Matthew 23:4
Greek (Tischendorf 8th ed.) Matthew 23:4 appears in the Greek New Testament. The text above is from the Tischendorf 8th edition. Each word links to its Strong’s number and a concise gloss. Click any word for its full Thayer’s Greek Lexicon entry.For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them.
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Compare translations 3
The same verse in 3 English versions, stacked beneath the original-language interlinear above. Click any original word for its lexicon entry.
Each is an independent rendering of the whole verse — the interlinear is not word-aligned to these translations.
Highlighted words mark where these versions differ — a whole-verse word diff, not a word-by-word alignment.
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World English Bible Public Domain
For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them.
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King James Version Public Domain
For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
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unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
And they tie up loads, heavy and difficult to carry, and they put on the shoulders of men, but they themselves are not willing with their finger to move them.
unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult).
Show all 19 translations
Every available English version of this verse, each an independent rendering of the whole verse.
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World English Bible Public Domain
For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them.
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Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
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Majority Standard Bible Public Domain
They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
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King James Version Public Domain
For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
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American Standard Version (1901) Public Domain
Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger.
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Revised Version (1885) Public Domain
Yea, they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger.
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Geneva Bible (1599) Public Domain
For they binde heauie burdens, and grieuous to be borne, and lay them on mens shoulders, but they themselues will not moue them with one of their fingers.
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Douay-Rheims (1899) Public Domain
For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens, and lay them on men's shoulders; but with a finger of their own they will not move them.
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Young's Literal Translation Public Domain
for they bind together burdens heavy and grievous to be borne, and lay upon the shoulders of men, but with their finger they will not move them.
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Literal Standard Version CC BY-SA 4.0
for they bind together burdens [too] heavy and grievous to bear, and lay [them] on the shoulders of men, but with their finger they will not move them.
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Unlocked Literal Bible CC BY-SA 4.0
Yes, they bind heavy burdens that are difficult to carry, and then they put them on people's shoulders. But they themselves will not move a finger to carry them.
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unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
And they tie up loads, heavy and difficult to carry, and they put on the shoulders of men, but they themselves are not willing with their finger to move them.
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Darby Bible Public Domain
but bind burdens heavy and hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of men, but will not move them with their finger.
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World Messianic Bible Public Domain
For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them.
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Webster's Bible Public Domain
For they bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
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Free Bible Version CC BY-SA 4.0
They tie up heavy burdens, and place them on people's shoulders, but they themselves don't lift a finger to help them.
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Bible in Basic English Public Domain
They make hard laws and put great weights on men's backs; but they themselves will not put a finger to them.
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Text-Critical English NT CC BY 4.0
They bind burdens that are heavy and hard to bear and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
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Tyndale New Testament (1534) Public Domain
Ye and they bynde hevy burthes and grevous to be borne and ley the on menes shulders: but they themsylfes will not heave at them with one of their fyngers.
Literal Standard Version (2020), Covenant Press — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). Unlocked Literal Bible (unfoldingWord) — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org). unfoldingWord Literal Text — © unfoldingWord, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Word-aligned USFM3 via Door43 (git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ult). Free Bible Version, Dr. Jonathan Gallagher — licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API (eBible.org).
Word by word
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- Appears 2× in the Greek New Testament
- First appears here
- Part of Speech
- Noun
- Case
- Accusative
- Number
- Plural
- Gender
- Masculine
Full Thayer's Definition
- δεσμεύουσιν desmeúō G1195 “to bind” Verb, Present, Active, Indicative, 3rd person, Plural
- δὲ dé G1161 “but” Conjunction
- φορτία phortíon G5413 “burden” Noun, Accusative, Plural, Neuter
- βαρέα barýs G926 “heavy” Adjective, Accusative, Plural, Neuter
- καὶ kaí G2532 “and” Conjunction
- ἐπιτιθέασιν epitíthēmi G2007 “voice” Verb, Present, Active, Indicative, 3rd person, Plural, Attic form
- ἐπὶ epí G1909 “upon” Preposition
- τοὺς ho G3588 “the” Article, Accusative, Plural, Masculine
- ὤμους ōmos G5606 “shoulder” Noun, Accusative, Plural, Masculine
- τῶν ho G3588 “the” Article, Genitive, Plural, Masculine
- ἀνθρώπων ánthrōpos G444 “human being” Noun, Genitive, Plural, Masculine
- αὐτοὶ autós G846 “he” Personal pronoun, Nominative, Plural, Masculine
- δὲ dé G1161 “but” Conjunction
- τῷ ho G3588 “the” Article, Dative, Singular, Masculine
- δακτύλῳ dáktylos G1147 “finger” Noun, Dative, Singular, Masculine
- αὐτῶν autós G846 “he” Personal pronoun, Genitive, Plural, Masculine
- οὐ ou G3756 “not” Particle, Negative
- θέλουσιν thélō G2309 “to will” Verb, Present, Active, Indicative, 3rd person, Plural
- κινῆσαι kinéō G2795 “to move” Verb, Aorist, Active, Infinitive
- αὐτά autós G846 “he” Personal pronoun, Accusative, Plural, Neuter
About this verse
These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →
- 20
- words
- 15
- distinct lemmas
- Gospels
- section
Notable vocabulary
The rarest word here is ὤμους shoulder G5606 — appearing just 2 times in the whole Greek New Testament.
First appearance in Scripture
These words make their first canonical appearance in the Greek New Testament here:
Shared distinctive vocabulary
ὤμους shoulder G5606 occurs in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. Also found in:
Cross-references
7Topical passages linked to Matthew 23:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.
- Luke 11:46 He said, "Woe to you lawyers also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won't even lift one finger to help carry those burdens.
- Acts 15:10 Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
- Galatians 6:13 For even they who receive circumcision don't keep the law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised, that they may boast in your flesh.
- Matthew 11:28–30 "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
- Revelation 2:24 But to you I say, to the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as don't have this teaching, who don't know what some call 'the deep things of Satan,' to you I say, I am not putting any other burden on you.
- Acts 15:28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things:
Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).
Lesson kit
Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.
Matthew, in the Gospels, opens this verse with 20 words (15 distinct Greek lemmas). Its most distinctive word is ōmos (“shoulder”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.
Discussion questions
- How does “shoulder” (ōmos) shape what this verse is saying?
- 5 words make their first appearance in Scripture here. What does this debut establish?
- How does Luke 15:5, which shares the word «shoulder», read alongside this verse?
- What does the repetition of “the” (3× in this one verse) do in this verse?
- These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
- Compare how Joseph Benson's Commentary and Tyndale Open Study Notes read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?
Things to notice
- 5 words make their first canonical appearance in Scripture here.
- These translations choose different wording for 21 words in this verse.
- “the” occurs 3× in this single verse.
- 15 distinct Greek lemmas span 20 words in this verse.
Commentary
Notes on Matthew 23:4 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.
Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →
Joseph Benson's Commentary
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale Open Resources
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Bengel's Gnomon
Johann Albrecht Bengel
Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Meyer's Critical & Exegetical Commentary
Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer
Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Expositor's Greek Testament
ed. W. Robertson Nicoll
The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Geneva Bible (1599)
Geneva Bible translators
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill's Exposition
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Trapp's Complete Commentary
John Trapp
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Matthew Poole's English Annotations
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Whedon's Commentary on the Bible
Daniel D. Whedon
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament
William Burkitt
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The People's New Testament
B. W. Johnson
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes
Door43 World Missions Community
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges
Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alford’s Greek Testament
Henry Alford
Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
International Critical Commentary
International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.