New Living Translation
Matthew 23:4
4They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.
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 King James Version (NKJV)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.
Context of Matthew 23:4
2“The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. 3So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. 5“Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. 6And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues.
Read all of Matthew 23Matthew 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“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
- Matthew 11:28Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
- Luke 11:46“Yes,” said Jesus, “what sorrow also awaits you experts in religious law! For you crush people with unbearable religious demands, and you never lift a finger to ease the burden.
- Acts 15:10So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?
- Galatians 6:13And even those who advocate circumcision don’t keep the whole law themselves. They only want you to be circumcised so they can boast about it and claim you as their disciples.
- Revelation 2:24“But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you
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
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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