“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’
Parallel Translations
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“Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’
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Then shall he answere the and saye: Verely I saye vnto you in as moche as ye did it not to one of the leest of these ye did it not to me.
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Then shall he answere them, and say, Verely I say vnto you, in as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (12)
Passages linked to Matthew 25:45 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 21:13 Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.
- Proverbs 17:5 Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker. He who is glad at calamity shall not be unpunished.
- Proverbs 14:31 He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him.
- Matthew 25:40 “The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
- Acts 9:5 He said, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
- 1 John 3:12-20 unlike Cain, who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Don’t be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. He who doesn’t love his brother remains in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, then closes his heart of compassion against him, how does God’s love remain in him? My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him, because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
- 1 John 5:1-3 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. Whoever loves the Father also loves the child who is born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is loving God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous.
- Psalms 105:15 “Don’t touch my anointed ones! Do my prophets no harm!”
- Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you.”
- Numbers 24:9 He couched, he lay down as a lion, as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? Everyone who blesses you is blessed. Everyone who curses you is cursed.”
- Zechariah 2:8 For Yahweh of Armies says: ‘For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.
- John 15:18-19 If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I…
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
Ver. 45. Inasmuch as ye did it not to one, &c.] Omissions then are damnable sins. Ammonites and Moabites were bastardized and banished the beauty of holiness, the tabernacle of God, to the tenth generation, because they met not God’s Israel with bread and water in the wilderness, Deu 23:3-4, Not to do justice is injustice; not to show mercy is cruelty. Where then will oppressors appear, that grind the faces of the poor, that quaff their tears, and make music of their shrieks? "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl," &c., Jas 5:1-3. If not relieving of the poor damns men, what shall robbing do, but double damnation?
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 these shall go away into everlasting punishment,.... Their…
And these shall go away into everlasting punishment,.... Their excuses will not be regarded, their pleas will be of no avail, their pretensions to interest in Christ, and love to him, will be set aside; the sentence will remain irrevocable, and there will be no appeal from it, for there is no higher tribunal to bring the cause before; judgment having passed, the execution of it immediately follows: these goats, or formal professors, shall be obliged, whether they will or not, to depart from the presence of Christ; the angels will be ordered to take and cast them into everlasting burnings; they will be driven by them into hell, the place appointed for them; where they shall endure "everlasting punishment", as the Jews (p) also express it; and that both in soul and body, as the just desert of sin; which being committed against an infinite God, cannot be satisfied for by a finite creature; who therefore must ever bear the punishment of it, because its pollution and guilt will always remain:
but the righteous into life eternal; such as are justified by the righteousness of Christ, and who, though they have done works of righteousness under the influence, and by the assistance of the grace of God, yet have not depended upon them, but upon Christ, for life and salvation: these shall go into heaven, the place appointed for them, to enjoy that eternal life in soul and body, which is the free gift of God, through Christ; and will be a life free from all the sorrows of the present one; a life of perfect holiness and knowledge, and inconceivable pleasure; a life of vision of God, and communion with him, and which will continue for ever; and which ascertains the eternity of the punishment of the wicked: for as the happiness of the righteous will be eternal, the punishment of the wicked will be so too; for no reason can be given why the word which is the same in both clauses, should be taken in the one for a limited time, and in the other for an eternal duration. The Jews have a saying (q) which agrees with this last clause, "the world to come is not made but for the righteous",
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(p) Caphtor, fol. 113. 1. Shalshelet Hakabala, fol. 71. 1. (q) T. Bab. Yebamot, fol, 47. 1.
Next: Matthew Chapter 26
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Inasmuch as ye did it not ... - By…
Inasmuch as ye did it not ... - By not doing good to the “followers” of Christ, they showed that they had no real love to Him. By not doing good to the poor and needy, to the stranger and the prisoner, they showed that they had not his spirit, and were not like him, and were unfit for his kingdom. Let it be observed here that the public ground of their condemnation is the neglect of duty, or because “they did it not.” We are not to suppose that they will not also be condemned for their open and positive sins. See Rom 2:9; Eph 5:5; Col 3:5-6; 1Co 6:9-10; Rev 21:8; Psa 9:17. But their neglect of doing good to him and his people may be the “public” reason of condemning them:
Because he wished to give pre-eminence to those virtues, to excite his followers to do them. People should be punished for neglect as well as for positive sin. Sin is a violation of the law, or refusing to do what God commands. Nothing better shows the true state of the heart than the proper performance of those duties, and the true character can be as well tested by neglecting them as by open crimes.
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If it is asked how the pagan who never heard of the name of Christ can be justly condemned in this manner, it may be answered:
1.That Christ acknowledges all the poor, and needy, and strangers of every land, as his brethren. See Mat 25:40.
2.That by neglecting the duties of charity they show that they have not his spirit are not like him.
3.That these duties are clearly made known by conscience and by the light of nature, as well as by revelation, and people may therefore be condemned for the neglect of them.
4.That they are not condemned for not believing in Christ, of whom they have not heard, but for a wrong spirit, neglect of duty, open crime; for being unlike Christ, and therefore unfit for heaven.
One of the least of these - These on my right hand. My brethren. Those who are saved.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 45. Ye did it not to me — He…
45. Ye did it not to me — He here imputes an infinite demerit to their character and conduct. All their sins of omission and commission were against the very person of him — of him, the incarnation of the infinite mercy of God. By the infinite dignity of his person does he measure the infinite demerit of their sin. Hence eternity alone can measure the length of their penalty.
We have already shown clearly to our readers, we trust, that the phrase “these my brethren” refers to the apostles and messengers of the Gospel of Christ. The rejection, by these wicked ones, of these was a rejection of the Gospel and a rejection of all faith in Christ. No positive crimes, no murders, treasons, sacrileges are in this colloquy imputed to them. Their primal and all-comprehensive sin is the rejection of Christ through the ministration of his Gospel. From this cause, whatever sins they have committed stand all unforgiven. They stand without a cover in all their life’s guilt, in complete exposure to the full unrestrained measure of justice without mercy. There is no need then for our Saviour to call over their catalogue of sins.
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 45. Inasmuch as ye did it not] Men will…
45. Inasmuch as ye did it not] Men will be judged not only for evil done, but for good left undone.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Inasmuch as, etc. The Judge at once disallows all…
Inasmuch as, etc. The Judge at once disallows all such pleas. He exacts nothing which any good man, Christian or not, might not have done. As before, identifying himself with the human race, he shows that, in neglecting to perform acts of mercifulness and charity to the afflicted, they disregarded him, despised him, dishonoured him. One of the least of these. He adds not "brethren," as above (ver. 40), because the evil acknowledge no such brotherhood; they live for self alone, they own not their real relation to the whole family of man.
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 45. Then shall he answer them. The answer is…
45. Then shall he answer them. The answer is exactly the same as that given to the righteous, save that it introduces not.
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.