VERSE 14 of Matthew 23 will be found missing if you are reading from the RSV, and probably from other newer translations. However it will be found in the AV. My copy of the RSV prints verse 14 as a footnote. All this prompts us to make inquiry why verse 14 is omitted. The reason is a textual one, and has nothing to do with whether the verse is inspired Scripture. The fact is that the words of verse 14 can be found exactly the same in Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47. By this we can definitely say that such censor on the Pharisees as this verse holds is something Christ said, therefore it expresses the mind of Christ and God.

The reason for the omission of this verse is simply because there is not sufficient evidence that this verse was in the original writing of Matthew. This is deduced by the fact that the best and most ancient manuscripts of the St. Matthew's Gospel do not have this verse. On the other hand some ancient Greek manuscripts do have it, but they are not so early as the ones that don't. It is always taken for granted that the earlier the manuscript, the more likely it will contain the original writing without errors or additions.

Because both Luke and Mark report Jesus as having denounced the Pharisees and the teachers of the law with these words, it is right that we should consider and expound their meaning, even if it is supposed some scribe copying Matthew's Gospel added them later.

The verse reads like this - “Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widow's houses and for show make lengthy prayers. Therefore you will be punished more severely.”

Two blemishes in the character and practice of the Pharisees and teachers are mentioned here. The first is that these religious leaders devoured widow's houses. This clearly suggests that they extorted money from widows by means that were unjustified, and by this caused poverty and suffering for these widows who were, no doubt, very poor already.

Widows, no doubt, were chosen for this scam because they were more easily manipulated and so moved to part with money they could ill afford to part with. We can only suppose that the teaching of the Pharisees to these widows was of the kind that used fear to make these women transfer money to the Pharisees. We must not suppose that this was like the scams we hear of today in the media, of unscrupulous traders exploiting the weakness of vulnerable elderly people, and causing them to authorize repairs and work which did not need to be done, charging exorbitant fees, and then not doing the work properly. Rather these religious leaders prayed on fear, making these widows believe that they had to pay for God's favour, and that if they did not pay, they would be damned, or something similar. The Pharisees may have been sincere in their teaching, but they were not sincere in the charges they extorted, for if they devoured widow's houses, they plainly had no care for the widows, but only greedily coveted their money and goods.

The other evil denounced is parading their holiness and religious living, and parading it to gain human applause, and to gain a reputation for great godliness and devotion to God. Jesus plainly tells us that their praying was very lengthy, and that it had nothing very much of a desire to seek and speak to God, but rather to show of their piety, and so gain kudos and praise in their community, and amongst the people they taught.

We have an example of this in the parable of the Pharisee and tax-collector praying in the temple, which Jesus told and is recorded for us in Luke 18:9-14. Looking at this parable, which Jesus painted from real life, we see that the good opinion of others was the chief aim. The practice was to stand in a prominent place in the temple, and stand in a devout posture with the hope and intention that all may view them. There is also the suggestion that the the prayers were audible, and so as the Pharisee told God all the religious things he had done, others would hear and so think him a very holy person. The fact is that Jesus speaks of such praying as praying about or to himself. It was an act of self presentation rather than a humble calling upon God. The fact is that Jesus makes it clear in Luke that such prayers are not heard by God.

This verse is finished with a direct declaration that such false religion would meet with God's just punishment. This is clearly spoken of in the Mark and Luke passages where these words also appear. Also there is no doubt that all sin and hypocrisy, not repented of, will eventually bring down on those who sin in this way, the severe punishment of God. However the denunciation of Jesus in this verse is unique in this chapter. Here there is no threat of punishment, but rather a desire of Jesus to so expose sin in the Pharisees and teachers of the law, that they may repent and turn back to God.