Devine Scripture

Matthew 23:24

What does Matthew 23:24 mean?

A plain-English look at Matthew 23:24 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Matthew 23:24 means

Jesus uses a striking metaphor to condemn the Pharisees' distorted spiritual judgment: they meticulously "strain out the gnat" from their drinks (to avoid ceremonial impurity), yet they completely "swallow the camel" (a much larger, unequivocally unclean animal). This vivid imagery powerfully illustrates their hypocrisy and spiritual blindness. They obsession over trivial religious details while ignoring much greater moral and ethical violations, demonstrating a severe lack of discernment and a preference for outward show over genuine purity.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel!

KJV

King James Version · 1611

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

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel!

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

You blind guides, who take out a fly from your drink, but make no trouble over a camel.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

`Blind guides! who are straining out the gnat, and the camel are swallowing.

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

Blind guides, who strain out the gnat, but drink down the camel.

Context

This verse immediately follows the fourth woe, serving as a powerful and memorable illustration of the Pharisees' inverted spiritual priorities. The vivid imagery of straining gnats while swallowing camels concretely demonstrates their "blind guide" status and their neglect of "weightier matters." This sharp, proverbial statement reinforces the previous condemnation and transitions to another example of their external versus internal purity in the next woe, setting the overall theme for their hypocrisy.

v.23Woe 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.

v.24This passage

v.25Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • John 18:40

    They cried out therefore again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

  • Matthew 19:24

    And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

  • Matthew 15:2

    Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

  • Matthew 27:6

    And the chief priests took the pieces of silver, and said, It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is the price of blood.

  • Matthew 7:4

    Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye?

  • Matthew 23:16

    Woe unto you, ye blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.

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