Mat 23:13 | JFB | STEP | 13. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men —Here they are charged with shutting heaven against men: in they are charged with what was worse, taking away the key —"the key of knowledge"—which means, not the key to open knowledge, but knowledge as the only key to open heaven. A right knowledge of God's revealed word is eternal life, as our Lord says ( ); but this they took away from the people, substituting for it their wretched traditions.

Matthew 23:13

13. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men—Here they are charged with shutting heaven against men: in Lu 11:52 they are charged with what was worse, taking away the key—"the key of knowledge"—which means, not the key to open knowledge, but knowledge as the only key to open heaven. A right knowledge of God's revealed word is eternal life, as our Lord says (Joh 17:3; 5:39); but this they took away from the people, substituting for it their wretched traditions.