacteries ] That is, conservatories, so called. 1. Because by the use of them the law was kept in remembrance. 2. Because the superstitious Pharisees conceited, that by the wearing of them about their necks, themselves might be kept from danger, as by so many spells: what they were, see the notes above, on Mat 22:40 .
Enlarge the borders of their garments ] God had charged the Pharisees to bind the law to their hand, and before their eyes, Deu 6:8 , wherein (as Jerome and Theophylact well interpret it) he meant the meditation and practice of his law. They (saith a learned author) like unto the foolish patient, which when the physician bids him take the prescript, eats up the paper; a if they could but get a list of parchment upon their left arm and next their heart, and another scroll to tie upon their forehead, and four corners of fringe, or (if these be denied) a red thread in their hand, thought they might say, “Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have done the commandment of the Lord,” 1Sa 15:13 . What was this but, as Mr Tyndale said in another case, to think to quench their thirst by sucking the ale bowl?
a Ac si puellus audito patris pii vestigiis insistendum, patris iter facientis singula vestigia observaret, et in iisdem pedes suos poneret.
5 7. ] But whatever they do perform, has but one motive.
., Heb. Totaphoth, or subsequently and more generally, Tephillin (see Gesen. Thes. Hebr., and Buxtorf, Lex. Rabbin.), were strips of parchment with certain passages of Scripture, viz. Exo 13:11-16 ; Exo 13:1-10 ; Deu 11:13-21 ; Deu 6:4-9 , written on them, and worn on the forehead between the eyes, on the left side next the heart, and on the left arm. The name in the text was given because they were considered as charms. They appear not to have been worn till after the captivity; and are still in use among the Rabbinical Jews. Their use appears to have arisen from a superstitious interpretation of Exo 13:9 ; Deu 6:8-9 . See Jos. Antt. iv. 8. 13. The fringes were commanded to be worn for a memorial, Num 15:38 . See note on ch. Mat 9:20 .
Mat 23:5-7 . The foregoing statement is of course to be taken cum grano . Teachers who absolutely disregarded their own laws would soon forfeit all respect. In point of fact they made a great show of zeal in doing. Jesus therefore goes on to tax them with acting from low motives.
Mat 23:5 . , etc., in so far as they comply with their rules they act with a view to be seen of men. This is a repetition of an old charge (Mat 6 ). , etc.: illustrative instances drawn from the phylacteries and the tassels attached to the upper garment, the former being broadened, the latter lengthened to attract notice. The phylacteries ( ) were an admirable symbol at once of Pharisaic ostentation and Pharisaic make-believe. They were little boxes attached to the forehead and the left arm near the heart, containing pieces of parchment with certain texts written on them (Exo 13:1-16 ; Deu 6:4-10 ; Deu 11:13-22 ) containing figurative injunctions to keep in memory God’s laws and dealings, afterwards mechanically interpreted, whence these visible symbols of obedience on forehead and arm. The size of the phylacteries indexed the measure of zeal, and the wearing of large ones was apt to take the place of obedience. It was with the Pharisees as with Carlyle’s advertising hatter, who sent a cart through the street with a huge hat in it instead of making good hats. For details on phylacteries and fringes consult works on Jewish antiquities. Lund, Jdiscken Heiligthmer (1701), has a chapter (p. 796) on the dress of the Pharisees with pictorial illustrations. It has been discussed whether the name . points to the keeping of the law or to the use of these things as amulets to ward off harm. The former was doubtless originally in view, but the superstitious abuse would soon creep in. The word is the equivalent in Hellenistic Greek for the Chaldee , prayers.
for to be seen = to be gazed upon as a spectacle. Same word as “see” in Mat 22:11.
for = for the purpose. Greek. pros. App-104.
phylacteries. Greek. phulakterion. Occ only here. See notes, &c, on Exo 13:9. Deu 6:8. Reference to Pentateuch App-92and App-117.
the borders = the fringes. Reference to Pentateuch (Num 15:37-41. Deu 22:12). Originally a mark of separation between Israel and the surrounding nations. Compare Luk 8:44.
5-7.] But whatever they do perform, has but one motive.
., Heb. Totaphoth, or subsequently and more generally, Tephillin (see Gesen. Thes. Hebr., and Buxtorf, Lex. Rabbin.), were strips of parchment with certain passages of Scripture, viz. Exo 13:11-16; Exo 13:1-10; Deu 11:13-21; Deu 6:4-9, written on them, and worn on the forehead between the eyes, on the left side next the heart, and on the left arm. The name in the text was given because they were considered as charms. They appear not to have been worn till after the captivity; and are still in use among the Rabbinical Jews. Their use appears to have arisen from a superstitious interpretation of Exo 13:9; Deu 6:8-9. See Jos. Antt. iv. 8. 13. The fringes were commanded to be worn for a memorial, Num 15:38. See note on ch. Mat 9:20.
Mat 23:5. , but) sc. although they appear to do many good things.-, phylacteries) see Exo 13:9; Exo 13:16; Deu 6:8; Deu 11:18.-, fringes) see Num 15:38.
phylacteries
Passages of Scripture enclosed in a small case, bound upon arm or forehead, Deu 6:8.
all: Mat 6:1-16, 2Ki 10:16, Luk 16:15, Luk 20:47, Luk 21:1, Joh 5:44, Joh 7:18, Joh 12:43, Phi 1:15, Phi 2:3, 2Th 2:4
they make: Deu 6:8, Pro 3:3, Pro 6:21-23
the borders: Mat 9:20, Num 15:38, Num 15:39, Deu 22:12
Reciprocal: Exo 13:9 – a sign Exo 13:16 – frontlets Lev 13:32 – yellow hair Deu 11:18 – a sign Ecc 7:16 – Be not Isa 1:12 – When Isa 57:12 – General Zec 7:5 – did Mat 5:16 – that Mat 14:36 – hem Mat 23:28 – ye also Mar 2:18 – Why Luk 20:46 – which Joh 7:4 – there Act 5:2 – laid 1Co 13:3 – though I bestow 2Co 8:21 – not 2Co 10:7 – ye look Gal 6:12 – as desire Rev 3:2 – thy works
23:5
Their works refers to the things these hypocrites did, which were done with a vain motive and that they might be seen of men. “Make broad their phylacteries” may be explained by a quotation from Smith’s Bible Dictionary as follows: “Phylacteries were strips of parchment, on which were written four passages of Scripture, Exo 13:2-17; Deu 6:4-9; Deu 6:13-23, in an ink prepared for the purpose. They were then rolled up in a case of black calfskin, which was attached to a stiffer piece of leather, having a thong one finger broad and one and a half cubits long. They were placed at the bend of the left arm. Those worn on the forehead were written on four strips of parchment, and put into four little cells within a square case on which the letter . . . was written. The square had two thongs, on which Hebrew letters were inscribed. That phylacteries were used as amulets [charms] is certain and was very natural. The expression ‘they make broad their phylacteries,’ Mat 23:5, refers not so much to the phylactery itself, which seems to have been a prescribed breadth, as to the case in which the parchment was kept, which the Pharisees, among their other pretentious customs, Mar 7:3-4; Luk 5:33, etc., made as conspicuous as they could. It is said that the Pharisees wore them always, whereas the common people only used them at prayers.” Borders is from KRASPEDON which Thayer defines, “A little appendage hanging down from the edge of the mantle or cloak.” He explains his definition, “The Jews had such appendages attached to their mantles to remind them of the law, according to Num 15:37.” For more detailed comments on this curious subject, see those at Num 15:37-41 in volume 1 of the Old Testament Commentary.
But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments.
[They make broad their phylacteries.] These four places of the law, Exo 13:3-10; Exo 13:11-16; Deu 6:5-9; Deu 11:13-21; being writ upon two parchment labels (which they called tephillin), were carried about with them constantly with great devotion, being fastened to their forehead and their left arm. To the forehead, in that place where the pulse of an infant’s brain is. This of the forehead was most conspicuous, and made broad; hence came that, “Let nobody pass by the synagogue while prayers are saying there. — But if he hath phylacteries upon his head, he may pass by, because they show that he is studious of the law.” — “It is not lawful to walk through burying-places with phylacteries on one’s head, and the book of the law hanging at one’s arm.”
They are called in Greek phylacteries; that is, observatories; because they were to put them in mind of the law; and perhaps they were also called preservatories; because they were supposed to have some virtue in them to drive away devils: “It is necessary that the phylacteries should be repeated at home a-nights, to drive away devils.”
Concerning the curious writing of the phylacteries; see Maimonides on Tephellin. Concerning their strings, marked with certain small letters, see Tosaphoth on Megillah. Concerning the repeating of them, see both the Talmuds in Beracoth. How the Jews did swear touching their phylacteries; see Maimonides in Shevuoth; and how God is brought in swearing by the phylacteries; see Tanchum.
Our Saviour does not so much condemn the bare wearing of them, as the doing it out of pride and hypocrisy. It is not unlikely that he wore them himself, according to the custom of the country: for the children of the Jews were to be brought up from their infancy in saying the phylacteries; that is, as soon as they were capable of being catechised. The scribes and Pharisees made theirs very broad and visible, that they might obtain a proportional fame and esteem for their devotion with the people; these things being looked upon as arguments of the study of the law, and signs of devotion.
[Enlarge the borders of their garments.] See Num 15:38; Deu 22:12 — “He that takes care of the candle of the sabbath, his children shall be the disciples of wise men. He that takes care to stick up labels against the posts shall obtain a glorious house; and he that takes care of making borders to his garment, shall obtain a good coat.”
Mat 23:5. But all their works. Their extensive routine of duty was not really religious, but performed with this motive: to be seen of men. Self-righteousness rests on pride, and, inevitably becoming exhibitional, betrays its origin.
For they make broad their phylacteries. Small slips of parchment, on which passages from the law were written, usually worn at time of prayer on the left arm and the forehead. (The custom was derived from a literal understanding of Exo 13:16, and the passages inscribed were four in number: Exo 12:2-10; Exo 13:11-21; Deu 6:4-9; Deu 11:18-21.) The name, from the Greek word meaning to guard, was probably suggested by the command of Exo 13:10, where this word occurs. Afterwards the idea of a charm or amulet guarding from danger naturally came in. Making them broad probably refers to the case in which the parchment was kept. The latter was of a prescribed size, as indeed nearly everything connected with their use had been made a matter of Rabbinical rule. As our Lord does not condemn the practice itself, but only its abuse, it has been inferred that He Himself used phylacteries; but this cannot be proven. It is said that the Pharisees wore them constantly, but the common people only at prayers. The accompanying cut shows how they were worn as frontlets. When used on the left arm, the leather thong was made into a little knot of peculiar shape (like the Hebrew letter Yod) near the bend of the arm, and then wound in a spiral line round the arm and to the end of the middle finger. The minute regulations in regard to phylacteries form a curious confirmation of the belittling tendency of formalism. Similar external badges of professed religious feeling have been used in all ages, from the same motives and with the same tendency.
Enlarge the borders of their garments. Of their garments is not found in the correct text, but is necessarily understood. In Num 15:38, the Israelites were bidden to wear fringes about their outer garment, fastened to it with a blue ribbon, to distinguish them from other nations, and to remind them of their duty to obey the law. The usage may have existed before that passage attached a symbolical meaning to it. The fringe may have been the ordinary mode of preventing the edge of the robe from unravelling, and the blue ribbon was useful in strengthening the border. The Pharisees, as sticklers for the rigid observance of the law, made these fringes larger than others. All these external badges had proper symbolical meanings. Lange: Blue was the symbolical color of heaven, the color of God, of His covenant, and of faithfulness to that covenant. The tassels themselves signified flowers, or birds; probably pomegranates, and these crimson, and not blue, as the ribbons were. Thus they were remembrancers that fidelity to the covenant should flourish; or they were tokens that the flower of life was love, and that love must spring from faithfulness to the covenant. But the Pharisees, however significant their ritualism, murdered Him to whom it pointed. It is a short step from religious pageantry to religious pride. Canstein: Pharisaic folly; elegant Bibles and books of prayer, and no devotion in the heart.
In these words our blessed Saviour admonishes his disciples and the multitude to take heed of imitating the Pharisees in their ostentation and hypocrisy, in their ambition and vain-glory; and he instances, in three particulars, wherein they expressed it:
1. All their works, says Christ, they do to be seen of men. To do good works that men may see them, is a duty; but to do all or any of our works to be seen of men, is hypocrisy.
2. They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments. These phylacteries were certain scrolls and labels of parchment, in which were written the ten commandments, and some sections of the law; these they tied to their foreheads, and pinned upon their left sleeve, that the law of God might be continually before their eyes, and perpetually in their remembrance. This ceremony they judged God prescribed them, Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes Deu 6:8. By enlarging the borders of their garments, our Saviour points at the fringes and blue ribbons which the Jews did wear upon their garments, in obedience to the command, wear upon their garments, Num 15:37-38. As the threads in those fringes and ribbons close woven together, did represent the connection, complication, and inseparable conjunction of God’s commandments among themselves; so the wearing of these fringes was to put them in mind of the law of God, that which way soever they turned their eyes, they might meet with some pious admonition to keep the law of God. Now the vain-glorious Pharisees, that they might be thought more mindful of the law of God than other men, did make their phylacteries broader, and their fringes thicker and longer than other men.
3. They fondly affected and ambitiously contended for the first and uppermost seats in all conventions, as at feast, and in the synagogues, and loved to have titles of honour, such as rabbi, master, father, and doctor, put upon them. Now that which our Saviour condemns, is the Pharisees fond affection of these little things, and unduly seeking their own honour and glory. It was not their taking, but their loving, the uppermost rooms at feasts, that Christ condemns.
From the whole, Note, 1. That hypocrites are fond of affecting ceremonial observations and outward parts of commanded duties, neglecting the substance of religion itself. These Pharisees were carrying a library of God’s law on their clothes, scarce a letter of it in their hearts. They wore the law of God, as frontlets before their eyes, but not engraven on the tables of their hearts.
Observe, 2. That the nature of hypocrisy is to study more to seem religious in the sight of men, than to be religious indeed before God. The hypocrite is the world’s saint, and not God’s: he courts the world’s acceptation more than the divine favour and approbation.
Mat 23:5-7. All their works they do to be seen of men They have the praise of men in view in all their actions. Hence they are constant and abundant in those duties of religion which come under the observation of men; but with respect to those that are of a more spiritual nature, and lie between God and their own souls, or should be performed in the retirements of their closets, they desire to be excused. As the mere form of godliness will procure them a name to live, which is all they aim at; they therefore trouble not themselves about the power of it, which is essential to being alive indeed. They make broad their phylacteries The Jews understanding those words literally, It shall be as a token upon thy hand, and as frontlets between thine eyes, (Exo 13:16;) And thou shalt bind these words for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, (Deu 6:8,) used to wear little scrolls of paper or parchment bound on their wrists and foreheads, on which several texts of Scripture were written. These they supposed, as a kind of charm, would preserve them from danger. And hence they seemed to have been called phylacteries, or preservatives. See the notes on these passages. And enlarge the borders (or fringes) of their garments Which God had enjoined them to wear, to remind them of doing all the commandments, Num 15:38. These, as well as their phylacteries, the Pharisees affected to wear broader and larger than other men. And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, &c. In which guests of the first quality were used to sit; and the chief seats in the synagogues There showing their pride, where they ought to have taught others humility. Theophylact. And greetings, or salutations, in the markets And other places of common concourse. And to be called of men, Rabbi, rabbi A title of honour, which they were fond of having repeated at every sentence. The word rabbi properly signifies great, and was prefixed to the names of those doctors who had rendered themselves remarkable by the extent of their learning, or who were the authors of new schemes in divinity; heads of sects, whose fame had gained them many followers. This title the Jewish doctors were particularly fond of, because it was a high compliment paid to their understanding, gave them vast authority with their disciples, and made them look big in the eyes of the world. It was the very next thing to infallible.
Verse 5
Phylacteries; strips of parchment, upon which were written passages of Scripture, and worn ostentatiously upon the forehead or arm.–Borders of their garments; as directed Numbers 15:38,39. The Pharisees made them very large, to impress the people with an idea of their great sanctity.
23:5 {3} But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their {c} phylacteries, and enlarge {d} the borders of their garments,
(3) Hypocrites are ambitious.
(c) It was a thread or ribband of blue silk in the fringe of a corner, the beholding of which made them remember the laws and ordinances of God: and therefore it was called a phylactery, or as you would say, a container. See Num 15:38 De 6:8 , a commandment which the Jews abused afterwards, as those do today who hang the gospel of John around their necks, which was condemned many years ago in the Council of Antioch.
(d) Literally, “Twisted tassels of thread which hung at the outermost hems of their garments.”
Jesus proceeded to identify more of these leaders’ practices that the crowds and His disciples should not copy (cf. Mat 6:1-18). "Phylacteries" were small boxes of leather or parchment in which the Jews placed copies of four Old Testament texts written on vellum (fine parchment, customarily Exo 13:1-16; Deu 6:4-9; and Deu 11:13-21). They then tied these onto their foreheads and or forearms with straps to fulfill Exo 13:9; Exo 13:16, and Deu 6:8; Deu 11:18. God probably intended the Jews to interpret these commands figuratively, but the superficial religious leaders took them literally. The Greek word translated "phylacteries" (totapot, lit. "frontlets") occurs here only in the New Testament. It had pagan associations, and Jesus’ use of it here implied that the Jews were using these little boxes as good luck charms. [Note: Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, s.v. "phylactery," by J. Arthur Thompson, 4:786-87.] Furthermore they made them big so other Jews would be sure to notice their "piety."
Likewise the hypocritical leaders lengthened the tassels they wore on the corners of their garments (Mat 23:5). God had commanded the wearing of these tassels to remind His people of their holy and royal calling (Num 15:37-41; Deu 22:12). All the Jews wore these tassels, including Jesus (Mat 9:20; Mat 14:36). However the religious leaders characteristically wore long ones to imply great piety and to attract the admiration of the common people.
The leaders wanted to sit as close to the law scrolls as possible in the synagogues. These were the chief seats (Mat 23:6). The title "rabbi" meant "my teacher" or "my master." It was originally just a title of respect. However eventually the term became a title expressing great veneration. The leaders in Jesus’ day wanted it because it set them off as distinctive and superior to others. Modern people who take this view of an advanced academic degree or a title fall into the same error.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)