Matthew 23:24
New International Version
You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

New Living Translation
Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!

English Standard Version
You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

Berean Standard Bible
You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Berean Literal Bible
Blind guides--those straining out the gnat and swallowing the camel!

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

New King James Version
Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

New American Standard Bible
You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

NASB 1995
“You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

NASB 1977
“You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

Legacy Standard Bible
You blind guides, who strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

Amplified Bible
You [spiritually] blind guides, who strain out a gnat [consuming yourselves with miniscule matters] and swallow a camel [ignoring and violating God’s precepts]!

Christian Standard Bible
Blind guides! You strain out a gnat, but gulp down a camel!

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Blind guides! You strain out a gnat, yet gulp down a camel!

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

Contemporary English Version
You blind leaders! You strain out a small fly but swallow a camel.

English Revised Version
Ye blind guides, which strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
You blind guides! You strain gnats [out of your wine], but you swallow camels.

Good News Translation
Blind guides! You strain a fly out of your drink, but swallow a camel!

International Standard Version
You blind guides! You filter out a gnat, yet swallow a camel!

Majority Standard Bible
You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

NET Bible
Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel!

New Heart English Bible
You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel.

Webster's Bible Translation
Ye blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel.

Weymouth New Testament
You blind guides, straining out the gnat while you gulp down the camel!

World English Bible
You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Blind guides! Who are straining out the gnat, and are swallowing the camel.

Berean Literal Bible
Blind guides--those straining out the gnat and swallowing the camel!

Young's Literal Translation
'Blind guides! who are straining out the gnat, and the camel are swallowing.

Smith's Literal Translation
Blind guides, straining a gnat, and swallowing down a camel.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel.

Catholic Public Domain Version
You blind guides, straining out a gnat, while swallowing a camel!

New American Bible
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!

New Revised Standard Version
You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
O blind guides, who strain at gnats and swallow camels!

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Blind guides who strain out gnats and swallow camels!
NT Translations
Anderson New Testament
Blind guides! who strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel.

Godbey New Testament
Ye blind guides, who strain out the gnat, and swallow down the camel.

Haweis New Testament
Ye blind guides! who strain out a gnat, but gulp down a camel.

Mace New Testament
ye blind guides, who strain your liquor for a gnat, and swallow a beetle.

Weymouth New Testament
You blind guides, straining out the gnat while you gulp down the camel!

Worrell New Testament
Blind guides! straining out the gnat, and swallowing the camel!

Worsley New Testament
Blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Woes to Scribes and Pharisees
23Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. 25Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.…

Cross References
Luke 11:39-42
Then the Lord said, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. / You fools! Did not the One who made the outside make the inside as well? / But give as alms the things that are within you, and behold, everything will be clean for you. ...

Matthew 15:14
Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

Isaiah 9:16
For those who guide this people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up.

Jeremiah 5:31
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?

John 9:39-41
Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.” / Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard this, and they asked Him, “Are we blind too?” / “If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

Romans 2:19-24
if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness, / an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— / you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? ...

Isaiah 56:10
Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.

Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15
For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. / And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. / It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.

Proverbs 4:19
But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.

Isaiah 29:10
For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.

Ezekiel 34:2-4
“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock? / You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock. / You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bound up the injured, brought back the strays, or searched for the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty.

Micah 3:5-7
This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths: / Therefore night will come over you without visions, and darkness without divination. The sun will set on these prophets, and the daylight will turn black over them. / Then the seers will be ashamed and the diviners will be disgraced. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God.”

Matthew 7:3-5
Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? / How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye? / You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Luke 6:39
Jesus also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit?


Treasury of Scripture

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

Matthew 7:4
Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

Matthew 15:2-6
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread…

Matthew 19:24
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

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Matthew 23
1. Jesus admonishes the people to follow good doctrine, not bad examples
5. His disciples must beware of their ambition.
13. He denounces eight woes against their hypocrisy and blindness,
34. and prophesies of the destruction of Jerusalem.














You blind guides!
The phrase "You blind guides!" is a powerful rebuke from Jesus directed at the Pharisees and scribes. The Greek word for "blind" is "τυφλός" (typhlos), which not only refers to physical blindness but also to a lack of understanding or insight. In the context of the Pharisees, it highlights their spiritual blindness and inability to lead others in truth. Historically, the Pharisees were known for their strict adherence to the law, yet Jesus points out their failure to grasp the deeper spiritual truths. The term "guides" suggests a role of leadership and responsibility, which they were failing to fulfill due to their blindness. This phrase serves as a warning to all spiritual leaders to seek true understanding and insight from God.

You strain out a gnat
The imagery of "straining out a gnat" comes from the meticulous practices of the Pharisees to avoid ceremonial impurity. The gnat, "κώνωψ" (kōnōps) in Greek, was considered the smallest of unclean animals according to Levitical law. The Pharisees would strain their wine through a cloth to ensure no gnats were consumed, symbolizing their focus on minor details of the law. This practice reflects their obsession with external purity and legalistic righteousness. However, Jesus uses this image to illustrate their misplaced priorities, emphasizing that they focus on trivial matters while neglecting the weightier issues of justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

but swallow a camel
The contrast of "swallowing a camel" is a hyperbolic expression used by Jesus to highlight the absurdity of the Pharisees' actions. The camel, "κάμηλος" (kamēlos) in Greek, was the largest of the unclean animals, according to Jewish dietary laws. The exaggeration of swallowing a camel while straining out a gnat underscores the Pharisees' hypocrisy and their tendency to overlook significant moral and ethical issues. This phrase serves as a critique of their failure to understand the heart of God's law, which prioritizes love and justice over ritualistic observance. It challenges believers to examine their own lives for similar inconsistencies and to focus on the core principles of their faith.

(24) Strain at a gnat.--Better, as in Tyndale's and other earlier versions, strain out. It is sometimes said that the present rendering of the Authorised version is but the perpetuation of a printer's blunder; but of this there is scarcely sufficient evidence, nor is it probable in itself. In the Greek both nouns have the emphasis of the article, "the gnat--the camel." The scrupulous care described in the first clause of the proverbial saying was literally practised by devout Jews (as it is now by the Buddhists of Ceylon), in accordance with Leviticus 11:23; Leviticus 11:42. In the second clause, the camel appears, not only, as in Matthew 19:24, as the type of vastness, but as being among the unclean beasts of which the Israelites might not eat (Leviticus 11:4).



Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
You blind
τυφλοί (typhloi)
Adjective - Vocative Masculine Plural
Strong's 5185: Blind, physically or mentally. From, tuphoo; opaque, i.e. blind.

guides!
ὁδηγοὶ (hodēgoi)
Noun - Vocative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3595: A leader, guide; met: an instructor, teacher. From hodos and hegeomai; a conductor (teacher).

You strain out
διϋλίζοντες (diulizontes)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Vocative Masculine Plural
Strong's 1368: To strain, put through a sieve. From dia and hulizo hoo-lid'-zo; to strain out.

a gnat
κώνωπα (kōnōpa)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2971: Apparently a derivative of the base of kentron and a derivative of optanomai; a mosquito.

but
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

swallow
καταπίνοντες (katapinontes)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Vocative Masculine Plural
Strong's 2666: To drink down, swallow, devour, destroy, consume. From kata and pino; to drink down, i.e. Gulp entire.

a camel.
κάμηλον (kamēlon)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2574: A camel or dromedary. Of Hebrew origin; a 'camel'.


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NT Gospels: Matthew 23:24 You blind guides who strain out (Matt. Mat Mt)
Matthew 23:23
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