Matthew 23:19

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

Blind! for which is greater, The gift, or the altar that halloweth 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?

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

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

¹⁴ But alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because ye are locking up the kingdom of the heavens before men, - for, ye, are not entering, neither, them who are entering, suffer ye to enter. ¹⁵ Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: because ye compass sea and dry land, to make one convert - and, when it is done, ye make him a son of gehenna, twofold more than ye. ¹⁶ Alas for you, blind guides! that say - Whosoever shall swear by the Temple, it is, nothing, but, whosoever shall swear by the gold of the Temple, is bound: ¹⁷ Foolish and blind! for which is, greater, The gold, or the Temple that hath hallowed the gold? ¹⁸ And, whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is, nothing, but, whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, is bound: ¹⁹ Blind! for which is greater, The gift, or the altar that halloweth the gift? ²⁰ He therefore that hath sworn by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all that is upon it; ²¹ And, he that hath sworn by the Temple, sweareth by it, and by him who dwelleth therein; ²² And, he that hath sworn by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him who sitteth thereupon. ²³ Alas for you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because ye tithe the mint and the anise and the cummin, - and have dismissed the weightier matters of the law - the justice, the mercy, and the faith; whereas, these, it was binding, to do, and, those, not to, dismiss.

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, until thou return to the ground, because therefrom, wast thou taken, - For, dust, thou art, And, unto dust, shalt thou return.

Genesis 23:9
That he would give me, the cave of Machpelah, which pertaineth unto him, which is within the bounds of his field, - For full silver, let him give it me in your midst, For a possession of a buryingplace.

Genesis 23:10
Now, Ephron, was sitting in the midst of the sons of Heth, - so Ephron the Hittite responded to Abraham, in the ears of the sons of Heth, even all that were entering the gate of his city, saying:

Genesis 47:30
When I shall lie down with my fathers, then shalt thou carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said: I, will do according to thy word.

Genesis 50:13
so his sons carried him to 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 buryingplace from Ephron the Hittite over against Mamre.

Genesis 50:25
Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear saying, - God will, surely concern, himself for you, So shall ye carry up my bones, from hence.

Job 30:23
For I know that, unto death, thou wilt bring me back, even unto the house of meeting for every one living.

Ecclesiastes 6:3
Though a man should beget a hundred children, and live, many years, so that many should be the days of his years but, his own soul, should not be satisfied with the good, and he should not even have, a burial, I said, Better than he, is an untimely birth!

Ecclesiastes 12:5
Yea, at what is high, they be in fear, and there be, terrors, in the way, and the almond be rejected, and the grasshopper drag itself along, and desire perish, - for man is going to his age-abiding home, when the wailers shall go round in the streets;

Ecclesiastes 12:7
And the dust return to the earth, as it was, - and, the spirit, return 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.