Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 23:19

"Ye blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?" — Matthew 23:19 (ASV)

See comments on 5:33–37 and 15:14 for the background and thrust of these verses. While it may be true that the rabbis fought the abuses of oaths and vows among the unlearned masses, the way they fought them was by differentiating between what was binding and what was not. In that sense, wittingly or unwittingly they encouraged evasive oaths and therefore lying. Jesus cut through these complexities by insisting that people must tell the truth. He charges the teachers of the law and the Pharisees with mishandling the Scriptures they claimed to defend.