a “But all their works they do to be seen of men,
b For they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders (or tassels) of their garments,
b And love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
a And the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi.”
Note that in ‘a' they want to be seen of men and in the parallel they want men to admire them and salute them and call them ‘Rabbi' (my great one). In ‘b' and its parallel we have a description of the works that they were good at and put a lot of effort into, which were all for self-aggrandisement.
But not only did they inflict heavy burdens on people, they also did what they did in order to be ‘seen of men'. That had become more important to them than their actual obedience. The emphasis here is thus on the fact that they were mainly all outward show. They did many of the right things, but they did them for totally the wrong reasons (see Matthew 6:1-18). Their whole life was a public display in order that they might obtain credit for themselves, both before God (Luke 18:11-12) and before men (‘to be seen of men'). And yet at the same time they actually convinced themselves that they were being ‘righteous'. For were not the things that they did proof of their obedience to the Law? They did not appreciate the fact that those who are truly righteous are those who are least aware of the fact. Compare here especially Matthew 6:1-2; Matthew 6:5; Matthew 6:16. The ideas in mind here are thus very similar to those in the Sermon on the Mount.
But they worked very hard in one way. ‘They made large phylacteries.' Phylacteries were leather pouches which contained citations of the Law (e.g. usually Exodus 13:1-16; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Deuteronomy 11:13-21, although the texts could vary as we see from examples from Qumran) which they wore on their forehead and on their arm. This was done in literal fulfilment of Exodus 13:9; Deuteronomy 11:18. They were mainly worn at morning and evening prayers, although some had taken to wearing them all the time. But they were not satisfied with simply wearing them. Just small ones would have achieved their purpose of reminding them of God's law. The point here is that they manufactured and wore large ones so that everyone could see how pious they were, for all would know that they had been able to write the citations in large letters (compare Galatians 6:11 where large letters were used for the right reason, to glorify Jesus), and so be more aware of the need to observe them.
The tassels that every Jewish man wore on his cloak were again intended to be a reminder of the commandments of God (Numbers 15:37-38). So these Scribes and Pharisees wore very large ones so that no one could be in any doubt of their respect for God's commandments. By this they made their cloaks longer, and those tassels would sway ostentatiously on their cloaks as they went around paradoxically misusing or misrepresenting the Law of God. These were, of course, but two examples of their whole attitude towards life. Compare the idea of their blowing trumpets in order to draw attention to their righteous acts in Matthew 6:2. And Jesus was not just speculating about this. He had seen it.
Some, however, see the enlarging of the borders as referring to some way in which they drew attention to their own distinctiveness by the size of a type of special border on their cloaks. But either way the point is the same. They were trying to draw attention to how righteous they were to be seen to be.
‘They love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues.' Furthermore they were men of ‘love'. They loved the chief place at the feasts they went to, vying for the top positions (compare Luke 14:7-11), and once they had achieved them they loved sitting there aware that men were looking at them admiringly. The tables were often arranged in a U formation with the bottom of the U indicating the placing of the chief tables, to which all could look. The central table would be occupied by the host with his most important guests on his right hand and his left (compare James' and John's request in Matthew 20:21 demonstrating how near to this attitude the Apostles were). And then the places would go in descending order of importance. Thus they were delighted when they were placed near the top. And they loved the chief seats in the synagogues, where chairs would be set in the front, possibly on a platform, so that they could sit in them and face the people. We can no doubt recognise a similarity with our own customs today. But it is not to be so among Christians, for none are more important than any others before God.
‘And the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi.' And they loved the respectful salutations in the marketplaces as they moved around, especially because of the recognised principle that the lesser saluted the greater. For they loved not only to be seen of men but for their superiority to be verbally acknowledged, and to hear men calling them ‘Rabbi' (my great one) which was not yet an official title, but was regularly used of respected Teachers (it was used as a courtesy of both John the Baptist and Jesus, although neither sought it or wanted it). One of their main aims in life was thus to be highly esteemed, and to be treated as though they were important, and thus be publicly acknowledged as such. It made all their religious activity worthwhile. It was very much a case of ‘us' and ‘them'.