Matthew 23:13

tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

tn Grk “Woe to you … because you …” The causal particle ὄτι (hoti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so throughout this chapter).

tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”

tc The most important mss (א B D L Z Θ f1 33 892* pc and several versional witnesses) do not have 23:14 “Woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ property, and as a show you pray long prayers! Therefore you will receive a more severe punishment.” Part or all of the verse is contained (either after v. 12 or after v. 13) in W 0102 0107 f13 𝔐 and several versions, but it is almost certainly not original. The present translation follows NA27 in omitting the verse number as well, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations. Note also that Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 are very similar in wording and are not disputed textually.