Matthew 23:15

Matthew 23:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
• New International Version (NIV)“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

Context of Matthew 23:15

13“How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. You don’t enter it yourselves, and you don’t permit others to enter when they try. “How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You cross land and sea to recruit a single follower, and when you do, you make that person twice as fit for hell as you are. 16“How horrible it will be for you, you blind guides! You say, ‘To swear an oath by the temple doesn’t mean a thing. But to swear an oath by the gold in the temple means a person must keep his oath.’ 17You blind fools! What is more important, the gold or the temple that made the gold holy?

Matthew 23:15 word by word

Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι περιάγετε τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ τὴν ξηρὰν ποιῆσαι ἕνα προσήλυτον, καὶ ὅταν γένηται, ποιεῖτε αὐτὸν υἱὸν γεέννης διπλότερον ὑμῶν.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Woeοὐαίouai · woe!G3759
• unto youσύsu · youG4771
• scribesγραμματεύςgrammateus · scribeG1122
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• PhariseesΦαρισαῖοςPharisaios · PhariseeG5330
• hypocritesὑποκριτήςhupokritēs · hypocriteG5273
• forὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
• ye compassπεριάγωperiagō · to take/go aroundG4013
• seaὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• seaθάλασσαthalassa · seaG2281
• landξηρόςxēros · dried up/witheredG3584
• to makeποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• oneεἷςheis · oneG1520
• proselyteπροσήλυτοςprosēlutos · proselyteG4339
• whenὅτανhotan · when(-ever)G3752
• he is madeγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• twofold moreδιπλοῦςdiplous · doubleG1362
• the childυἱόςuihos · sonG5207
• of hellγέενναgeenna · hell: GehennaG1067

Cross-references for Matthew 23:15

• Galatians 4:17These people ⌞who distort the Good News⌟ are devoted to you, but not in a good way. They don’t want you to associate with me so that you will be devoted only to them.
• Galatians 6:12These people who want to make a big deal out of a physical thing are trying to force you to be circumcised. Their only aim is to avoid persecution because of the cross of Christ.
• Esther 8:17In every province and every city where the king’s message and decree arrived, the Jews were happy and joyful, feasting and enjoying a holiday. Then many common people pretended to be Jews because they were terrified of the Jews.
• Acts 2:10Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the country near Cyrene in Libya. We’re Jewish people, converts to Judaism, and visitors from Rome,
• Acts 13:43When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas. Paul and Barnabas talked with them and were persuading them to continue trusting God’s good will.
• John 8:44You come from your father, the devil, and you desire to do what your father wants you to do. The devil was a murderer from the beginning. He has never been truthful. He doesn’t know what the truth is. Whenever he tells a lie, he’s doing what comes naturally to him. He’s a liar and the father of lies.
• Acts 13:10and said, “You are full of dirty tricks and schemes, you son of the devil! You hate everything that has God’s approval. Quit trying to distort the truth about the way the Lord wants people to live.
• Acts 14:2But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up some people who were not Jewish and poisoned their minds against the believers.
• Acts 17:5Then the Jews became jealous. They took some low-class characters who hung around the public square, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. They attacked Jason’s home and searched it for Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.
• Ephesians 2:3All of us once lived among these people, and followed the desires of our corrupt nature. We did what our corrupt desires and thoughts wanted us to do. So, because of our nature, we deserved God’s anger just like everyone else.

Commentaries on Matthew 23:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15Compass sea and land - A proverbial expression, similar to ours, You leave no stone unturned; intimating that they did all in their power to gain converts, not to God, but to their sect. These we may suppose were principally sought for among the Gentiles, for the bulk of the Jewish nation was already on the side of the Pharisees. Proselyte - , a stranger, or foreigner; one who is come from his own people and country, to sojourn with another. See the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Ye compass sea and land - You take every means, spare no pains, to gain proselytes. Proselyte - One that comes over from a foreign nation, religion, or sect to us - a convert. Among the Jews there were two kinds of proselytes: 1.“Proselytes of righteousness,” or those who wholly and fully embraced the Jewish religion, who were baptized, who were circumcised, and who conformed to all the rites of the Mosaic institutions. 2.“Proselytes of the gate,” or…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. 15A convert (proselyte) fully accepted Judaism by performing ceremonies like baptism, sacrifice, and circumcision (see Acts 13:43). A convert differed from a "God-fearer." A God-fearer was a person who accepted some Jewish beliefs, especially monotheism (belief in one God), without fully converting to Judaism (see Luke 7:4–5; Acts 10:2). To win a single convert likely means persuading God-fearers to fully convert by becoming circumcised (compare Galatians…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte--from heathenism. We have evidence of this in Josephus. and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves--condemned, for the hypocrisy he would learn to practice, both by the religion he left and that he embraced.Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 23:15

• Church
• Ecclesiasticism
• Hell
• Hypocrisy
• Pharisees
• Satire
• Teachers

In the dictionaries

• Abase
• Bewray
• Devour
• Exalt
• Fill
• Gehenna
• Gnat
• Ought
• Partaker
• Pharisees

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