There are two observations to make of this passage:
1. With literary beauty, Jesus presents His woes in a structured chiasm with its apex emphasizing the main reason for the
Pharisees' failure as teachers.
2. Did you notice that this passage is missing Matthew 23:14? Because the best and earliest manuscripts do not have Matthew
23:14, many Bible translations omit it. Translations using later manuscripts containing Matthew 23:14 will present eight woes.
A chiasm is a Hebrew literary device that presents ideas or clauses that mirror each other in a pattern that places a focus on the apex
of the literary structure. As you learn more about how to study the Bible, you too will be able to identify these devices and enable a
greater understanding of God's word. Here the chiasm of Matthew 23:13-32 (ESV) can be observed with an x marking the apex:
A: 13) "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's
faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
B: 15) Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single
proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
C: 16) "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone
swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17) You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made
the gold sacred? 18) And you say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he
is bound by his oath.' 19) You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20) So whoever swears by
the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21) And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22) And
whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
X: 23) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have
neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
24) You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
C': 25) "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 self-indulgence. 26) You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the
outside also may be clean.
B': 27) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly
appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. 28) So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but
within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
A': 29) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate
the monuments of the righteous, 30) saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding
the blood of the prophets.' 31) Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32) Fill up, then,
the measure of your fathers. (Matt 23:13-32, ESV)