Whitewashed Tombs
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Matt. 23:27)—Jesus’ image for scribes and Pharisees who appeared righteous outwardly while inwardly harboring hypocrisy and lawlessness. Tombs could be whitened to make them conspicuous and help people avoid the ritual impurity caused by contact with the dead (Num. 19:16). Their clean exterior therefore stood in stark contrast to the bones and decay within. Christ’s rebuke concerns the division between visible religious respectability and an unreformed heart; it is not a condemnation of cleanliness or of Jewish burial practice itself.