Verse Lens · Context pointer
Matthew 23:5 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 5. 5But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Says their visible religious works seek human notice through widened markers and fringes.
Read It With
- Matthew 23:1–23:12
Matthew 23:5 says their visible religious works seek human notice through widened markers and fringes; within Matthew 23:1–23:12, it contributes to this controlling movement: Jesus addresses crowds and disciples about scribes and Pharisees who sit in Moses' seat, distinguishes teaching from conduct, condemns burdens and status display, and directs disciples toward humble sibling service.
Why It Needs Context
Says their visible religious works seek human notice through widened markers and fringes. Its responsible force depends on Matthew 23:1–23:12; it supplies genealogy, sequence, quotation, dialogue, image, response, or transition rather than a complete standalone teaching.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Matthew 23:1–23:12 — Jesus exposes status performance while honoring the teaching seatSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Matthew 23:1–23:12, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control without treating one edition as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text file data/sblgnt/text/Matt.txt, Matthew 23:1–23:12
Open the Matthew Greek text file ↗