Matthew 23:19

American Standard Version

Ye blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Blind people!

King James Version (1611)
Ye fooles and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the Altar that sanctifieth the gift?

King James Version
Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

English Standard Version
You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

New American Standard Bible
"You blind men, which is more important, the offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering?

New Century Version
You are blind! Which is greater: the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy?

Amplified Bible
"You [spiritually] blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?

Legacy Standard Bible
You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?

Berean Standard Bible
You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred?

Contemporary English Version
Are you blind? Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

Complete Jewish Bible
Blind men! Which is more important? the sacrifice? or the altar which makes the sacrifice holy?

Darby Translation
[Fools and] blind ones, for which is greater, the gift, or the altar which sanctifies the gift?

Easy-to-Read Version
You are blind! Can't you see that the altar is greater than any gift on it? It's the altar that makes the gift holy!

Geneva Bible (1587)
Ye fooles and blinde, whether is greater, the offering, or the altar which sanctifieth the offering?

George Lamsa Translation
O you fools and blind! for which is greater, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?

Good News Translation
How blind you are! Which is the more important, the gift or the altar which makes the gift holy?

Lexham English Bible
Blind people! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy?

Literal Translation
Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

Bible in Basic English
You blind ones: which is greater, the offering, or the altar which makes the offering holy?

Hebrew Names Version
You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

International Standard Version
You blind men!blind and foolish men">[fn] Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy?Exodus 29:37;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
You foolish and sightless ! for which is greater, the oblation, or the altar that sanctifieth the oblation ?

Murdock Translation
Ye fools, and blind: for which is greater, the oblation, or the altar that sanctifieth the oblation?

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Ye fooles and blynde, for whether is greater, the gyft: or the aulter that sanctifieth the gyft?

English Revised Version
Ye blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

World English Bible
You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Ye fools and blind; for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

Weymouth's New Testament
"You are blind! Why, which is greater? --the offering, or the altar which makes the offering holy?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Blynde men, for what is more, the yifte, or the auter that halewith the yifte?

Update Bible Version
You blind men: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

Webster's Bible Translation
[Ye] fools, and blind: for which [is] greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

New English Translation
You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

New King James Version
Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

New Living Translation
How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

New Life Bible
You fools and blind men! Which is greater, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift holy?

New Revised Standard
How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Blind! for which is greater, The gift, or the altar that halloweth the gift?

Douay-Rheims Bible
Ye foolish and blind: for whether is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

Revised Standard Version
You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Ye foles and blinde: whether is greater ye offeringe or ye aultre which sanctifieth ye offeringe?

Young's Literal Translation
Fools and blind! for which [is] greater, the gift, or the altar that is sanctifying the gift?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Ye fooles and blynde, whether is greater? the offeringe, or the altare that sanctifieth the offerynge?

Mace New Testament (1729)
ye blind fools, which is most sacred, the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

Simplified Cowboy Version

Contextual Overview

¹³ But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. Ye fools and blind: for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that hath sanctified the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is a debtor. Ye blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And he that sweareth by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone. Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel! 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. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also. 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. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye witness to yourselves, that ye are sons of them that slew the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell? Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous unto the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom ye slew between the sanctuary and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. ¹⁴ Then spake Jesus to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat: all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works; for they say, and do not. Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. But all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, even he who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even the Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter. ¹⁵ Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves. ¹⁶ Woe unto you, ye blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. ¹⁷ Ye fools and blind: for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that hath sanctified the gold? ¹⁸ And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is a debtor. ¹⁹ Ye blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? ²⁰ He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. ²¹ And he that sweareth by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. ²² And he that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

or: Exodus 29:37, Exodus 30:29

Reciprocal: Exodus 37:25 - General Exodus 40:26 - General Exodus 40:29 - the altar Leviticus 21:18 - a blind man Numbers 7:1 - sanctified them Deuteronomy 26:4 - before the Isaiah 60:2 - the darkness Haggai 2:12 - General Matthew 5:23 - thou Matthew 23:16 - ye blind Matthew 23:17 - or

Cross-References

Genesis 3:19
in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

Genesis 23:9
that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in the midst of you for a possession of a burying-place.

Genesis 23:10
Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying,

Genesis 47:30
but when I sleep with my fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.

Genesis 50:13
for his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field, for a possession of a burying-place, of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.

Genesis 50:25
And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.

Job 30:23
For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, And to the house appointed for all living.

Ecclesiastes 6:3
If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul be not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he:

Ecclesiastes 12:5
yea, they shall be afraid of that which is high, and terrors shall be in the way; and the almond-tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goeth to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets:

Ecclesiastes 12:7
and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Ye fools, and blind,.... This is very justly repeated, since this is no less an instance of their folly, blindness, and stupidity. In three copies of Beza's the word "fools" is not; nor is it in the Vulgate Latin, nor in Munster's Hebrew Gospel; but the Syriac, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions have it:

for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? The gift, or offering, before it was devoted to sacred use, and brought, and laid upon the altar, was common, had no ceremonial sanctity in it, and might be put to any use; but when it was brought, and laid upon the altar, it became holy; for, according to the law, whatever touched the altar, and indeed all, or any of the vessels of the sanctuary, was holy, Exodus 29:37. Christ speaks the sense of the law, and their own traditions, and in their own language, and argues from the same to the confutation of them: חמזבח מקדש, "the altar", they say u, "sanctifies" that which is fit for it; that is, that which is proper to be offered up upon it:

"as the altar sanctifies that which is fit for it, so the ascent unto it sanctifies; and as the altar, and the ascent, sanctify what is fit for them, so the vessels sanctify; the vessels for liquids sanctify the liquids, and the dry measures sanctify the dry; the vessels for liquids do not sanctify the dry, nor the dry measures sanctify the liquids; the holy vessels, which are bored, (or broken,) when they do the service they used to do, when whole, sanctify, if not, they do not sanctify; nor does anything sanctify but in the sanctuary.''

Now, since this is a clear case, that the altar sanctifies the gift, and not the gift the altar, our Lord's question is, which is the greater? A man that has the least share of common sense will easily see, that the altar must be the greater: wherefore these scribes and Pharisees must be wretchedly stupid to give out, that an oath made by the altar was not binding, when one that was made by the gift, or

Korban, was binding; seeing the gift, or offering, received its sanctity from the altar: hence, of the two, an oath made by the altar should be more sacred and obligatory than one made by the gift.

u Misn. Zebachim, c. 9. sect. 7.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The altar that sanctifieth the gift - The altar, dedicated to God, gave all the value or holiness to the offering, and must therefore be the greatest or of the most importance. If, therefore, either bound to the fulfillment of an oath, it must be the altar.