He came to the second, and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I’m going, sir,’ but he didn’t go.
Parallel Translations
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He came to the second, and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I’m going, sir,’ but he didn’t go.
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Then came he to the second and sayde lyke wyse. And he answered and sayde: I will syr: yet wet not.
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Then came he to the second, and said likewise. And he answered, and said, I will, Syr: yet he went not.
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Matthew 21:30 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God, but by their deeds they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and unfit for any good work.
- Ezekiel 33:31 They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.
- Matthew 23:3 All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don’t do their works; for they say, and don’t do.
- Romans 2:17-25 Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, rest on the law, glory in God, know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babies, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth. You therefore who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach that a man shouldn’t steal, do you steal? You who say a man shouldn’t commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who glory in the law, do you dishonor God by disobeying the law? For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written. For circumcision indeed profits, if you are a doer of the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 30 And he came to the second, and said…
30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not.
Ver. 30. I go, sir] I, but when, sir? Stultus semper incipit vivere. Fools are always starting to live. (Seneca.) Hypocrites purpose often, and promise fair to do better, but drive off and fail in the performance; their morning cloud is soon dispersed, their earthly dew is quickly dried up, Hos 6:4, their heartless essays come to nothing, Modo et modo non habent modum. The philosopher liked not such as are semper victuri, always about to live better, but never begin. A divine complains that the goodness of many is like the softness of a plumb, soon crushed; but their wickedness is like the stone in the plumb, hard and inflexible.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And he came to the second,.... The Scribes and…
And he came to the second,.... The Scribes and Pharisees, by the ministry of John the Baptist, Christ, and his apostles also:
and said likewise; the same things as to the other son, the publicans and sinners; calling them into the Gospel dispensation, to hear the word, embrace truth, attend on ordinances, and labour in promoting the kingdom, and interest of the Messiah, whilst they had the light of the Gospel with them. Urging also the relation they stood in to God, as a part of the Jewish body; to whom, among other external privileges, the adoption belonged:
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and he answered and said, I go, sir, and went not: the word "go" is not in the generality of the Greek copies; the phrase is only "I sir", though it is rightly enough supplied as to the sense. Beza says, it was in his most ancient copy; and so it is in the Arabic and Persic versions, and in Munster's Hebrew Gospel; though it is not in the Syriac and Ethiopic versions. So, the Scribes and Pharisees seemed pleased with the ministry of John for a while, and at first were forward to submit to his baptism, and were very inquisitive about the Messiah: yet, when he was declared in John's ministry, and by his own doctrine, and miracles, they refused to give in to the belief of him; they would neither enter into the Gospel kingdom, embrace the doctrines, and obey the commands of it themselves, nor suffer others to enter in; but, as much as in them lay, by their reproaches, menaces, and excommunications, deterred them from it. They, were like some other persons, who promise fair, and talk much of doing good works, but do none; teach the people to do them, but do not perform them themselves, though they would seem to do them; make great pretensions to them, boast of them, and trust in them; and therefore, of all men, ought to be careful to maintain them, and yet do the least.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain He answered, I go, sir: but went not -…
He answered, I go, sir: but went not - Just so did the scribes and Pharisees: they professed the greatest readiness and zeal in the service of God: but it was bare profession, contradicted by all their actions.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 30. I go, sir] This is all respect,…
Verse 30. I go, sir] This is all respect, complaisance, and professed, obedience; but he went not: he promised well, but did not perform. What a multitude of such are in the world, professing to know God, but denying him in their works! Alas! what will such professions avail, when God comes to take away the soul?
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain And he came to the second, and said likewise.…
And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir--"I, sir." The emphatic "I," here, denotes the self-righteous complacency which says, "God, I thank thee that I am not as other men" (Luk 18:11).
and went not--He did not "afterward repent" and refuse to go; for there was here no intention to go. It is the class that "say and do not" (Mat 23:3) --a falseness more abominable to God, says STIER, than any "I will not."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 30. I go, sir — He gives a polite…
30. I go, sir — He gives a polite answer with a sir to it. He professes obedience; but he substitutes the profession for the practice.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (30) I go, sir.—The tone of outward respect, as…
(30) I go, sir.—The tone of outward respect, as contrasted with the rude refusal of the elder son, is eminently characteristic as representing the surface religion of the Pharisees.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain The second. He typifies the Pharisees, the scrupulous observers…
The second. He typifies the Pharisees, the scrupulous observers of outward form, while neglectful of the weightier matters judgment, mercy, and faith. (Mat_23:23) I go, sir, Egw kurie : Eo, domine. This son is outwardly respectful and dutiful; his answer is in marked contrast to the rough "I will not" of his brother. He professes zeal for the Law, and ready obedience. And went not. Such men did no real work for God, honouring him with their lips and outward observances, while their heart was far from him, and their morality was unprincipled and impure.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.