Matthew 23:26

Matthew 23:26 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
• New International Version (NIV)Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
• English Standard Version (ESV)You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Context of Matthew 23:26

24You are like blind people, but you show other people which way to go. You carefully take a small fly out of your water so that you do not drink it. But then you drink the large animal that is swimming in it! 25It will be very bad for you, teachers of God's Law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites! You always clean the outside of your cups and plates very carefully. You only clean the outside part that people can see. But on the inside, everything is still dirty. Inside you, your minds are full of bad thoughts. You want to have more things for yourself. You hurt other people to get what you want. Pharisees, you do not see what is true! You must first clean the inside of the cup. Then the outside that people can see will also be clean. 27It will be very bad for you, teachers of God's law and Pharisees. You are hypocrites! You are like a grave that has nice white paint on the outside and it looks beautiful. But on the inside it is full of bones and disgusting things. 28You are the same as that. Other people look at you. They think that you are good and you obey God. But on the inside you are hypocrites. Your minds are full of many bad thoughts.

Matthew 23:26 word by word

Φαρισαῖε τυφλέ, καθάρισον πρῶτον τὸ ἐντὸς τοῦ ποτηρίου ἵνα γένηται καὶ τὸ ἐκτὸς αὐτοῦ καθαρόν.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• blindτυφλόςtuphlos · blindG5185
• PhariseeΦαρισαῖοςPharisaios · PhariseeG5330
• cleanseκαθαρίζωkatharizō · to cleanG2511
• firstπρῶτονprōton · firstG4412
• withinἐντόςentos · insideG1787
• the cupποτήριονpotērion · cupG4221
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• platterπαροψίςparopsis · dishG3953
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• the outsideἐκτόςektos · outside/exceptG1622
• of themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• may beγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• cleanκαθαρόςkatharos · cleanG2513

Cross-references for Matthew 23:26

• Matthew 12:33Then Jesus said, ‘To have good fruit you must have a good tree. If you have a bad tree, then you will get bad fruit from it. You can know all about a tree by the kind of fruit that it makes.
• Isaiah 55:7Wicked people need to change the way that they live. Evil people must stop thinking their evil thoughts. They must turn back to the Lord our God, because he will be kind to them. Yes, God will completely forgive them, if they turn back to him.
• Jeremiah 4:14People of Jerusalem, remove the evil things from your lives. Then the Lord may save you. Do not continue to have wicked ideas.
• Jeremiah 13:27People of Jerusalem, you are in terrible trouble! I have seen the disgusting things that you do. You are like a woman who has not been faithful to her husband. Like a prostitute, you look for other gods to serve. You cannot control yourselves, as you do disgusting things on the hills and in the fields. Will you never be clean and pure again?’
• Ezekiel 18:31Stop doing all the sins that you have been doing. Instead, think with new thoughts. Live with a new spirit inside you. You do not need to die, Israel's people!
• Luke 6:45People are also like that. A good man keeps good things in his mind. In his life, he brings those good things out from there. But a bad man keeps bad things in his mind. He brings those bad thoughts out from there. When a person speaks, his words show what is really in his mind.’
• 2 Corinthians 7:1So, my friends, God has promised these things to us. So we must keep ourselves clean from everything that makes our bodies or our spirits unclean. We must respect and obey God. Then we will become more and more like him.
• Hebrews 10:22So we should come near to God and we should not be afraid. But we must be honest and we must continue to trust him. He has made us clean from the dirt of our sins. Our thoughts no longer give us trouble about our sins. We have become clean. It is like he has washed our bodies with clean water.
• James 4:8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Be clean in the way that you live. Stop doing wrong things. Make your minds clean. You cannot love sin and love God at the same time.

Commentaries on Matthew 23:26

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 26Cleanse first that which is within the cup and the platter - Let them be filled with the fruits of honest industry, and then the outside and the inside will be really “clean.” By this allusion to the cup and platter he taught them that it was necessary to cleanse the heart first, that the external conduct might be really pure and holy.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-33Verses 13-33 The scribes and Pharisees were enemies to the gospel of Christ, and therefore to the salvation of the souls of men. It is bad to keep away from Christ ourselves, but worse also to keep others from him. Yet it is no new thing for the show and form of godliness to be made a cloak to the greatest enormities. But dissembled piety will be reckoned double iniquity. They were very busy to turn souls to be of their party. Not for the glory of God and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 26If a person is pure inside, it leads to doing the right things. But doing the right things does not make a person pure inside (Matthew 6:19–34; 12:33–37; 15:15–20).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2626. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also--In Luke (Lu 11:40) it is, "Ye fools, did not He that made that which is without make that which is within also?"--"He to whom belongs the outer life, and of right demands its subjection to Himself, is the inner man less His?" A remarkable example this of our Lord's power of drawing the most striking illustrations of great truths…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 23:26

• Blindness
• Church
• Ecclesiasticism
• Heart
• Hypocrisy
• Pharisees
• Satire
• Teachers

In the dictionaries

• Abase
• Bewray
• Devour
• Exalt
• Fill
• Gnat
• Ought
• Partaker
• Scribes
• Sit

Commentaries on Matthew 23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings