And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
All Commentaries on Matthew 23:12 Go To Matthew 23
Jerome
AD 420
For the Lord, when He had given the commandments of the Law through Moses, added at the end, “And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be ever before thine eyes;” to distinguish the people of Israel; that asin their bodies circumcision, so in their garments the fringe, might discriminate the Jewish nation. But these superstitious teachers, catching at popular favour, and making gain of silly women, made broad hems, and fastened them with sharp pins, that as they walked or sat they might be pricked, and by such monitors be recalled to the duties of God’s ministry. This embroidery then of the Decalogue they called phylacteries, that is, conservatories, because those who wore them, wore them for their own protection and security. So little did the Pharisees understand that they were to be worn on the heart and not on the body; for in equal degree may cases and chests be said to have books, which assuredly have not the knowledge of God. But others explain this place thus, That they made broad their teachings concerning special observances, as phylacteries, or preservatives of salvation, preaching them continually to the people. And the broad fringes of their garments they explain of the same undue stress upon such commandments.
Seeing they thus make broad their phylacteries, and make them broad fringes, desiring to have glory of men, they are convicted also in other things; “Forthey love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues.”
