What Does Matthew 23:28 Mean in the King James?
Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
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 righteousness others see can be a role performed over an inner life full of lawlessness.
THE MEANING
You can appear aligned to others while your inner life is full of performance and life outside instruction. The verse exposes the gap between the image people approve and what actually fills you.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse undoes the belief that being seen as righteous proves you are inwardly aligned.
THE ROOT
ὑποκρίσεως
hypokriseōs
GROWS FROM
ὑποκρίνω
hypokrinō
To answer or interpret; in theatrical use, to play a part.
Hypocrisy here carries the sense of acting a part: the public face reads as righteous while the inward life is filled with something else. The word makes the gap more than an inconsistency; the appearance can be a performed role.
ALSO GROWS
hypokritēs: Actor; one who plays a role.
ὑποκριτής
The related noun makes the performed outward role audible inside “hypocrisy.”
hypokrinomai: To answer or interpret; also, to play a part.
ὑποκρίνομαι
This verb family carries both responding and performance, showing how an outward reading can be staged.
ἀνομίας
anomias
GROWS FROM
νόμος
nomos
Instruction, custom, or law; with privative ἀ-, lawlessness or life without instruction.
“iniquity” in this verse is anomias. The word describes lawlessness: a life outside the instruction that gives it form. “Full of” makes this an inner orientation, not merely a visible misstep.
ALSO GROWS
nomos: Instruction, custom, or law.
νόμος
This is the seed within “iniquity”; the word’s force appears when that instruction is absent.
anomos: Lawless; without law or instruction.
ἄνομος
This related word makes the absence in ἀνομία explicit.
δίκαιοι
dikaioi
GROWS FROM
δικ- (dik-) / δίκη (dikē)
Right, justice; what is just or fitting.
“righteous” in this verse is dikaioi. Here, righteousness names how you appear to other people. The verse sets that visible alignment beside an inner life filled with performance and lawlessness.
ALSO GROWS
dikaios: Just, right, righteous; aligned.
δίκαιος
This is the quality others see on the outside.
dikaiosynē: Justice, righteousness; alignment.
δικαιοσύνη
The related noun carries alignment as a state or practice, sharpening the contrast between outward appearance and inward reality.
THE PATTERN
An approved outward appearance can conceal what fills the inner person, while divine sight reaches beneath the surface.
But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.THE THREAD
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.The Greek ἀνομία (anomia, lawlessness) in this verse is the same word rendered “iniquity” in Matthew. John’s wording opens that hidden fullness as a life outside instruction, showing why outward approval cannot settle what fills the inner person.
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