“Therefore I tell you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation producing its fruit.
Parallel Translations
-
“Therefore I tell you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation producing its fruit.
-
Therfore saye I vnto you the kyngdome of God shalbe take from you and shalbe geve to the getyls which shall brynge forth the frutes of it.
-
Therefore say I vnto you, The kingdome of God shalbe taken from you, and shalbe giuen to a nation, which shall bring foorth the fruites thereof.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Matthew 21:43 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Matthew 21:41 They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers, who will give him the fruit in its season.”
- Matthew 8:11-12 I tell you that many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven, but the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
- 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
- John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.”
- Isaiah 26:2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter: the one which keeps faith.
- Luke 17:20-21 Being asked by the Pharisees when God’s Kingdom would come, he answered them, “God’s Kingdom doesn’t come with observation; neither will they say, ‘Look, here!’ or, ‘Look, there!’ for behold, God’s Kingdom is within you.”
- John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom.
- Exodus 19:6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
- Isaiah 28:2 Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one. Like a storm of hail, a destroying storm, and like a storm of mighty waters overflowing, he will cast them down to the earth with his hand.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain They bring forth the fruits of the kingdom of…
They bring forth the fruits of the kingdom of God, which bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, and not of the flesh, Gal. 5.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of…
43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Ver. 43. The kingdom of God shall be taken from you] A heavy sentence. We had better, saith one, be without meat, drink, light, air, earth, all the elements, yea, life itself, than that one sweet saying of our Saviour, "Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will refresh you." {a} The gospel is that inheritance we received from our godly forefathers, the martyrs; and it must be our care to transmit the same to our posterity, earnestly contending for the faith which was once delivered, Jdg 1:3, once for all; for if lost, or any way corrupted, it will hardly be ever given again. Look to it, therefore, unfruitfulness forfeits all, as the merchant’s nonpayment of the custom forfeits all his goods. It is to be feared, saith one, lest Mr Herbert be a true prophet, and the gospel be, in its solar motion, travelling for the West, for the American parts, and quitting its present place of residence, and unworthy professors and possessors; and then farewell England.
Read full note →
{a} Mallemus carere coelo, terra, omnibus elementis, &c. Sel. Paedag. Christ.
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 Therefore I say unto you,.... This is the application…
Therefore I say unto you,.... This is the application of the parable; and the words are directed to the chief priests, elders, scribes, and people of the Jews; and are delivered as what would be in consequence of the builders, rejecting the Messiah, the foundation and corner stone of the building,
The kingdom of God shall be taken from you: by which is meant, not their political estate, their civil government, which was of God, and in a short time was to depart from them, according to ancient prophecy, and which is come to pass, as the event shows; nor their legal national church state and ordinances only, or the priesthood, and the appendages of it; all which, in a little while, were shaken and removed; but the Gospel, which had been preached among them by John the Baptist, Christ, and his apostles; so called because it treats of the kingdom of God, and things pertaining to it, and shows men both their right and meetness for it; the one as in the righteousness of Christ, and the other in the regenerating and sanctifying grace of the Spirit, which Gospel may be taken away from a people, as from the Jews, because of their contempt of it, and opposition to it, or lukewarmness and indifference about it, or unfruitfulness under it; and when God has no more souls to gather in by it in such a place, and which is a very unhappy case, whenever it is the case of any people: for when the Gospel is taken away, the riches of a people are gone; the glory of a nation is departed; the light of it is put out; the spiritual bread of a people is no more; the means of conversion and spiritual knowledge cease: all which have a melancholy aspect on posterity. Moreover, the Gospel church state, which was set up in Judea, may be here meant; which, though it continued and flourished a while, in process of time was to be removed: and which may be done elsewhere, as it has been in Judea, by God's suffering persecution to arise, as he did against the church of Jerusalem, whereby the ministers of the Gospel are driven into corners, or scattered abroad; or by ordering his ministers to preach no more unto such a people, as the apostles were ordered to turn from the Jews to the Gentiles; or by taking away ministers and members of churches by death, and not raising up others in their room; or by withholding a blessing from the word; or by permitting the growth of errors and heresies, which, in course of time, must issue in the dissolution of the church state in such a place, and which necessarily follows upon the removing of the Gospel:
Read full note →
and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Though God may take away the Gospel from a people, as he did from the Jews; yet he does not, nor will he, as yet, take it out of the world: he gives it to another "nation"; to the Gentiles, to all the nations of the world, whither he sent his apostles to preach and where it must be preached before the end of the world comes, in order to gather his elect out of them: for not one particular nation is meant, unless the nation of God's elect, among all nations, can be thought to be designed. It may be observed, that the Gospel, wherever it comes, it comes as a gift; it is "given": to have it only in the external ministration of it, is a favour; and more especially to understand it spiritually; this is an unmerited gift; as is also ability to preach it: and it is likewise a national mercy wherever it comes; for though it comes in power only to a few in a nation, yet it is more or less a blessing to the whole: nor is it easy to say what temporal advantages a nation enjoys through the ministration of the Gospel in it: and where it is given, and comes in power, it brings forth fruit, as it did in all the world of the Gentiles; even the fruits of grace, and righteousness, and every good work; all which come from Christ, under the influence of his Spirit, and by the word and ordinances, as means, and highly become the Gospel, and the professors of it; and for want of which it is removed sometimes from one nation to another: for this cause it was taken from the Jews, and given to the Gentiles. One of the Jewish commentators (d) on these words, in Jer 13:17 "my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride", has this note,
"because of your grandeur, which shall cease; because of the excellency of "the kingdom of heaven", , "which shall be given to the profane";
i.e. the nations of the world,
(d) Jarchi in Jer. xiii. 17.
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 Therefore - Because ye reject this corner stone. The…
Therefore - Because ye reject this corner stone. The kingdom of God - That is, the Gospel.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 43. Therefore say I] Thus showing them, that…
Verse 43. Therefore say I] Thus showing them, that to them alone the parable belonged. The kingdom of God shall be taken from you-the Gospel shall be taken from you, and given to the Gentiles, who will receive it, and bring forth fruit to the glory of God.
Bringing forth the fruits] As in Mt 21:34 an allusion is made to paying the landlord in kind, so here the Gentiles are represented as paying God thus. The returns which He expects for his grace are the fruits of grace; nothing can ever be acceptable in the sight of God that does not spring from himself.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain The kingdom of God shall be taken from you.…
The kingdom of God shall be taken from you. By this dreadful conclusion he tells them in plain terms, that they shall be forsaken, and punished for their blindness and obstinacy. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God--God's…
Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God--God's visible Kingdom, or Church, upon earth, which up to this time stood in the seed of Abraham.
shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof--that is, the great evangelical community of the faithful, which, after the extrusion of the Jewish nation, would consist chiefly of Gentiles, until "all Israel should be saved" (Rom 11:25-26). This vastly important statement is given by Matthew only.
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 43. From you — And by this emphatic you…
43. From you — And by this emphatic you he directly implies that they are, in solemn verity, the condemned husbandmen of the parable, and will be subjected to the terrible sentence they have themselves pronounced. Given to a nation — A race of people. Our Lord here predicts again the rejection of the Jews and the call of the Gentiles.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Therefore I say unto you. Having denounced the sin,…
Therefore I say unto you. Having denounced the sin, Christ now enunciates the punishment thereof, in continuation of his parable. Because ye slay the Son, reject the Cornerstone, the vineyard, i.e. the kingdom of God, shall be taken from you. Ye shall no longer be God"s peculiar people; your special privileges shall be taken away. A nation. The Christian Church, the spiritual Israel, formed chiefly from the Gentile peoples. (Act_15:14 1Pe_2:9) The fruits thereof (authv); i.e. of the kingdom of God, such faith, life, good works, as become those thus favoured by Divine grace.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 43. Given to a nation bringing forth the fruits.…
43. Given to a nation bringing forth the fruits. The kingdom was taken from the Jews and given to the “chosen nation” (1 Peter 2:9); not any particular nation, but those chosen out of the nations to be a “peculiar people.”
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain kingdom of God
kingdom of God
Note that Matthew here as in Mat 21:31 uses the larger word, kingdom of God: (Cf) (See Scofield "Mat 6:33").
Read full note →
The kingdom of heaven; (See Scofield "Mat 3:2"). See Scofield "1Co 15:24" will yet be set up. Meantime the kingdom of God and his righteousness is taken from Israel nationally and given to the Gentiles. Rom 9:30-33.
you
i.e. national Israel, the barren vine. Mat 21:33-41 Isa 5:1-7.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 I say to you
I say to you
This adds emphasis to what Jesus says next.
Read full note →
to you
Here "you" is plural. Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders and also to the Jewish people in general. (See: Forms of You)
the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and will be given to a nation
Here "kingdom of God" refers to God's rule as king. This can be stated in active form. AT: "God will take his kingdom away from you and will give it to a nation" or "God will reject you, the Jewish people, and he will be king over people from other nations" (See: Metonymy and Active or Passive)
will be taken away from you
No one is sure if Jesus meant that God would someday give the kingdom back or that he would never give it back. Your translation should allow both possible understandings.
that produces its fruits
"Fruits" here is a metaphor for "results" or outcome." AT: "that produces good results" (See: Idiom)
Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces
Here, "this stone" is the same stone as in Matthew 21:42. This is a metaphor that means the Christ will destroy anyone who rebels against him. This can be stated in active form. AT: "The stone will break into pieces anyone who falls on it" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)
But anyone on whom it falls will be crushed
This means basically the same thing as the previous sentence. It is a metaphor that means the Christ will have the final judgment and will destroy everyone who rebels against him. (See: Parallelism and Metaphor)
translationWords
kingdom of God
nation
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 21:43 taken away from you: Either the privilege of…
21:43 taken away from you: Either the privilege of being God’s chosen nation no longer belonged to the Jews, or the religious leaders had lost the privilege of being leaders of God’s people (see Rom 9–11). • The Christian community is a nation that will produce the proper fruit—that is, a life of trust and obedience that demonstrates the inauguration of the Kingdom (see Matt 3:8; 7:15-20; 12:33; 13:8, 26).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.