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Matthew 23:3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say [things], and do not do [them].

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Matthew 23:4 >

      3. All therefore--that is, all which, as sitting in that seat and teaching out of that law.
      they bid you observe, that observe and do--The word "therefore" is thus, it will be seen, of great importance, as limiting those injunctions which He would have them obey to what they fetched from the law itself. In requiring implicit obedience to such injunctions, He would have them to recognize the authority with which they taught over and above the obligations of the law itself--an important principle truly; but He who denounced the traditions of such teachers (Mt 15:3) cannot have meant here to throw His shield over these. It is remarked by WEBSTER and WILKINSON that the warning to beware of the scribes is given by Mark and Luke (Mr 12:38; Lu 20:46) without any qualification: the charge to respect and obey them being reported by Matthew alone, indicating for whom this Gospel was especially written, and the writer's desire to conciliate the Jews.

JFB.


Questions Related to this Verse

Where In Scripture Does It Talk About Hypocrisy?

Where In Scripture Does It Talk About Inconsistency?

Where in Scripture does it mention God's warning toward false teachers?

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Matthew 23 Images and Notes

Brief Summary: In the foregoing chapter, we had our Saviour's discourses with the scribes and Pharisees; here we have his discourse concerning them, or rather against them. I. He allows their office (v. 2, v. 3). II. He warns his disciples not to imitate their hypocrisy and pride (v. 4-12). III. He exhibits a charge against them for divers high crimes and misdemeanors, corrupting the law, opposing the gospel, and treacherous dealing both with God and man; and to each article he prefixes a woe (v. 13-33). IV. He passes sentence upon Jerusalem, and foretels the ruin of the city and temple, especially for the sin of persecution (v. 34-39). MHC

Outline
Jesus reproves the scribes and Pharisees. (1-12)
Crimes of the Pharisees. (13-33)
The guilt of Jerusalem. (34-39)

Painting of a Pharisee During the Time of Jesus
Painted Illustration of a Pharisee During the time of Jesus

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Painted Illustration of a Rabbi During the time of Jesus

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