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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - Matthew 23:23 - 23:23
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Ye tithe (apodekatoute). The tithe had to be paid upon “all the increase of thy seed” (Deu 14:22; Lev 27:30). The English word tithe is tenth. These small aromatic herbs, mint (to hēduosmon, sweet-smelling), anise or dill (anēthon), cummin (kuminon, with aromatic seeds), show the Pharisaic scrupulous conscientiousness, all marketable commodities. “The Talmud tells of the ass of a certain Rabbi which had been so well trained as to refuse corn of which the tithes had not been taken” (Vincent).
These ye ought (tauta edei). Jesus does not condemn tithing. What he does condemn is doing it to the neglect of the weightier matters (ta barutera). The Pharisees were externalists; cf. Luk 11:39-44.