Matthew 23:26

26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Matthew 23:26 in Other Translations

26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.

26 Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something.

26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so the outside of it may also become clean.

Matthew 23:26 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 23:26

Thou blind Pharisee
Well might Christ call such an one a blind Pharisee, who was so scrupulously careful to cleanse his cup and platter; and yet made no conscience of filling them with what was gotten in an unjust way, and so defiled himself and them:

cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the
outside of them may be clean also:
get food and drink in an honest way, remove all extortion and oppression out of thine hands, and luxury and intemperance from thy table; and so shall the outward cleanness of thy cup and dish, be no reproach unto thee, or testimony against thee, of thine hypocrisy. So the great concern of all men should be, inward purity; that their hearts be purified by faith in the blood of Christ, and sprinkled from an evil conscience by the same; that principles of grace and holiness be formed in them by the Spirit of God; and then their outward lives and conversations being influenced thereby, will be honourable and agreeable to their professions. Otherwise, an external reformation, or an outward show of holiness, and bare pretensions to it, without internal grace, will never be of any avail in the sight of God.

Matthew 23:26 In-Context

24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.

28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.