Woes of the Pharisees

The Woes of the Pharisees is a list of criticisms by Jesus against scribes and Pharisees recorded in the Gospels of Luke 11:37-54 and Matthew 23:1-39.Mark 12:35-40 and Luke 20:45-47 also include warnings about scribes.

Eight are listed in Matthew, and hence Matthew's version is known as the eight woes. These are found in Matthew 23 verses 13, 14, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27 and 29. Only six are given in Luke, whose version is thus known as the six woes.

The woes mostly criticise the Pharisees for hypocrisy and perjury. They illustrate the differences between inner and outer moral states.

The woes do not occur in the same point of the narrative in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. In Matthew they occur shortly after Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, where he teaches in the Temple, while in Luke they occur shortly after the Lord's prayer is given and the disciples are first sent out over the land. Before introducing the woes themselves, Matthew states that Jesus criticized them for taking the place of honor at banquets, for wearing ostentatious clothing, for encouraging people to call them Rabbi.

The woes are all woes of hypocrisy and illustrate the differences between inner and outer moral states. Jesus portrays the Pharisees as impatient with outward, ritual observance of minutiae which made them look acceptable and virtuous outwardly but left the inner person unreformed. See also Letter and spirit of the law.

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