Matthew 23:24 — Community Reflections

MATTHEW 23:24 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.”

You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! The camel-and-gnat image is one of the most memorable in the Gospels: the meticulous straining of the water to remove a tiny impure insect (the gnat, an unclean creature) while swallowing the largest unclean animal in the land (the camel). The image captures the inverted priorities of the Pharisaic system: extreme attention to the small and complete neglect of the large.

Church Fathers on Matthew 23:24

The Lord had said above that they bound heavy burdens upon others, which they themselves would not touch; He now again shews how they aimed at being correct in little things, but neglected weighty matters.
Chrysostom · 4th century

The Lord had commanded, that for the maintenance of the Priests and Levites, whose portion was the Lord, tithes of every thing should be offered in the temple. Accordingly, the Pharisees (to dismiss mystical expositions) concerned themselves about this alone, that these trifling things should be paid in, but lightly esteemed other things which were weighty.
Jerome · 4th century

Or, because these covetous Priests, when any one did not bring his tithes of the smallest thing, made it a matter of grave reprehension; but when one injured his neighbour or sinned against God, they were at no pains to reprove him, careful only of their own profit, neglecting the glory of God, and the salvation of men. For to observe righteousness, to do mercy, and to have faith, these things God commanded for His own glory; but the payment of tithes He established for the…
Pseudo-Chrysostom · 5th century

Read all 9 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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