TRV
Translation
King James Version
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Complete Jewish Bible
"Woe to you hypocritical Torah-teachers and P'rushim! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self indulgence.
Berean Standard Bible
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
American Standard Version
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess.
World English Bible Messianic
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness.
Geneva Bible (1599)
Wo be to you, Scribes and Pharises, hypocrites: for ye make cleane the vtter side of the cup, and of the platter: but within they are ful of briberie and excesse.
Young's Literal Translation
`Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye make clean the outside of the cup and the plate, and within they are full of rapine and incontinence.
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In the KJVVerse 23,944 of 31,102
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Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers . Public domain.
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TertullianAD 220
On Prayer
But what reason is there in going to prayer with hands indeed washed, but the spirit foul?-inasmuch as to our hands themselves spiritual purities are necessary, that they may be "lifted up pure" from falsehood, from murder, from cruelty, from poisonings, from idolatry, and all the other blemishes which, conceived by the spirit, are effected by the operation of the hands. These are the true purities; not those which most are superstitiously careful about, taking water at every prayer, even when they are coming from a bath of the whole body.
Origen of AlexandriaAD 253
COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 22-23
If it is proper to regard everything in the gospel according to the moral sense … we can say that it is a sort of spiritual food and spiritual drink that we receive when we read the law and the prophets in Scripture. Indeed, the language through which we take our spiritual drink and the biblical narratives on which we are nourished are the plates and cups for our food and drink. This is why we are warned not to take as much care for their outside as we do for their inside, so that our hearts might be filled with pure understanding, not merely adorned with fine rhetoric and grammar. For "the Kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power." Whoever strives harder to dress his speech in elegant composition than to fill it with saving doctrine has cleaned only the outside, but the inside remains stained with vanity.…We can also say that the very words of the law and the prophets are the cups of spiritual drink for souls and that the plates or bowls of nourishing food for the faithful are their wise authors. The scribes and Pharisees work diligently at discerning only the external, literal meaning of these prophetic cups and plates and bowls, eager to demonstrate that the vessels themselves are pure and holy. The disciples of Christ … hasten to purify and sanctify the interior, spiritual meaning by means of knowledge and credible explanations, so that they might eat and drink the law and the prophets whose inside has been purified, desiring as they do to hear and understand the interior, mystical meaning and to go beyond the literal sense of the words.
Origen of AlexandriaAD 253
COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 21.28
This passage teaches us that we should hasten to be righteous, not merely to appear so. Whoever strives only to appear righteous will cleanse his exterior and will take great care of what can be seen by others but will neglect his heart and his conscience. He fails to realize that the one who is eager to purify his interior life and his thoughts will also naturally want to give a healthy outward appearance as well. Whoever works hard on the externals but neglects his interior life, however, will inevitably be filled with avarice, lust, malice, and many other kinds of evil. For the one who is solicitous of his own interior salvation also takes care of his external, public reputation. But not everyone who cares first about his public reputation is also solicitous of his interior salvation. In this connection, it is written that "whoever sees a woman and lusts after her has committed adultery with her in his heart." He who refrains from acts of fornication, therefore, but commits fornication by lusting in his heart is like the one who cleanses the outside of the cup and plate while the inside is left full of intemperance. Whoever performs acts of mercy for the purpose of earning human respect, doing his good deeds "to be seen by men," also seems to cleanse only the exterior of the cup and plate but is full of intemperance and lust for vainglory within.
Origen of Alexandria (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 253
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
This discourse instructs us that we should hasten to become righteous, not to seem so. For whoso seeks to be thought so, cleanses the outside, and has care of the things that are seen, but neglects the heart and conscience. But he who seeks to cleanse that which is within, that is, the thoughts, makes by that means the things without clean also. All professors of false doctrine are cups cleansed on the outside, because of that show of religion which they affect, but within they are full of extortion and guile, hurrying men into error. The cup is a vessel for liquids, the platter for meat. Every discourse then of which we spiritually drink, and all speech by which we are fed, are vessels for meat and drink. They who study to set forth well wrought discourse rather than such as is full of healthful meaning, are cups cleansed without; but within full of the defilement of vanity. Also the letter of the Law and the Prophets is a cup of spiritual drink, and a platter of necessary food. The Scribes and Pharisees seek to make plain the outward sense; Christ's disciples labour to exhibit the spiritual sense.
Hilary of Poitiers (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 367
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
He therefore is reproving those who, pursuing an ostentation of useless scrupulosity, neglected the discharge of useful morality. For it is the inside of the cup that is used; if that be foul, what profit is it to cleanse the outside? And therefore what is needed is purity of the inner conscience, that those things which are of the body may be clean without.
Apollinaris of LaodiceaAD 382
FRAGMENT 117
The law of Moses taught through the use of symbols how to maintain purity throughout life’s activities. It was the custom of the Jews, passed on to them from their ancient traditions, to wash carefully their cups and the dish that contained their food. They observed these practices to maintain their purity and to avoid contact with “sinful people.” Their aim was that they might flee from fellowship with sinners.… How much more through such practices were they preparing themselves to flee from sin itself. And yet those who were carefully observing these practices were themselves acting like robbers and violently making a profit, becoming loathsome by doing so. Therefore Jesus says this: “Flee unrighteousness, O blind Pharisee. For you fail to perceive how you are acting. For what is in the cup and dish are clean if they are not gained in an unrighteous manner. Righteousness cleanses the vessel much better than water.”
John Chrysostom (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 407
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Note, that speaking of tithes He said, These things ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone: for tithes are a kind of alms, and what wrong is it to give alms? Yet said He it not to enforce a legal superstition. But here, discoursing of things clean and unclean, He does not add this, but distinguishes and shows that external purity of necessity follows internal; the outside of the cup and platter signifying the body, the inside the soul.
John ChrysostomAD 407
Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 73
So, therefore, while with respect to alms He saith, "These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the others undone," touching purifications He speaks not on this wise, but what? "Ye make clean," He saith, "the outside of the cup and the platter, but within they are full of extortion, and injustice. Cleanse that which is within the cup, that the outside may be clean also." And He took it from a thing confessed and manifest, from a cup and platter.
And besides, neither is it concerning a cup and platter he is speaking, but of soul and body, by the outside meaning the body, by the inside the soul. But if with regard to the platter there be need of that which is within much more with regard to thee.
But ye do the contrary, saith He, observing things trifling and external, ye neglect what are great and inward: whence very great mischief arises, for that thinking ye have duly performed all, ye despise the other things; and despising them, ye do not so much as strive or attempt to perform them.
JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Matthew
(Verse 25, 26.) Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and impurity. Blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and the plate, so that the outside also may be clean. In different words, with the same meaning as above, Jesus accuses the Pharisees of hypocrisy and deceit, because they pretend one thing to others outwardly, but do something different at home. Not that their superstition delayed them in the cup and dish; but that they displayed holiness to others, in their attire, in their speech, in their phylacteries, in the fringes, in the length of their prayers, and other such things, while internally they were full of the filth of vices.
Jerome (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 420
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
In different words, but to the same purport as before, He reproves the hypocrisy and dissimulation of the Pharisees, that they showed one face to men abroad, but wore another at home. He means not here, that their scrupulousness respecting the cup and the platter was of any importance, but that they affected it to pass off their sanctity upon men; which is clear from His adding, but inwardly ye are full of ravening and uncleanness.
Pseudo-Chrysostom (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 500
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
Or, He means that the Jews whenever they were to enter the temple or to offer sacrifice, or on any festivals, used to wash themselves, their clothes, and their vessels, but none cleansed himself from his sins; but God neither commends bodily cleanliness, nor condemns the contrary. But suppose foulness of person or of vessels were offensive to God, which must become foul by being used, how much more does He not abhor foulness of conscience, which we may, if we will, keep ever pure?
This He speaks not of the cup and platter of sense, but of that of the understanding, which may be pure before God, though it have never touched water; but if it have sinned, then though the water of the whole ocean and of all rivers have washed it, it is foul and guilty before God.
Gregory the Dialogist (as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)AD 604
Catena Aurea by Aquinas
(Mor. i. 15.) Or otherwise; The gnat stings while it hums; the camel bows its back to receive its load. The Jews then strained off the gnat, when they prayed to have the seditious robber released to them; and they swallowed the camel, when they sought with shouts the death of Him who had voluntarily taken on Him the burden of our mortality.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Matthew 23:25 delivers a scathing denunciation from Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees, exposing their profound spiritual hypocrisy. Christ employs the vivid metaphor of a cup and platter meticulously cleaned on the exterior, yet internally defiled by "extortion and excess." This verse encapsulates Jesus's condemnation of their superficial piety, highlighting their meticulous adherence to outward religious rituals while neglecting the true righteousness and moral integrity of the heart. It serves as a powerful indictment of those who prioritize external appearance over genuine inner transformation.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Matthew 23:25 is rich in literary devices that amplify Jesus's condemnation. The most prominent is Metaphor, where the "cup and platter" serve as a vivid representation of the scribes and Pharisees themselves. The outside of the vessels symbolizes their public religious performance and external adherence to the law, while the inside represents their true inner character, motives, and moral state. This metaphor effectively illustrates the chasm between their appearance and reality. Closely related is Antithesis, the direct contrast between "outside" (Greek: éxōthen) and "within" (Greek: ésōthen). This juxtaposition sharply highlights the hypocrisy: a clean exterior versus a corrupt interior. The repeated use of "Woe unto you" throughout Matthew 23 functions as a form of Anaphora, creating a rhythmic, emphatic, and condemnatory tone that underscores the severity of Jesus's judgment. Furthermore, the strong, emotive language, particularly the direct address and the use of "hypocrites," employs Direct Address and Labeling to unequivocally identify and condemn their spiritual failing.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Matthew 23:25 serves as a profound theological statement on the nature of true righteousness, emphasizing that God values the condition of the heart above all external observances. Jesus's condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees underscores a foundational biblical principle: genuine piety is not found in outward displays or ritualistic adherence, but in an inner transformation that produces justice, mercy, and faithfulness. The "extortion and excess" within their hearts reveal that their religious practices were not rooted in love for God or neighbor, but in self-interest and a desire for human praise. This verse challenges all who profess faith to examine their motives and ensure that their internal reality aligns with their external presentation, recognizing that God sees beyond the facade.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Matthew 23:25 stands as a timeless and piercing challenge to every believer, urging us to move beyond superficial spirituality and embrace genuine, heart-level transformation. It compels us to honestly examine our own lives, asking whether our outward expressions of faith—our church attendance, our service, our public declarations—are truly reflective of our inner character and motivations. Are we more concerned with appearing righteous to others than with being truly righteous before God? The "extortion and excess" within the Pharisees' hearts serve as a stark reminder that even religious people can harbor deep-seated sins like greed, unchecked desires, and a lack of self-control. This verse calls us to a radical authenticity, where our private lives align with our public profession, and where our pursuit of God is driven by love and a desire for holiness, not by a quest for human approval or a mere adherence to rules. It is a call to repent of hypocrisy in all its forms and to seek the cleansing of our inner being by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What does Jesus mean by "extortion and excess" in this context?
Answer: In Matthew 23:25, "extortion" (Greek: harpagḗ) refers to greed, plunder, or taking advantage of others through unjust means. It implies a covetous spirit that exploits people for personal gain. "Excess" (Greek: akrasía) signifies a lack of self-control, intemperance, or profligacy, indicating unrestrained desires and a lack of moral discipline. Together, these terms expose the inner corruption of the scribes and Pharisees, revealing that despite their outward show of piety, their hearts were driven by selfish desires, material gain, and unbridled appetites, rather than by justice, mercy, or faithfulness. Jesus uses these terms to highlight the stark contrast between their meticulously clean exteriors and their morally defiled interiors.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Matthew 23:25, with its piercing indictment of hypocrisy, finds its ultimate fulfillment and resolution in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The scribes and Pharisees sought righteousness through external observance and self-effort, attempting to "make clean the outside" while their "within" remained defiled. Jesus, however, perfectly embodied true righteousness, demonstrating an inner purity that seamlessly aligned with His outward actions. He was the only one who could truly cleanse, not just the outside, but the very heart of humanity. His mission was not to provide a new set of external rules, but to offer a radical, internal transformation. Through His atoning sacrifice on the cross, Christ became the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, providing the means for humanity's inner defilement to be truly cleansed. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, making it possible for believers to receive a new heart and a new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Thus, the solution to the "extortion and excess" within the human heart, which the Pharisees could not address, is found in Christ alone, who offers not just external conformity, but genuine, Spirit-wrought purity from the inside out, enabling us to live lives that truly honor God (Romans 8:3-4).