Matthew 23:19 kjv
Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
Matthew 23:19 nkjv
Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
Matthew 23:19 niv
You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
Matthew 23:19 esv
You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
Matthew 23:19 nlt
How blind! For which is more important ? the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
Matthew 23 19 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Exod 29:37 | "...Whatever touches the altar shall be holy." | Altar's sanctifying power. |
| Exod 30:29 | "You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy..." | God's chosen instruments impart holiness. |
| Lev 6:27 | "Whatever touches its flesh shall be holy..." (sin offering) | Altar consecrates the offering. |
| Mat 15:14 | "Let them alone; they are blind guides. If a blind man guides a blind man..." | Spiritual blindness of false teachers. |
| Mat 23:16 | "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing...'" | Direct context: False teaching on oaths. |
| Mat 23:17 | "You fools and blind men! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?" | Parallel example of twisted logic. |
| Mat 23:24 | "You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!" | Misplaced priorities, legalistic absurdity. |
| Rom 2:19 | "...convinced that you yourself are a guide for the blind..." | Irony of self-proclaimed guides' blindness. |
| Isa 42:18-20 | "Hear, you deaf; and look, you blind...Who is blind as he who is at peace with me..." | Israel's prophetic blindness. |
| 1 Sam 2:30 | "...those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed." | Honoring God means honoring His sanctity. |
| Psa 50:12-14 | "If I were hungry, I would not tell you...Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving..." | God desires true worship, not just ritual. |
| Hos 6:6 | "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." | Prioritizing heart condition over ritual. |
| Mic 6:6-8 | "With what shall I come before the Lord...He has told you, O man, what is good..." | God requires justice, kindness, humility. |
| Jer 7:22-23 | "For in the day that I brought them out...I did not speak...concerning burnt offerings..." | Obedience supersedes mere sacrifice. |
| Mat 15:8 | "'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.'" | Empty outward worship, heart far from God. |
| Mk 7:6 | (Parallel to Mat 15:8) | Heart's condition matters more. |
| Psa 51:16-17 | "For you will not delight in sacrifice...The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit..." | Inner transformation over outward ritual. |
| Isa 1:11-17 | "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord...seek justice..." | Rejection of ritual without righteousness. |
| Jn 4:23-24 | "But the hour is coming...true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth..." | True worship in spirit, not mere forms. |
| Col 2:16-23 | "Let no one pass judgment on you...regard to food or drink...empty deceit..." | Warning against legalistic rules, human tradition. |
| Mat 7:15-20 | "Beware of false prophets...you will recognize them by their fruits." | Recognizing false teachers by their deeds. |
| Jude 1:11 | "Woe to them!...they have rushed headlong into Balaam's error for profit..." | False teachers motivated by greed. |
| 2 Pet 2:1-3 | "But false prophets also arose among the people...exploit you with false words." | Deceptive practices for financial gain. |
| Mat 5:33-37 | "But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all...Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'..." | Jesus' teaching on integrity in speech. |
| Num 30:2 | "When a man makes a vow to the Lord...he shall not break his word..." | Importance of fulfilling vows. |
| Deut 23:21-23 | "When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it..." | Keeping vows a serious divine command. |
Matthew 23 verses
Matthew 23 19 Meaning
Matthew 23:19 directly confronts the religious hypocrisy and distorted values of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus uses a rhetorical question to expose their spiritual blindness, specifically regarding oaths. They claimed certain oaths were non-binding, particularly those sworn by the gift brought to the altar, distinguishing it from an oath sworn by the altar itself. Jesus clarifies that the altar, being consecrated by God, is the entity that bestows holiness upon the gift placed upon it. Thus, the altar is fundamentally greater and the true source of sanctification. Their faulty reasoning revealed a legalistic system that prioritized perceived material value over the inherent holiness derived from God’s established order and presence, allowing them to conveniently circumvent sacred obligations.
Matthew 23 19 Context
Matthew 23 is Jesus' most severe denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees, delivered in the final week of His earthly ministry. It immediately follows the various traps and questions they posed to Him, which He brilliantly refuted. The entire chapter consists of seven woes (cursings) upon these religious leaders for their hypocrisy, pride, spiritual blindness, and corruption, which misled the Jewish people. Verses 16-22 specifically address their warped understanding and practice of oaths. Rabbinic tradition at the time had developed intricate and often self-serving distinctions about oaths, deeming some binding (e.g., swearing by gold in the temple treasury) while others were not (e.g., swearing by the temple itself, unless a monetary gain was involved). This legalistic casuistry allowed them to find loopholes to break inconvenient vows, placing more emphasis on man-made interpretations and material gain than on the sanctity and integrity required by God. The historical context shows that this practice enabled exploitation, particularly of the vulnerable who might swear oaths unknowingly under their flawed system. Jesus exposes this moral and spiritual blindness, revealing that true sanctity originates from God's holiness, not human valuations or cunning.
Matthew 23 19 Word analysis
- You blind men! (Greek: Tuphloi!) - This is a direct, harsh epithet. It emphasizes their spiritual and moral incapacity to discern divine truth despite their roles as spiritual guides. Jesus uses this accusation repeatedly in Matthew 23, highlighting their intellectual and moral inability to perceive reality. It’s a rebuke for their self-proclaimed sight while being deeply ignorant of God's ways.
- For which is greater, (Greek: Tis gar meizon) - A rhetorical question designed to highlight the obvious answer. "Greater" here signifies which entity possesses superior inherent holiness or power to confer sacredness, thus rendering an oath binding. The question implies their logic is so flawed that the answer should be self-evident even to a spiritually "seeing" person.
- the gift (Greek: to doron) - Refers to any offering (animal, grain, money) presented on the altar, dedicated to God. In the context of their oaths, they tried to distinguish oaths sworn by the gift as less binding than those sworn by the altar itself. This reveals their valuing of the material offering (which often went to the priests) over the sacred means of its consecration.
- or the altar (Greek: e to thysiasterion) - Refers to the sacrificial altar in the Temple, which was a specific place of worship where offerings were made to God. It was made holy and consecrated by God Himself, serving as a focal point for sacrifice and reconciliation. The altar was considered inviolable and deeply sacred in the Jewish tradition.
- that consecrates the gift? (Greek: to hagiazon to doron?) - The critical phrase. Hagiazon (from hagiazo) means "to make holy," "sanctify," or "set apart for sacred use." This confirms the principle found throughout the Old Testament that it is the consecrated altar that imparts holiness to whatever is placed upon it, not the other way around. The gift itself is ordinary until set apart on the altar. The Pharisees’ error was in reversing this spiritual principle, placing a lower value on the divine means of consecration and a higher value on the object being consecrated. This demonstrates a deep-seated misdirection of focus, emphasizing their desire for material gain or legal loopholes over spiritual integrity and God's holiness.
Matthew 23 19 Bonus section
This verse is one of seven "woes" Jesus pronounces against the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23. These are not mere warnings but severe condemnations, akin to prophetic judgments. The argument Jesus makes in Matthew 23:19 is paralleled by His previous statement in Matthew 23:17, concerning the "gold of the temple" and the "temple that has made the gold sacred." Both instances reveal the same underlying spiritual error: the Pharisees prioritize the object that brings material value or attention over the holy structure (temple or altar) that consecrates it, thereby demonstrating a profound misplacement of reverence and an underlying motivation rooted in greed or legalistic cunning rather than true devotion to God. The Jewish sacrificial system and its elements, like the altar, were not holy by their material composition, but by virtue of being set apart for God's special use through His command and presence. The Pharisees, in their convoluted oath system, essentially inverted this divine order of sanctity.
Matthew 23 19 Commentary
Matthew 23:19 stands as a profound indictment of the Pharisees' corrupted spirituality, revealing their internal inconsistency and practical dishonesty concerning religious oaths. Jesus cuts to the heart of their system by exposing their ignorance of a fundamental principle of holiness: it is the altar, sanctified by God Himself, that confers holiness upon the gift, not the other way around. Their legalistic casuistry led them to elevate human-devised distinctions, such as whether an oath sworn by the gift or by the altar was more binding, prioritizing their financial gain (via the gift) or personal convenience over the true reverence for God's sacred things.
By calling them "blind men," Jesus signifies their spiritual inability to perceive simple truth, even though they claimed to be enlightened guides. This warped understanding of holiness meant they treated God’s sacred places with less respect than the material items dedicated upon them. This passage serves as a powerful reminder that genuine faith demands a proper hierarchy of values, with God and His consecrated purposes always preeminent. It cautions against religious practices that become divorced from their sacred intent or are manipulated for self-serving ends, underscoring that true holiness emanates from God alone and permeates what He chooses to set apart. This applies today by encouraging believers to discern where true value lies in spiritual matters – not in rituals or outward displays, but in the heart’s devotion and understanding of God’s nature and commands.