“Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!”
King James Version (KJV)
23:16 Wo to you, ye blind guides - Before he had styled them hypocrites, from their personal character: now he gives them another title, respecting their influence upon others. Both these appellations are severely put together in the 23d and #Mt 23:23|,25. 25th verses; and this severity rises to the height in the 33d verse. The gold of the temple - The treasure kept there. He is bound - To keep his oath.
Mt 23:16,17 [Ye] blind guides. Blind, because they closed their eyes, yet professing to be leaders. Swear by the temple. A common oath among the Jews. Swear by the gold of the temple. In their foolish distinctions they regarded this as a binding oath. If the gold had any sacredness, it was because the temple, God's house, made it so.