“The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.
Parallel translations
- WEB saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sat on Moses’ seat.
- KJV Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:
- NKJV saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.
- NASB saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.
- NLT “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus acknowledges that the scribes and Pharisees occupy 'Moses' seat,' a recognized teaching office for expounding the Law. It frames the respect due to their office before he exposes their failings.
Overview
To sit on 'Moses' seat' meant to hold the recognized role of interpreting and teaching the Law of Moses. Jesus grants the legitimacy of that teaching function even as he is about to condemn the teachers' conduct. The point is that God's word retains its authority even when delivered by unworthy messengers.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Luke 20:46“Beware of the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, and they love the greetings in the marketplaces, the chief seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets.
- Mark 12:38In His teaching Jesus also said, “Watch out for the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, to receive greetings in the marketplaces,
- Mal 2:7For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.
- Ezra 7:6this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.
- Ezra 7:25And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which you possess, are to appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people west of the Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach these laws to anyone who does not know them.
- Neh 8:4–8Ezra the scribe stood on a high wooden platform built for this occasion. At his right side stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, and at his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hash-baddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam.
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 23:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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