The Meaning of Matthew 23:27 Explained

Matthew 23:27

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.

YLT: 'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye are like to whitewashed sepulchres, which outwardly indeed do appear beautiful, and within are full of bones of dead men, and of all uncleanness;

Darby: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye are like whited sepulchres, which appear beautiful outwardly, but within are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

ASV: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Matthew 23:27 Mean?

Context Summary

Matthew 23:27-39 - Judgment And Lament
True goodness recognizes and rewards good in the living; while the evil-minded cannot, or will not, believe that the people whom they meet daily are purely and sincerely good. They pride themselves on what they would have done if they had lived in the great days of the past, but they miss the opportunities which are always ready to hand. In this they judge and condemn themselves.
How sad is this lament over Jerusalem! The yearning love which longed to intercept her descending judgment, as the hen the stroke of danger which menaces her brood, was about to be withdrawn. After striving His best to save them, the world's Redeemer was abandoning His people to the results of their sin, until the time spoken of in Zechariah 14:1-4. Oh my soul, see that thou art hidden under those wings, until all calamities are overpast and the day has broken! [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 23

1  Jesus admonishes the people to follow good doctrine, not bad examples
5  His disciples must beware of their ambition
13  He denounces eight woes against their hypocrisy and blindness,
34  and prophesies of the destruction of Jerusalem

Greek Commentary for Matthew 23:27

Whited sepulchre [ταποις κεκονιαμενοις]
The perfect passive participle is from κονιαω — koniaō and that from κονια — konia dust or lime. Whitened with powdered lime dust, the sepulchres of the poor in the fields or the roadside. Not the rock-hewn tombs of the well-to-do. These were whitewashed a month before the passover that travellers might see them and so avoid being defiled by touching them (Numbers 19:16). In Acts 23:3 Paul called the high priest a whited wall. When Jesus spoke the sepulchres had been freshly whitewashed. We today speak of whitewashing moral evil. [source]
Whited sepulchres [τάφοις κεκονιαμένοις]
Not the rock-tombs, belonging mostly to the rich, but the graves covered with plastered structures. In general, cemeteries were outside of cities; but any dead body found in the field was to be buried on the spot where it had been discovered. A pilgrim to the Passover, for instance, might easily come upon such a grave in his journey, and contract uncleanness by the contact (Numbers 19:16). It was therefore ordered that all sepulchres should be whitewashed a month before Passover, in order to make them conspicuous, so that travellers might avoid ceremonial defilement. The fact that this general whitewashing was going on at the time when Jesus administered this rebuke to the Pharisees gave point to the comparison. The word νιαμένοις (whitened, from κόνις , dust ) carries the idea of whitening with a powder, as powdered lime. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 23:27

Matthew 23:13 Hypocrites [υποκριται]
This terrible word of Jesus appears first from him in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:2, Matthew 6:5, Matthew 6:16; Matthew 7:5), then in Matthew 15:7 and Matthew 22:18. Here it appears “with terrific iteration” (Bruce) save in the third of the seven woes (Matthew 23:13, Matthew 23:15, Matthew 23:23, Matthew 23:25, Matthew 23:27, Matthew 23:29). The verb in the active The MSS. that insert it put it either before Matthew 23:13 or after Matthew 23:13. Plummer cites these seven woes as another example of Matthew‘s fondness for the number seven, more fancy than fact for Matthew‘s Gospel is not the Apocalypse of John. These are all illustrations of Pharisaic saying and not doing (Allen). [source]
Luke 11:44 That walk over [περιπατοῦντες]
The participle, and without the article; and therefore better, as they walk; walk about ( περί ) on their daily business. In Matthew the sepulchres are whitened, that men may see them and avoid ceremonial defilement. Here they are not seen, and men walking on them are unconsciously defiled. See on Matthew 23:27. [source]
Luke 11:44 The tombs which appear not [τα μνηνεια τα αδηλα]
These hidden graves would give ceremonial defilement for seven days (Numbers 19:16). Hence they were usually whitewashed as a warning. So in Matthew 23:27 the Pharisees are called “whited sepulchres.” Men do not know how rotten they are. The word αδηλος — adēlos (α — a privative and δηλος — dēlos apparent or plain) occurs in the N.T. only here and 1 Corinthians 14:8, though an old and common word. [source]
Acts 23:3 Thou whited wall []
Compare Matthew 23:27. [source]
Acts 23:3 Thou whited wall [τοιχε κεκονιαμενε]
Perfect passive participle of κονιαω — koniaō (from κονια — konia dust or lime). The same word used in Matthew 23:27 for “whited sepulchres” (ταποι κεκονιαμενοι — taphoi kekoniamenoi) which see. It is a picturesque way of calling Ananias a hypocrite, undoubtedly true, but not a particularly tactful thing for a prisoner to say to his judge, not to say Jewish high priest. Besides, Paul had hurled back at him the word τυπτειν — tuptein (smite) in his command, putting it first in the sentence (τυπτειν σε μελλει ο τεος — tuptein se mellei ho theos) in strong emphasis. Clearly Paul felt that he, not Ananias, was living as a good citizen in God‘s commonwealth. [source]
Romans 10:15 Beautiful [ὡραῖοι]
From ὥρα thetime of full bloom or development. Hence the radical idea of the word includes both blooming maturity and vigor. Appropriate here to the swift, vigorous feet. Plato (“Republic,” x. 601) distinguishes between faces that are beautiful ( καλῶν ) and blooming ( ὡραίων ) In Genesis 2:9(Sept.) of the trees of Eden. Compare Matthew 23:27; Acts 3:2, Acts 3:10. [source]
1 Thessalonians 2:3 Of uncleanness [ἐξ ἀκαθαρσίας]
Ἀκαθαρσία in Matthew 23:27of the corruption of the sepulchre. Elsewhere in N.T. of sensual impurity. See Romans 1:24; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Ephesians 4:19. Here in the sense of impurity on the side of sordidness. In Ephesians 4:19, Paul speaks of working uncleanness ( ἀκαθαρσίαν ) in a spirit of selfish desire ( πλεονεξία ) which is the spirit of covetousness. In Ephesians 5:3, uncleanness and covetousness are closely associated. Paul means that his exhortation did not proceed from greed for gain or lust for power. [source]
Hebrews 11:22 When his end was nigh [τελευτων]
Present active participle of τελευταω — teleutaō to finish or close (Matthew 2:19), “finishing his life.” Of the departure Late compound for way out, exit as here, metaphorically of death as here (Luke 9:31; 2 Peter 1:15). Concerning his bones Uncontracted form as in Matthew 23:27. [source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 23:27 mean?

Woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites For you are like tombs having been whitewashed which outwardly indeed appear beautiful Inside however they are full of bones of [the] dead of all impurity
Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί ὅτι παρομοιάζετε τάφοις κεκονιαμένοις οἵτινες ἔξωθεν μὲν φαίνονται ὡραῖοι ἔσωθεν δὲ γέμουσιν ὀστέων νεκρῶν πάσης ἀκαθαρσίας

Οὐαὶ  Woe 
Parse: Interjection
Root: οὐαί  
Sense: alas, woe.
ὑμῖν  to  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
γραμματεῖς  scribes 
Parse: Noun, Vocative Masculine Plural
Root: γραμματεύς  
Sense: a clerk, scribe, esp.
Φαρισαῖοι  Pharisees 
Parse: Noun, Vocative Masculine Plural
Root: Φαρισαῖος  
Sense: A sect that seems to have started after the Jewish exile.
ὑποκριταί  hypocrites 
Parse: Noun, Vocative Masculine Plural
Root: ὑποκριτής  
Sense: one who answers, an interpreter.
παρομοιάζετε  you  are  like 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: παρομοιάζω  
Sense: to be like.
τάφοις  tombs 
Parse: Noun, Dative Masculine Plural
Root: τάφος  
Sense: burial.
κεκονιαμένοις  having  been  whitewashed 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Participle Middle or Passive, Dative Masculine Plural
Root: κονιάω  
Sense: to cover with lime, plaster over, whitewash.
ἔξωθεν  outwardly 
Parse: Adverb
Root: ἔξωθεν  
Sense: from without, outward.
μὲν  indeed 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: μέν  
Sense: truly, certainly, surely, indeed.
φαίνονται  appear 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Plural
Root: φαίνω  
Sense: to bring forth into the light, cause to shine, shed light.
ὡραῖοι  beautiful 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ὡραῖος  
Sense: blooming, beautiful (used of the human body).
ἔσωθεν  Inside 
Parse: Adverb
Root: ἔσωθεν  
Sense: from within.
δὲ  however 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: δέ  
Sense: but, moreover, and, etc.
γέμουσιν  they  are  full 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: γέμω  
Sense: to be full, filled, full.
ὀστέων  of  bones 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: ὀστέον 
Sense: a bone.
νεκρῶν  of  [the]  dead 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Masculine Plural
Root: νεκρός  
Sense: properly.
πάσης  of  all 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: πᾶς  
Sense: individually.
ἀκαθαρσίας  impurity 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: ἀκαθαρσία  
Sense: uncleanness.

What are the major concepts related to Matthew 23:27?

Loading Information...