You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
Parallel Translations
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You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
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Yee serpentes and generacion of vipers how shuld ye scape the dampnacion of hell?
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O serpents, the generation of vipers, howe should ye escape the damnation of hell!
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Matthew 23:33 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Matthew 3:7 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 flee from the wrath to come?
- Matthew 12:34 You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
- Matthew 5:22 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, ‘Raca!’ will be in danger of the council. Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.
- Luke 3:7 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 come?
- Genesis 3:15 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 his heel.”
- Psalms 58:3-5 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, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear, which doesn’t listen to the voice of charmers, no matter how skillful the charmer may be.
- Matthew 21:34-35 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 one, killed another, and stoned another.
- John 8:44 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 in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.
- Revelation 12:9 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 down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
- Isaiah 57:3-4 “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 wide mouth and stick out your tongue? Aren’t you children of disobedience and offspring of falsehood,
- Matthew 23:13-15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves.
- 2 Corinthians 11:3 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 in Christ.
- Hebrews 2:3 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 who heard,
- Hebrews 10:29 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 the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?
- Hebrews 12:25 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 not escape who turn away from him who warns from heaven,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain See also Matt. 5:22.
See also Matt. 5:22.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can…
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Ver. 33. Ye serpents] Serpentum tot sunt venena, quot genera, saith Isidore, tot pernicics quot species, tot dolores quot colores. See how our Saviour sharps up these heresiarchs, that, if possible, they might be made sound in the faith. So deals Peter by Simon Magus, Paul by Elymas, many of our champions by their Popish antagonists. Before God you are deceivers of the people (said Mr Philpot, martyr, to his persecutors), before God there is no truth in you. And to mocking Morgan he said, I must tell thee, thou painted wall and hypocrite, in the name of the living Lord, that God shall rain fire and brimstone upon such scorners of his word and blasphemers of his people as thou art. And afterwards, Thou art but an ass in the things of God, in that thou kickest against the truth, and art void of all godly understanding. Thou hast seduced others (said Bonner to Philpot), and madest them rejoice and sing with thee. Yea, my Lord, quoth he, we shall sing when you shall cry, Woe, woe, except ye repent. What an arrogant fool is this (said the bishop), I will handle thee like a heretic, and that shortly. I fear nothing, I thank God (said the other), that you can do unto me. But God shall destroy such as thou art, and that shortly, as I trust. Likewise to the Bishop of Chichester he spake thus: I perceive you are blind guides, and leaders of the blind, and therefore, as I am bound to tell you, very hypocrites, tyrannously persecuting the truth, which you are not able to disprove. Thus Hilary called Constantius Antichrist, and Auxentius devil, because they were Arians, Mihi certe Auxentius nihil aliud erit quam diabolus, quia Arianus.
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Ye generation of vipers] Quarum morsus insanabilis. Sic contra sycophantarum morsum non est remedium. {See Trapp on "Mat 3:7"} Vipers’ teeth are buried in their gums, that one would think they could not bite: so hypocrites.
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 Wherefore, behold I send unto you prophets,.... To try…
Wherefore, behold I send unto you prophets,.... To try them, whether they would show the respect to prophets, they pretended to have for them; by building and beautifying their sepulchres; by exclaiming against their forefathers for shedding their blood; and by declaring, that had they lived in their days, they would not have joined with them in it; and to make it appear, that these were all empty words, and specious pretences; and that they had the same malicious and bloody principles in them; and would be guilty of the same practices, and so fill up the measure of their fathers' sins; and bring upon them the punishment of everlasting burnings hereafter, as well as ruin and destruction on their nation, city, and temple now. Christ here speaks, as, one having power and authority, to qualify and send forth men, under the several characters here mentioned, and of what he should do after his resurrection: for notwithstanding the people of the Jews would crucify him, and use him as they did, in a barbarous manner; yet after all this, he would send his ministers to them, to gather his elect out from among them, to render the rest inexcusable, and to show his longsuffering and patience. The persons designed by "prophets", "wise men", and "Scribes", are his apostles: called "prophets"; because they were divinely inspired to write, and preach in his name; had the gift of foretelling future events, and of explaining with the greatest clearness and exactness, the prophecies of the Old Testament; showing their respect unto, and accomplishment in Christ: "wise men"; because they were made wise unto salvation, and capable of instructing others: they were filled with all spiritual and evangelical wisdom, and preached the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom: and Scribes; because they were well instructed in the kingdom of heaven, and had the true knowledge of the law, and could rightly interpret it, as well as make known the Gospel of the grace of God. Christ chooses to use these names and titles, because the Jews pretended to have great veneration for the ancient prophets, and these he should send, would not be a whit inferior to them, but in many things exceed them; and they had great esteem for their wise men and Scribes, who would be vastly exceeded by these ministers of his, and yet would be used very badly by them:
and some of them ye shall kill; as Stephen, the first "martyr", who was stoned to death by them; and James, the brother of John, whom Herod, to their good liking, killed with the sword; and the other James they threw headlong from off the pinnacle of the temple, and killed him with a fuller's club (r),
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And crucify; so Simeon, the son of Cleophas, was crucified at the instigation of the Jews, as Eusebius relates (s),
And some of them ye shall scourge in your synagogues; as John, Peter, and Paul:
and persecute them from city to city; as they did Paul and Barnabas, as the Acts of the Apostles testify,
(r) Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 2. c. 23. (s) Ib. l. 3. c. 32.
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 Ye serpents - Our Lord having now lost all…
Ye serpents - Our Lord having now lost all hope of reclaiming these, speaks so as to affright others from the like sins.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers] What…
Verse 33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers] What a terrible stroke! - Ye are serpents, and the offspring of serpents. This refers to Mt 23:31: they confessed that they were the children of those who murdered the prophets; and they are now going to murder Christ and his followers, to show that they have not degenerated - an accursed seed, of an accursed breed. My old MS. translates this passage oddly - Gee serpentis, fruytis of burrownyngis of eddris that sleen her modris. There seems to be here an allusion to a common opinion, that the young of the adder or viper which are brought forth alive eat their way through the womb of their mothers. Hence that ancient enigma attributed to LACTANTIUS: -
Non possum nasci, si non occidero matrem.
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Occidi matrem: sed me manet exitus idem.
Id mea mors faciet, quod jam mea fecit origo.
Cael. Firm. Symposium, N. xv.
I never can be born, nor see the day,
Till through my parent's womb I eat my way.
Her I have slain; like her must yield my breath;
For that which gave me life, shall cause my death.
Every person must see with what propriety this was applied to the Jews, who were about to murder the very person who gave them their being and all their blessings.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Ye serpents - This name is given to them…
Ye serpents - This name is given to them on account of their pretending to be pious, and very much devoted to God, but being secretly evil, At the heart, with all their pretensions, they were filled with evil designs, as the serpent was, Gen 3:1-5
Generation of vipers - See the notes at Mat 12:34.
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Damnation of hell - This refers, beyond all question, to future punishment. So great was their wickedness and hypocrisy, that, if they persevered in this course, it was impossible to escape the damnation that should come on the guilty. This is the sternest language that Jesus ever used to wicked people. But it by no means authorizes ministers to use such language to sinners now. Christ knew that this was true of them. He had an authority which none now have. It is not the province of ministers to denounce judgment, or to use severe names, least of all to do it on pretence of imitating Christ. He knew the hearts of people. We know them not. He had authority to declare certainly that those whom he addressed would be lost. We have no such authority. He addressed persons; we address characters.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain 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 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 33. generation of vipers] See note ch. Mat_3:7.
33. generation of vipers] See note ch. Mat_3:7.
the damnation of hell] Rather, the judgment of Gehenna.
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 (33) Ye generation of vipers.—Better, as in Mat_3:7, brood,…
(33) Ye generation of vipers.—Better, as in Mat_3:7, brood, or progeny of vipers. The word of rebuke which had come before from the lips of the Baptist, comes now, with even more intense keenness, from those of the Christ.
How can ye escape?—Better—to maintain the parallelism with the Baptist’s words, which was, we can hardly doubt, designed—How should ye flee from?
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 Vers. 33-39. Declaration of the sentence on these Pharisees…
Vers. 33-39. Declaration of the sentence on these Pharisees and their generation.
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers; gennhmata ecidnwn : offspring of vipers. Our Lord repeats the Baptist"s denunciation. (Mat_3:7) They were of devilish nature, inherited from their very birth the disposition and character of Satan. So Christ said on another occasion, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth". (Joh_8:44) How can ye escape? Pwv fughte ; the deliberative conjunctive, How shall ye escape? Quo mode fugietis? (Vulgate). There is no emphasis on "can" in the Authorized Version. What hope is there now of your repentance? Can anything soften the hardness of your hearts? The Baptist had spoken more hopefully, "Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" But now the day of grace is past; the sin against the Holy Ghost is committed; there remaineth only the fearful looking for of judgment. The damnation of hell; literally, the judgment of Gehenna; judicio Gehennae (Vulgate); i.e. the sentence that condemns to eternal death. (Mat_5:22) The phrase is common in the rabbinical writings (see Lightfoot). "Before sinning, we ought to fear lest it be the filling up; after sinning, we should trust in a truly Christian hope that it is not, and repent. This is the only means to escape the damnation of hell; but how rare is this grace after a pharisaical life!" (Quesnel). Hypocrisy is a bar to repentance.
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Holy denunciation.
Revised Version, "Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell?" margin, "Gehenna." It is neither right nor wise to attempt any mitigations or modifications of this intensely severe sentence. Let the words stand precisely as we find them; and let the sentence be the sternest, severest, intensest sentence that ever passed the Divine lips of our blessed Lord. Capable of being misunderstood and misrepresented, they are capable also of most rational and most reasonable explanation. All we have to do is to inquire whether the persons referred to, and the circumstances under which the words were uttered, would justify a noble-minded man in speaking so intensely. If they would. then Jesus is justified.
I THESE DENUNCIATIONS, READ IN THE LIGHT OF THE PERSONS DENOUNCED. Explain that they would have been unsuitable for the Pharisees as a class. They would have been over-intense if applied to the formalist and hypocritical sections of the Pharisee class. But they are strictly appropriate to those few men who, for months past, had been resisting every witness that favoured Christ"s claim; had been plotting, dodging, scheming, to destroy Christ; had come fawning upon him, with malice, hatred, and all uncharitableness in their hearts. Defeated in argument, they would not admit defeat. Humiliated by our Lord s answers, they were still bent on effecting their shameless purpose. What did such men deserve? What was left to be done with them? They had to be shown up, as men are shown up when withering denunciations are heaped upon them, under which they cower, conscience smitten. Jesus was doing the best thing possible for those wretched men, by these holy enunciations, the mere form of which must be judged by Eastern, not Western, models.
II THESE DENUNCIATIONS, READ IN THE LIGHT OF THE PERSON DENOUNCING. Those who so readily accuse Christ of over-severity would be the very first and loudest in accusing him of moral weakness, inability to recognize or respond to sin, if such instances of severity had not been recorded. The true man, the Divine man, feels adequately in response to every situation; and we may unhesitatingly affirm that this was a time to be sublimely indignant, and that burning words of wrath terrible as these were the fitting thing for the occasion. R.T.
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 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 33. Ye generations of vipers, how can ye escape?…
33. Ye generations of vipers, how can ye escape? etc. Brood of vipers, full of venom, deadly as serpents, treacherous as the lurking serpent. So John had called them nearly four years before (Matt. 3:7).
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.