Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna? Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city; that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.
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Matthew 23:31-35 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna? Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city; that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar. Most certainly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Parallel Translations
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Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets.
Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city;
that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.
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So then ye be witnesses vnto youre selfes that ye are the chyldren of them which killed the prophetes.
Fulfill ye lyke wyse the measure of youre fathers.
Yee serpentes and generacion of vipers how shuld ye scape the dampnacion of hell?
Wherfore beholde I sende vnto you prophetes wyse men and scribes and of the ye shall kyll and crucifie: and of the ye shall scourge in youre synagoges and persecute from cyte to cyte
that vpon you maye come all the righteous bloude that was sheed vpon the erth from the bloud of righteous Abell vnto the bloud of zacharias the sonne of Barachias who ye slewe betwene the temple and the altre.
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So then ye be witnesses vnto your selues, that ye are the children of them that murthered the Prophets.
Fulfill ye also ye measure of your fathers.
O serpents, the generation of vipers, howe should ye escape the damnation of hell!
Wherefore beholde, I send vnto you Prophets, and wise men, and Scribes, and of them ye shall kill and crucifie: and of them shall ye scourge in your Synagogues, and persecute from citie to citie,
That vpon you may come all the righteous blood that was shed vpon the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous, vnto the blood of Zacharias the sonne of Barachias, whome ye slewe betweene the Temple and the altar.
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Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (74)
- 2 Chronicles 24:20-22 (v35) The Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said to them, “God says, ‘Why do you…
- Matthew 3:7 (v33) But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to…
- Hebrews 11:4 (v35) By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had testimony given to him that he was righteous, God…
- Zechariah 1:1 (v35) In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, Yahweh’s word came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet,…
- Matthew 12:34 (v33) You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
Show all 72 cross-references
- Genesis 4:8 (v35) Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed…
- Matthew 5:22 (v33) But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother,…
- Luke 3:7 (v33) He said therefore to the multitudes who went out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to…
- Genesis 3:15 (v33) I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise…
- Genesis 15:16 (v32) In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”
- Psalms 58:3-5 (v33) The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a snake,…
- Matthew 10:16-17 (v34) “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will…
- Matthew 21:34-35 (v33) When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers, to receive his fruit. The farmers took his servants, beat…
- John 8:44 (v33) You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand…
- Revelation 12:9 (v33) The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was thrown…
- Revelation 18:24 (v35) In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth.”
- Acts 7:51-52 (vv31, 34) “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do. Which of the…
- Isaiah 57:3-4 (v33) “But draw near here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes. Whom do you mock? Against whom do you make a…
- Jeremiah 26:15 (v35) Only know for certain that, if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood on yourselves, on this city, and on its inhabitants; for…
- Matthew 13:52 (v34) He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who…
- Matthew 23:13-15 (v33) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will…
- 2 Corinthians 11:3 (v33) But I am afraid that somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve in his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is…
- Hebrews 2:3 (v33) how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation—which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those…
- Hebrews 10:29 (v33) How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of…
- Hebrews 12:25 (v33) See that you don’t refuse him who speaks. For if they didn’t escape when they refused him who warned on the earth, how much more will we…
- Numbers 32:14 (v32) “Behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, an increase of sinful men, to increase the fierce anger of Yahweh toward Israel.
- 2 Kings 21:16 (v35) Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; in addition to his sin with which…
- 2 Kings 24:4 (v35) and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Yahweh would not pardon.
- Colossians 1:28 (v34) We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus;
- 1 Thessalonians 2:16 (vv32, 34) forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, to fill up their sins always. But wrath has come on them to the uttermost.
- Isaiah 26:21 (v35) For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also will disclose her…
- Jeremiah 26:23 (v35) and they fetched Uriah out of Egypt, and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with the sword, and cast his dead body into the…
- Matthew 10:23 (v34) But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next, for most certainly I tell you, you will not have gone through the cities of…
- Matthew 23:34-36 (v34) Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge…
- Luke 11:49-51 (v34) Therefore also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute, that the…
- Luke 11:51 (v35) from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be required…
- Acts 13:1 (v34) Now in the assembly that was at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,…
- 1 Thessalonians 2:15-16 (v31) who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out, and don’t please God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding us…
- Hebrews 12:24 (v35) to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than that of Abel.
- Genesis 9:5-6 (v35) I will surely require accounting for your life’s blood. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand…
- Numbers 35:33 (v35) “ ‘So you shall not pollute the land where you live; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that…
- Deuteronomy 21:7-8 (v35) They shall answer and say, “Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Forgive, Yahweh, your people Israel, whom…
- Joshua 24:22 (v31) Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Yahweh yourselves, to serve him.” They said, “We are…
- 2 Chronicles 36:15-16 (v34) Yahweh, the God of their fathers, sent to them by his messengers, rising up early and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and…
- Job 15:5-6 (v31) For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty. Your own mouth condemns you, and not I. Yes, your own lips…
- Proverbs 11:30 (v34) The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. He who is wise wins souls.
- Jeremiah 2:30 (v35) “I have struck your children in vain. They received no correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
- Jeremiah 2:34 (v35) Also the blood of the souls of the innocent poor is found in your skirts. You didn’t find them breaking in, but it is because of all these…
- Lamentations 4:13-14 (v35) It is because of the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests, That have shed the blood of the just in the middle of her.…
- Matthew 28:19-20 (v34) Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to…
- Luke 19:22 (v31) “He said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant! You knew that I am an exacting man, taking up that which I…
- Luke 24:47 (v34) and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
- John 16:2 (v34) They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God.
- John 20:21 (v34) Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”
- Acts 1:8 (v34) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and…
- Acts 5:40 (v34) They agreed with him. Summoning the apostles, they beat them and commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
- Acts 7:58-59 (v34) They threw him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. They stoned…
- Acts 11:27 (v34) Now in these days, prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.
- Acts 12:2 (v34) He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.
- Acts 14:19 (v34) But some Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the city,…
- Acts 15:32 (v34) Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged the brothers with many words and strengthened them.
- Acts 22:19-20 (v34) I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue those who believed in you. When the blood of Stephen,…
- 1 Corinthians 2:6 (v34) We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown, yet a wisdom not of this world nor of the rulers of this world who are coming to…
- 1 Corinthians 3:10 (v34) According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each…
- 1 Corinthians 12:3-11 (v34) Therefore I make known to you that no man speaking by God’s Spirit says, “Jesus is accursed.” No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” but by the…
- 2 Corinthians 11:24-25 (v34) Five times I received forty stripes minus one from the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered…
- Ephesians 4:8-12 (v34) Therefore he says, “When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to people.” Now this, “He ascended”, what is it but…
- Hebrews 11:37 (v34) They were stoned. They were sawn apart. They were tempted. They were slain with the sword. They went around in sheep skins and in goat…
- 1 John 3:11-12 (v35) For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; unlike Cain, who was of the evil one, and…
- Revelation 11:10 (v34) Those who dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and they will be glad. They will give gifts to one another, because these two prophets…
- Psalms 64:8 (v31) Their own tongues shall ruin them. All who see them will shake their heads.
- Acts 9:1-2 (v34) But Saul, still breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked for letters from him…
72 distinct cross-references across this passage (74 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv32–35 A proverb used of the Jews, which hath this…
A proverb used of the Jews, which hath this meaning, Go ye on also and follow your ancestors, that at length your wickedness may come to the full.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv31–35 31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye…
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Ver. 31. Wherefore ye be witnesses, &c.] Here our Saviour casts all their cost in their teeth, as if thereby they had meant to commend their fathers’ cruelty in killing the prophets, since they abetted it by persecuting him and his to the death. Malice is commonly hereditary, and runs in the blood; and (as we use to say of runnet) the older it is, the stronger; as in the deadly feud of Scotland taken away by King James.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv31, 34 You (saith our Lord) confess that you are lineally…
You (saith our Lord) confess that you are lineally descended from those who killed the prophets: you have not only their blood communicated to you, but their spirit; your behaviours and carriages towards me and my disciples have witnessed, and will yet further testify, that you are the children of those who killed the prophets in a moral as well as a natural sense; you inherit the same spirit, and are full of the same malice and rancour. They killed them, and you bury them: seeing there is no reclaiming you, go you on, fill up the measure of your fathers’ sins. There is something more to be added to make the iniquity of this nation full. You are a company of serpents, vipers, that cannot escape the damnation of hell.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v34 Observe here, A prophetical prediction, and a severe denunciation.
Observe here, A prophetical prediction, and a severe denunciation.
1. A prediction foretelling what cruel usage the apostle should meet with from the Jews, killing and crucifying some, scourging and stoning others; which accordingly was fulfilled in the crucifying of St. Peter, the scourging of St. Paul, in the stoning of St. Stephen, and killing of St. James. The first planters and propagators of the gospel sealed their doctrine with their blood, and the blood of the martyrs has all along been the seed of the church.
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Observe, 2. A severe denunciation, That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from Abel to Zacharias, the son of Jehoiada, 2Ch 24:20, who was the last prophet whose murder is related by name in the Old Testament. These words are not to be understood as if the end and intent of Christ’s sending the prophets were that the Jews might put them to death, and bring their righteous blood upon themselves. This was the consequence and intent of it.
Learn, 1. That raging persecutors have no regard either to the extraordinary mission, or eminent sanctity of persons who reprove them for their sins. I send unto you prophets, says our Saviour, wise men and Scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify.
2. That as the piety of the person, so neither can the sanctity of the place discourage and deter bloody persecutors from their rage and fury against the prophets of God. In the temple itself, in the court of the house of the Lord, even betwixt the porch and the altar, was Zacharias slain. That it is a righteous thing with God to punish good men for the impieties of their parents:
this is to be understood, 1. Where the children tread in their fathers steps, and continue in their parents sins; which they do, if they do not confess them, abhor them, and be humbled for them.
2. This is to be understood of temporal evils, not of eternal punishments. No man shall for his father’s sins lie down in everlasting burnings. As our fathers faith will not let us into heaven, so neither will their impiety shut us into hell. At the day of judgment every man shall be separately considered according to his deeds.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv31–35 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.…
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Of their sins; for there were bounds and limits set how far they should proceed, and no further; as yet they had not got to the end of their iniquity: their fathers had gone great lengths in sin, but their iniquity was not yet full, as is said of the Amorites, Gen 15:16 these their sons were to fill it up. They had shed the blood of many of the prophets; and indeed there were none of them but they had persecuted and abused, in one shape or another: some they entreated shamefully, others they beat: some they stoned, and others they put to death with the sword, or otherwise; and now their children were about to fill the measure brimful, by crucifying the Son of God, which they were at this time meditating and contriving; and by persecuting and slaying his apostles, and so would bring upon them the vengeance of God. The Jews well enough understood these words, which were spoken to them in an ironical way, and expressing what they were about, and what they would hereafter do, and what would be the issue and consequence of it: they have a saying (o), that "the holy blessed God does not take vengeance on a man,
, "until his measure is filled up"; according to Job 20:22.
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Which the Chaldee paraphrase renders,
"when his measure is filled up, then shall he take vengeance on him;
and that this is Christ's sense, appears from what follows,
(o) T. Bab. Sota, fol. 9. 1.
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 On vv31–35 Wherefore ye testify against yourselves - By your smooth…
Wherefore ye testify against yourselves - By your smooth words as well as devilish actions: that ye are the genuine sons of them who killed the prophets of their own times, while they professed the utmost veneration for those of past ages. From the 3rd to the 30th is exposed every thing that commonly passes in the world for religion, whereby the pretenders to it keep both themselves and others from entering into the kingdom of God; from attaining, or even seeking after those tempers, in which alone true Christianity consists. As,
1. Punctuality in attending on public and private prayer, ver. 4-14. Matt. xxiii, 4-14
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2. Zeal to make proselytes to our opinion or communion, though they have less of the spirit of religion than before, ver. 15.
3. A superstitious reverence for consecrated places or things, without any for Him to whom they are consecrated, ver. 16-22.
4. A scrupulous exactness in little observances, though with the neglect of justice, mercy, and faith, ver. 23, 24.
5. A nice cautiousness to cleanse the outward behaviour, but without any regard to inward purity, ver. 25, 26.
6. A specious face of virtue and piety, covering the deepest hypocrisy and villany, ver. 27, 28.
7. A professed veneration for all good men, except those among whom they live.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv31–35 Verse 31. Ye be witnesses] Ye acknowledge that ye…
Verse 31. Ye be witnesses] Ye acknowledge that ye are the children of those murderers, and ye are about to give full proof that ye are not degenerated.
There are many who think that, had they lived in the time of our Lord, they would not have acted towards him as the Jews did. But we can scarcely believe that they who reject his Gospel, trample under foot his precepts, do despite to the Spirit of his grace, love sin, and hate his followers, would have acted otherwise to him than the murdering Jews, had they lived in the same times.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v32 Mat 23:32-36. Fill ye up then the measure of…
Mat 23:32-36. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers’ wickedness — Ye may now be as wicked as they: a word of permission, not of command: as if he had said, I contend with you no longer: I leave you to yourselves: you have conquered: now ye may follow the devices of your own hearts. Ye serpents — Our Lord having now given up all hope of reclaiming them, speaks thus to deter others from the like sins. Wherefore — That it may appear you are the true children of those murderers, and have a right to have their iniquities visited on you: behold, I send — Is not this speaking as one having authority? Prophets — Men with supernatural credentials; Wise men — Such as have both natural abilities and experience; and scribes — Men of learning: but all will not avail. That upon you may come all the righteous blood — The consequence of which will be, that upon you will come the punishment of the blood of all the righteous men; shed upon the earth — Temporal punishment must be intended, because in the life to come men shall not be punished for the sins of others to which they were not accessary. From the blood of righteous Abel — The first prophet and preacher of righteousness, unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias — Most commentators think that Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, mentioned 2Ch 24:20, (where see the note,) is here meant: and that either the words, son of Barachias, are the officious addition of some early transcriber of this gospel, (who might confound this martyr with Zechariah, one of the twelve minor prophets,) or that Jehoiada was also called Barachiah, having, as was not then uncommon, two names, both which, it may be observed, signify nearly the same thing: the latter word signifying one that blesses the Lord, and Jehoiada one that confesses him. Dr. Blayney, however, is confident that Zechariah, the minor prophet, is here intended, and that he was actually murdered, as is here said, though the Scriptures of the Old Testament are silent concerning the barbarous action. See the argument to my notes on Zechariah. Whom ye slew — So he says, because by imitating their fathers’ conduct, they made the murder, committed by them, their own; between the temple — That is, the house properly called the temple; and the altar — Which stood in the outer court. Our Lord seems to refer to this instance, rather than to any other, because he was the last of the prophets that was slain by the Jews for reproving their wickedness; and we may add, (supposing Zechariah the son of Jehoiada to be meant,) because God’s requiring his blood, as well as that of Abel, is particularly taken notice of in Scripture, that holy man’s last words being, The Lord look upon it, and require it, 2Ch 24:22. All these things — The punishment of all these murders; shall come upon this generation — This Jesus foreknew would be the case; and that though every possible method would be tried in order to their conversion, they would make light of all, and by so doing pull down upon themselves such terrible vengeance, as should be a standing monument of the divine displeasure against all the murders committed on the face of the earth from the beginning of time.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv31–35 Ye be witnesses unto yourselves - The emphasis, here,…
Ye be witnesses unto yourselves - The emphasis, here, lies in the words “to yourselves.” It is an appeal to their conscience. It was not by their building the tombs that they were witnesses that they were the children of those who killed the prophets; but that, in spite of all this pretence of piety, under all this cloak of profession, they knew in their consciences, and were witnesses to themselves, that it was mere hypocrisy, and that they really approved the conduct of those who slew the prophets.
Children of them ... - Resembling them; approving their conduct; inheriting their feelings. See the notes at Mat 1:1. They not only showed that they were descended from them, but that they possessed their spirit, and that, in similar circumstances, they would have done as they did.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv32, 35 Jesus Christ does not here persuade the Jews to…
Jesus Christ does not here persuade the Jews to continue on in their wicked ways, as if praising and sanctioning their conduct; but only predicts his own death, which they were about to compass, and which crime would greatly exceed that of their fathers: as he was the greatest, and even the Lord of all the other prophets, whom their fathers had put to death. (Denis the Carthusian)
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 On vv33–34 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye…
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?--In thus, at the end of His ministry, recalling the words of the Baptist at the outset of his, our Lord would seem to intimate that the only difference between their condemnation now and then was, that now they were ripe for their doom, which they were not then.
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 On vv33–35 33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers — See…
33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers — See our commentary on Mat_3:7. The severity of our Lord’s language is a precedent for rebuke, but no precedent for such authority and power of rebuke. He had a divine attribute to see the character as it was, and a divine authority to pronounce its nature, and a right to inflict punishment which no mere mortal has.
How can ye escape the damnation of hell? — The question is sometimes the strongest mode of affirmation. Our Lord here means to assert that they cannot escape the damnation of hell. The word here used for hell is in the original Gehenna.
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These EIGHT WOES are reduced by Dr. Stier to the sacred number seven, as he considers the last as a simple summation of the whole.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv31, 33, 34, 35 31. witnesses unto yourselves] You call yourselves children, and…
31. witnesses unto yourselves] You call yourselves children, and indeed you are children of those who slew the prophets. You inherit their wickedness in compassing the death of the Prophet of the Lord.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv31–35 (31) Ye be witnesses unto yourselves.—Their words were true…
(31) Ye be witnesses unto yourselves.—Their words were true in another sense than that in which they had spoken them. They were reproducing in their deeds the very lineaments of those fathers whom they condemned.
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 On vv31–35 Ye be witnesses unto yourselves. By busying yourselves about…
Ye be witnesses unto yourselves. By busying yourselves about adorning the tombs of the prophets slain by your ancestors, you show your descent and the spirit which animates you. Ye are the children; ye are sons. They were true sons of their fathers, inheriting their murderous instincts, following their steps. Like father, like son. They inherited and put in practice the same false principles which led their ancestors astray.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v33 Mat_23:29; Mat_23:33; Mat_23:36
Mat_23:29; Mat_23:33; Mat_23:36
How can ye escape the damnation of hell?
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The difficulty of escaping the damnation of hell
I. What your situation actually is.
1. You are even now under sentence of condemnation.
2. You need to be awakened, no man will escape a danger he does not perceive.
3. In order to escape final condemnation you must pursue religion with perseverance.
II. The obstacles.
1. The effect of sin is to make men blind to their own sins.
2. The sinner often seeks deliverance in a way in which it cannot be obtained.
3. The unbelieving heart will not submit to God until its opposition be removed.
4. The fascinating power of worldly objects.
5. Then you say the difficulties are so great that you have not courage to make the attempt to escape. (E. Payson, D. D.)
Pretence vain
To pretend holiness when there is none is a vain thing. What were the foolish virgins better for their blazing lamps when they wanted oil? What is the lamp of profession without the oil of saving grace? What comfort will a show of holiness yield at last? Will painted gold enrich? Painted wine refresh him that is thirsty? Will painted holiness be a cordial at the hour of death? A pretence of sanctification is not to be rested in. Many ships have had the name of Hope, the Safeguard, the Triumph, yet have been cast away upon the rocks; so many who have had the name of saintship have been cast into hell. (T. Watson.)
Suspension and infliction of judgments
1. It is not right that God should punish one generation for the sins of another.
2. It is just that God should punish all generations for their own sins.
3. God might if He pleased pass by the sins of all generations; He might punish them hereafter, not here.
4. It is right that God should punish one generation and not another. He has always acted as a Sovereign in sparing or punishing particular generations. God delayed to destroy the Egyptians.
5. When God does spare one generation and punish another He always has some good reason for both sparing and punishing.
6. The sins of one generation may be a good reason why God should punish the sins of another.
7. It is criminal and foolish for one generation to imitate the sins of a former.
8. It is well for the present generation to discountenance open vices prevailing.
9. Sinners always are the troublers of the world. (N. Emmons, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv31–35 31. Wherefore ye be witnesses … children of them…
31. Wherefore ye be witnesses … children of them which killed the prophets. They demonstrated by their hostility to Christ, by their plots and false charges, and would soon show by their murder of the Lord, that they had just the same spirit as their fathers who slew Isaiah, persecuted Jeremiah, and shed the blood of Zacharias between the altar and the temple. They were therefore their spiritual children as well as their descendants. It adds to the vividness of this denunciation that from the temple area where they were standing the crest of Olivet rose distinctly at the distance of half a mile, and upon it were clearly visible the white sepulchers of the prophets which they had rebuilded, among them the tomb of Zacharias, who is named just below as slain between “the temple and the altar.”
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 On vv34–35 send unto you
send unto you
The Jews’ treatment of the apostles is proved, Mat 23:31-33.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v34 The Peroration and the Lament over Jerusalem.
The Peroration and the Lament over Jerusalem.
v. 34. Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them ye shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
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v. 35. that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the Temple and the altar.
v. 36. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
It is the beginning of the judgment upon the Jewish nation for their consistent refusal to accept the Messiah, visited first of all upon their leaders. With great seriousness Jesus states this fact, because the present generation is about to fill up the measure of iniquity to the very brim. He would send His messengers again, but their hearts would be hardened by their message, against the message and against the bearers. Their false worship would not want to permit the worship in spirit and in truth. They would kill, and crucify, and scourge, and persecute the messengers of Christ. No form of inquisition and cruelty is too horrifying when people vent their spite against the messengers of the true Gospel. And so the Jews, in being punished for the murder of Christ and the messengers of the New Testament, in having their blood come upon them, would incidentally receive punishment for the murders of the prophets of the Old Testament. They have their fathers’ spirit, the same hatred for the truth and its bearers; and so the sins of the fathers will be visited upon the children. Abel was the first one to die, a martyr of his convictions, of his faith. And the hatred of the children of God continued down through the ages, one of the most conspicuous cases being that of Zacharias, the son of Jehoiada, also called Barachias, 2Ch 24:20-21, not to speak of other murders recorded in history. All the accumulated wrath of God was visited upon the Jews of the generation of Jesus, because they rejected the Messiah Himself. "As though He would say: It is one people, one kind, one generation; as the fathers, so the children. For the stubbornness that resisted God and His prophets in the fathers, resists in the same way in the children: the child is like the mother. All the blood that they have shed is bound to come upon them."
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv32, 34 You also fill up the measure of your fathers
You also fill up the measure of your fathers
Jesus uses this as a metaphor meaning the Pharisees will complete the wicked behavior that their forefathers started when they killed the prophets. AT: "You also finish the sins your ancestors began" (See: Metaphor)
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You serpents, you offspring of vipers
Serpents are snakes, and vipers are poisonous snakes. They are dangerous and often symbols of evil. AT: "You are as evil as dangerous and poisonous snakes" (See: Doublet and Metaphor)
offspring of vipers
Here "offspring" means "having the characteristic of." See how you translated a similar phrase in Matthew 3:7.
how will you escape the judgment of hell?
Jesus uses this question as a rebuke. AT: "there is no way for you to escape the judgment of hell!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
ancestor
sin
serpent
offspring
judge
hell
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 On vv32, 35 23:32 finish what your ancestors started: By killing God’s…
23:32 finish what your ancestors started: By killing God’s Messiah, they would bring to completion Israel’s history of killing God’s messengers (see 1 Thes 2:14-16).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.