Matthew 23:28

Matthew 23:28 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
• New International Version (NIV)In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
• English Standard Version (ESV)So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Context of Matthew 23:28

26You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may also become clean. 27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30and you say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

Matthew 23:28 word by word

οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς ἔξωθεν μὲν φαίνεσθε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις δίκαιοι, ἔσωθεν δέ ἐστε μεστοὶ ὑποκρίσεως καὶ ἀνομίας.¶Read the interlinear

• Soοὕτωςhoutō · thus(-ly)G3779
• you tooκαίkai · andG2532
• outwardlyἔξωθενexōthen · outsideG1855
• appearφαίνωphainō · to shine/appearG5316
• righteousδίκαιοςdikaios · justG1342
• to peopleἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
• but inwardlyἔσωθενesōthen · inwardlyG2081
• you are fullμεστόςmestos · fullG3324
• of hypocrisyὑπόκρισιςhupokrisis · hypocrisyG5272
• and lawlessnessἀνομίαanomia · lawlessnessG458

Cross-references for Matthew 23:28

• Matthew 23:5And they do all their deeds to be noticed by other people; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.
• 1 Samuel 16:7But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God does not see as man sees, since man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
• Psalms 51:6Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in secret You will make wisdom known to me.
• Jeremiah 17:9“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
• Luke 16:15And He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of people, but God knows your hearts; because that which is highly esteemed among people is detestable in the sight of God.
• Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
• Matthew 12:34You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, express any good things? For the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart.
• Matthew 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, acts of adultery, other immoral sexual acts, thefts, false testimonies, and slanderous statements.
• Mark 7:21For from within, out of the hearts of people, come the evil thoughts, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, acts of adultery,

Commentaries on Matthew 23:28

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 28Even so ye also - appear righteous unto men - But what will this appearance avail a man, when God sits in judgment upon his soul? Will the fair reputation which he had acquired among men, while his heart was the seat of unrighteousness, screen him from the stroke of that justice which impartially sends all impurity and unholiness into the pit of destruction? No. In the sin that he hath sinned, and in which he hath died, and according to that, shall he be…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. 27-28Jewish people used to coat limestone tombs, like funerary urns or ossuaries, with a mixture of marble and lime. This filled the holes and made the tombs look nicer. It also helped visitors to Jerusalem see and avoid them, preventing contamination. Jesus did not criticize decorating tombs. Instead, he compared these whitewashed tombs to Jewish religious teachers and Pharisees. Both looked good on the outside but had contamination and impurity on the inside.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-39For this long and terrible discourse we are indebted, with the exception of a few verses in Mark and Luke, to Matthew alone. But as it is only an extended repetition of denunciations uttered not long before at the table of a Pharisee, and recorded by Luke (Lu 11:37-54), we may take both together in the exposition. Denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees (Mt 23:1-36). The first twelve verses were addressed more immediately to the disciples, the rest to…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 23:28

• Church
• Ecclesiasticism
• 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