Matthew 23:23 23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Mint, anise, and cummin are various spices. Some of them were used for fragrance from time to time. They were also ground up and used for medicine. This really was not what God had in mind when He spoke of the tithe, but they had gotten so technical with their performance they had forgotten the purpose behind it. “Pay tithe of”... A tithe or tenth of all produce was, by the Mosaic Law, to be given for the use of the priests and Levites (Lev. 27:30). Several species of “mint” grow in Palestine. “Anise” (Greek anethon) is better rendered “dill.” It grew both wild and cultivated, its fruits being used for medicine. The seeds of “cumin,” which resemble caraway, were used as spice in seasoning. “Tithe of mint and anise and cummin”... Garden herbs, not really the kind of farm produce that the tithe was designed to cover (Lev. 27:30). But the Pharisees fastidiously weighed out a tenth of every herb, perhaps even counting individual dill seeds. Jesus’ point, however, was not to condemn their observance of the law’s fine points. The problem was that they “neglected the weightier provisions” of justice and mercy and faith – the moral principles underlying all the laws. They were satisfied with their focus on the incidentals and externals but willfully resisted the spiritual meaning of the law. He told them they should have concentrated on those large issues “without neglecting the others.” In such little matters the Pharisees were most careful to keep the law, yet they had completely overlooked its more important precepts.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 00:12:51 +0000
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