Matthew presents a concerted attack on the Jewish religious authorities at this point in his gospel narrative; there is a briefer warning about the scribes in , and
Luke has, according to Protestant theologian
Heinrich Meyer, "inserted at
Luke 11 portions of this discourse in an order different from the original". The pharisees themselves have been silenced in
Matthew 22. According to
Richard Thomas France, this section shows Jesus as a fierce
controversialist concerning the values of the
kingdom of heaven as opposed to the superficial approach to religion. Meyer thinks that Matthew's account is closer to the actual directive of Jesus, "although much that was spoken on other occasions may perhaps be mixed up with it";
Heinrich Ewald, on the other hand, thinks that the discourse is made up of passages that were probably original, though uttered on very different occasions.
Dale Allison states that "'
Moses' seat' is ambiguous. It may either refer to a literal chair for
synagogue authorities or be a
metaphor for teaching authority (cf. the professor's 'chair')." Thus, the
New Century Version presents this verse as: :
The teachers of the law and the Pharisees have the authority to tell you what the law of Moses says. Allison observes that "only here (in Matthew's gospel) are the Jewish leaders presented in a positive light: they should be obeyed". Moses "sat to judge the people" in , although Meyer counsels against the suggestion that the "seat of Moses" refers to this passage. meaning that they have "assumed to themselves the duties of this office". Arthur Carr notes that "Jesus does not prohibit the practice of wearing
phylacteries, but the ostentatious enlargement of them". He also observes that "it is thought by many that our Saviour Himself wore phylacteries". Their use is prescribed in
Exodus 13:9 and
Deuteronomy 6:8. ==The scribes and Pharisees denounced (verses 13–36)==