What Does Matthew 23:23 Mean in the King James?
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The same Greek verb names both what has been omitted, the weightier matters, and what need not be left undone, the small observance.
THE MEANING
Your attention can be exact about small details while justice, mercy, and trust are left unattended. The verse holds both together: the weightier concerns belong in the doing, and the smaller practices still have a place.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that precision in religious details can make up for neglect of justice, mercy, and trust.
THE ROOT
ἀφήκατε
aphēkate
GROWS FROM
ἀφίημι
aphiēmi
to leave, let go, release; also to forgive
“omitted / leave undone” in this verse is aphēkate. The Greek uses forms of this same verb for both “have omitted” and “not to leave ... undone.” Its word-family also names release and forgiveness, so English’s separate verbs conceal one movement: what receives care, and what gets let go.
ALSO GROWS
aphesis: release, remission, forgiveness
ἄφεσις
This noun from the same word-family connects the verse’s language of leaving with the language of releasing debts or wrongs.
aphienai: to leave or let go; the infinitive form used for “to leave”
ἀφιέναι
At the verse’s end, this form repeats the verb used for “omitted,” showing that the small practice is not simply to be abandoned.
βαρύτερα
barytera
GROWS FROM
βαρύς
barys
heavy, weighty
“weightier” in this verse is barytera. The comparison gives priority a felt weight: judgment, mercy, and trust are named as the heavier concerns of the instruction. The verse’s image makes the difference between exact quantities and weight-bearing matters tangible.
ALSO GROWS
baros: weight, burden
βάρος
This related noun makes the root’s image of heaviness explicit: the matters named here carry weight.
bareō: to weigh down, burden
βαρέω
This related verb shows the same root’s movement from weight as a quality to weight as something carried.
πίστιν
pistin
GROWS FROM
πείθω
peithō
to persuade, bring to trust or confidence
Here the word translated “faith” belongs among the weighty concerns as trust, reliance that leans its full weight. Its word-family reaches toward both trusting and being trustworthy, giving this concern a relational shape.
ALSO GROWS
pisteuō: to trust, believe
πιστεύω
This verb shows the active movement of reliance contained in the noun for faith.
pistos: trustworthy, faithful
πιστός
This adjective connects trust with steadiness and reliability, extending the verse’s concern beyond private belief.
THE PATTERN
The measure of religious practice is the weight it gives to justice, mercy, and trust.
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.THE THREAD
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.The Greek verb translated “omitted” and “leave undone” here is the same verb translated “forgive” in this prayer. English gives those acts different names, while the shared word-family links leaving something behind with release.
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