Contents | Index

The Fifth Woe (Woe to You Scribes and Pharisees)

The fifth woe refers to tithe paying, which was meticulously observed by the Scribes and Pharisees, even to the small garden herbs of the sweet-smelling mint, the aromatic anise, and the cummin (with aromatic seed).

The tithe was to be paid on "all increase of thy seed (Deut. 14:22 ; Lev. 27:34), even on all market able merchandise. They were exceedingly conscientious and showed great zeal in doing the easier things, while eluding the serious and more difficult requirements of duty, such as righteous judgment or justice, compassionate mercy, true-hearted devotion. Jesus did not condemn tithing, but Pharisaical externalism and pretension in tithing, while neglecting the weightier matters.

He reinforced His severe indictment of those blind guides by the use of a current proverb: "Ye blind guides which strain out (filter) the gnat from the wine, while swallowing the camel" (an unclean animal, chewing the cud but not parting the hoof)! They made small things of great importance and great things of little consequence.