John Calvin Commentary Matthew 23:5

"But all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders [of their garments]," — Matthew 23:5 (ASV)

And all their works they do that they may be seen by men. He had recently said that the scribes live very differently from what they teach; but now He adds that, if they have anything that is apparently good, it is hypocritical and worthless, because they have no other design than to please men and to boast. Here zeal for piety and a holy life is contrasted with the mask of those works which serve no purpose but ostentation; for an upright worshipper of God will never give himself up to that empty display by which hypocrites are puffed up.

Thus not only is the ambition of the scribes and Pharisees reproved, but our Lord, after having condemned the transgression and contempt of the Law of God in their whole life, so that they might not shield themselves with their pretended holiness, anticipates them by replying that those things of which they boast are absolute trifles, and of no value whatever, because they spring from mere ostentation. He afterward produces a single instance by which that ambition was easily perceived: namely, that by the fringes of their robes they presented themselves to the eyes of men as good observers of the Law.

And make their phylacteries broad, and enlarge the fringes of their robes. For why were their fringes made broader, and their phylacteries more magnificent, than was customary, except for idle display? The Lord had commanded the Jews to wear, both on their forehead and on their clothing, some notable passages selected from the Law (Deuteronomy 6:8). As forgetfulness of the Law easily creeps into our human nature, the Lord intended in this way to keep it constantly in the remembrance of His people; for they were also instructed to inscribe such sentences on the posts of their houses (Deuteronomy 6:9), so that, wherever they turned their eyes, some godly warning might immediately meet them.

But what did the scribes do? In order to distinguish themselves from the rest of the people, they carried the commandments of God with them, more magnificently inscribed on their garments; and in this boasting an offensive ambition was displayed.

Let us also learn from this how ingenious people are in concocting vain deception to conceal their vices under some pretext and cloak of virtues, by turning to the purposes of their own hypocrisy those exercises of piety which God has commanded.

Nothing was more profitable than to exercise all their senses in the contemplation of the Law, and it was not without good reason that this was commanded by the Lord. But they were so far from profiting by these simple instructions that, by making perfect righteousness consist in adorning robes, they despised the Law throughout their whole life. For it was impossible to treat the Law of God with greater contempt than when they imagined that they kept it by pompous dress, or declared that masks designed for acting a play constituted keeping the Law.

What Mark and Luke say about the robes relates to the same subject. We know that the inhabitants of Eastern countries commonly used long robes—a custom they still retain. But it is evident from Zechariah 13:4 that the prophets were distinguished from the rest of the people by a particular style of cloak. And, indeed, it was highly reasonable that the teachers should dress in this manner, so that there might be a higher degree of gravity and modesty in their dress than in that of the common people; but the scribes had made an improper use of it by turning it into luxury and display. Their example has been followed by Roman Catholic priests, among whom robes are manifestly nothing more than the badges of proud tyranny.