Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
Woe unto you ... hypocrites! ye build the tombs of the prophets ... And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not ... Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets that is, 'ye be witnesses that ye have inherited, and voluntarily served yourselves heirs to, the truth-hating, prophet-killing, spirit of your fathers.' Out of pretended respect and honour, they repaired and beautified the graves of the prophets, and with whining hypocrisy said, "If we had been in their days, how differently should we have treated these prophets?" while all the time they were witnesses to themselves that they were the children of them that killed the prophets, convicting themselves daily of as exact a resemblance, in spirit and character to the very classes over whose deeds they pretended to mourn, as child to parent. In Luke 11:44 our Lord gives another turn to this figure of a grave: "Ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them." As one might unconsciously walk over a grave concealed from view, and thus contract ceremonial defilement, so the plausible exterior of the Pharisees kept people from perceiving the pollution they contracted from coming in contact with such corrupt characters.