Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 23:23-24

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone. Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel!" — Matthew 23:23-24 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: The Lord had said earlier that they tie up heavy burdens for others, which they themselves would not touch. He now shows again how they aimed to be correct in little things but neglected weighty matters.

St. Jerome: The Lord had commanded that for the maintenance of the Priests and Levites, whose portion was the Lord, tithes of everything should be offered in the temple. Accordingly, the Pharisees (setting aside mystical interpretations) were concerned only that these trivial things should be paid, but they treated other, weightier matters lightly.

He then charges them with covetousness for carefully demanding tithes of worthless herbs, while they neglected justice in their business dealings, mercy to the poor, and faith toward God—which are the weighty matters.

Pseudo-Chrysostom: Or, because these greedy priests, when anyone failed to bring their tithes of the smallest thing, made it a matter of serious reprimand. But when someone injured their neighbor or sinned against God, they took no trouble to correct him, caring only for their own profit while neglecting God's glory and the salvation of humanity.

For observing righteousness, doing mercy, and having faith—these things God commanded for His own glory. But He established the payment of tithes for the support of the priests, so that the priests would minister to the people in spiritual matters, and the people would supply the priests with material things.

So it is today: when all are careful about their own honor, no one is careful about God's honor. They jealously protect their own rights but will take no trouble in the service of the Church. If the people do not pay their tithes properly, they complain; but if they see the people in sin, they do not say a word against them.

But because some of the Scribes and Pharisees to whom He is now speaking were from among the people, it is not inappropriate to offer a different interpretation. The phrase "to tithe" can be used for the one who pays as well as for the one who receives tithes. The Scribes and Pharisees, then, offered tithes of the very best things to display their righteousness; but in their judgments, they were unjust, without mercy for their brethren, and without faith in the truth.

Origen of Alexandria: But because it was possible that some, hearing the Lord speak this way, might then neglect paying tithes on small things, He prudently adds, These things ought ye to have done (that is, justice, mercy, and faith), and not to leave the others undone (that is, the tithing of mint, anise, and cumin).

Remigius of Auxerre: In these words, the Lord shows that all the commandments of the Law, both the greatest and the least, are to be fulfilled. This also refutes those who give alms from the fruits of the earth, supposing that in this way they cannot sin, when in fact their alms profit them nothing unless they are careful to keep themselves from sin.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: And because the guilt of omitting the tithing of herbs was much less than that of neglecting a duty of benevolence, the Lord derides them: Ye blind guides, which strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel.

St. Jerome: I suppose the camel to mean the weighty precepts—judgment, mercy, and faith—and the gnat to mean the tithing of mint, anise, and cumin, and other worthless herbs. We "swallow" and overlook the greater of God's commands, but show our carelessness through a religious scrupulousness in little things that bring profit with them.

Origen of Alexandria: Or, "straining out a gnat" means putting away small sins, while "swallowing a camel" means committing great sins, which He calls camels because of the size and distorted shape of that animal.

Morally, the Scribes are those who think that Scripture contains nothing more than what the bare letter shows. The Pharisees are all those who consider themselves righteous and separate themselves from others, saying, Come not near me, for I am clean.

How can they not be judged blind, who do not see that it is of little use to be a careful dispenser in the least things if matters of chief importance are neglected? His present discourse refutes them, not by forbidding the observance of little things, but by commanding them to keep the most important things more carefully.

St. Gregory the Great: Or, to put it another way: the gnat stings while it hums; the camel bows its back to receive its load. The Jews, then, "strained off the gnat" when they asked to have the seditious robber released to them, and they "swallowed the camel" when they shouted for the death of Him who had voluntarily taken on Himself the burden of our mortality.¹

1. Mor. 1, 15