New Living Translation
Matthew 23:27
27“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.
Matthew 23:27 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
- New International Version (NIV)“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
Context of Matthew 23:27
25“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! 26You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. 28Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed.
Read all of Matthew 23Matthew 23:27 word by word
Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι παρομοιάζετε τάφοις κεκονιαμένοις οἵτινες ἔξωθεν μὲν φαίνονται ὡραῖοι, ἔσωθεν δὲ γέμουσιν ὀστέων νεκρῶν καὶ πάσης ἀκαθαρσίας.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 are like untoπαρομοιάζωparomoiazō · to resembleG3945
- whitedκονιάωkoniaō · to whitewashG2867
- sepulchresτάφοςtaphos · graveG5028
- whichὅστιςhostis hētis ho6ti · who/whichG3748
- indeedμένmen · on the other handG3303
- appearφαίνωphainō · to shine/appearG5316
- beautifulὡραῖοςhōraios · BeautifulG5611
- outwardἔξωθενexōthen · outsideG1855
- butδέde · thenG1161
- areγέμωgemō · be fullG1073
- withinἔσωθενesōthen · inwardlyG2081
- ofὀστέονosteon ostoun · boneG3747
- deadνεκρόςnekros · deadG3498
- ofἀκαθαρσίαakatharsia · impurityG167
- allπᾶςpas · allG3956
Cross-references for Matthew 23:27
- Isaiah 58:1“Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don’t be timid. Tell my people Israel of their sins!
- Luke 11:44Yes, what sorrow awaits you! For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”
- Acts 23:3But Paul said to him, “God will slap you, you corrupt hypocrite! What kind of judge are you to break the law yourself by ordering me struck like that?”
- Numbers 19:16And if someone in an open field touches the corpse of someone who was killed with a sword or who died a natural death, or if someone touches a human bone or a grave, that person will be defiled for seven days.
Commentaries on Matthew 23:27
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 27For ye are like - , ye exactly resemble - the parallel is complete. Whited sepulchres - White-washed tombs. As the law considered those unclean who had touched any thing belonging to the dead, the Jews took care to have their tombs white-washed each year, that, being easily discovered, they might be consequently avoided.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 27Like unto whited sepulchres - For the construction of sepulchres, see the notes at Matthew 8:28. Those tombs were annually whitewashed to prevent the people from accidentally coming in contact with them as they went up to Jerusalem. This custom is still continued. Dr. Thomson (The Land and the Book, vol. i. p. 148) says, “I have been in places where this is repeated very often. The graves are kept clean and white as snow, a very striking emblem of those…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. 2727. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like whited sepulchres--or, whitewashed sepulchres. (Compare Ac 23:3). The process of whitewashing the sepulchres, as Lightfoot says, was performed on a certain day every year, not for ceremonial cleansing, but, as the following words seem rather to imply, to beautify them. which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness--What a powerful…Read the comment
Topics related to Matthew 23:27
In the dictionaries
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
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