Matthew 23:4

Matthew 23:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
• New International Version (NIV)They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
• New Living Translation (NLT)They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

Context of Matthew 23:4

2saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. 6They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,

Matthew 23:4 word by word

δεσμεύουσιν δὲ φορτία βαρέα καὶ δυσβάστακτα καὶ ἐπιτιθέασιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὤμους τῶν ἀνθρώπων· αὐτοὶ δὲ τῷ δακτύλῳ αὐτῶν οὐ θέλουσιν κινῆσαι αὐτά.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• they bindδεσμεύωdesmeuō · to bindG1195
• heavyβαρύςbarus · weightyG926
• burdensφορτίονphortion · burdenG5413
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• grievous to be borneδυσβάστακτοςdusbastaktos · ponderousG1419
• layἐπιτίθημιepitithēmi · to put/lay onG2007
• onἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
• men’sἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
• shouldersὦμοςōmos · shoulderG5606
• butδέde · thenG1161
• theyθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
• notοὐou · noG3756
• moveκινέωkineō · to moveG2795
• themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• with one ofδάκτυλοςdaktulos · fingerG1147

Cross-references for Matthew 23:4

• Matthew 23:23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.
• Matthew 11:28Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
• Luke 11:46And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
• Acts 15:10Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
• Galatians 6:13For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
• Revelation 2:24“Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden.

Commentaries on Matthew 23:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4They bind heavy burdens - They are now so corrupt that they have added to the ceremonies of the law others of their own invention, which are not only burdensome and oppressive, but have neither reason, expediency, nor revelation, to countenance them. In a word, like all their successors in spirit to the present day, they were severe to others, but very indulgent to themselves.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4They bind heavy burdens … - This phrase is derived from the custom of loading animals. The load or burden is bound up and then laid on the beast. So the Pharisees appointed weighty burdens, or grievous and heavy precepts, and insisted that the people should obey them, though they lent no assistance. The “heavy burdens” refer not here to the traditions and foolish customs of the Pharisees, for Jesus would not command the people to observe them; but they…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4heavy, burdensome loads: According to the rabbis, there were 613 laws with commands and prohibitions (see 11:28–30; Acts 15:10, 28). not willing to lift a finger: The religious leaders were not willing to ease or change these traditional laws.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them--"touch them not" (Lu 11:46). with one of their fingers--referring not so much to the irksomeness of the legal rites, though they were irksome enough (Ac 15:10), as to the heartless rigor with which they were enforced, and by men of shameless inconsistency.Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 23:4

• Burden
• Church
• Ecclesiasticism
• Hypocrisy
• Inconsistency
• Minister, Christian
• Oppression
• Pharisees
• Satire
• Teachers

In the dictionaries

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

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