Matthew 3:10

Matthew 3:10 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
• New International Version (NIV)The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
• New King James Version (NKJV)And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Context of Matthew 3:10

8Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. 9And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones. The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11“I baptize you with water for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove his sandals. He himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. But the chaff he will burn with fire that never goes out.”

Matthew 3:10 word by word

Ἤδη δὲ ἡ ἀξίνη πρὸς τὴν ῥίζαν τῶν δένδρων κεῖται. πᾶν οὖν δένδρον μὴ ποιοῦν καρπὸν καλὸν ἐκκόπτεται καὶ εἰς πῦρ βάλλεται.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Andδέde · thenG1161
• nowἤδηēdē · alreadyG2235
• alsoκαίkai · andG2532
• the axeὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the axeἀξίνηaxinē · axeG513
• is laidκεῖμαιkeimai · to lay/be appointedG2749
• untoπρόςpros · to/withG4314
• the rootῥίζαrhiza · rootG4491
• of the treesδένδρονdendron · treeG1186
• thereforeοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
• everyπᾶςpas · allG3956
• which bringethποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• notμήmē · notG3361
• goodκαλόςkalos · goodG2570
• fruitκαρπόςkarpos · fruitG2590
• is hewn downἐκκόπτωekkoptō · to preventG1581
• castβάλλωballō · to throw: throwG906
• intoεἰςeis · towardG1519
• the fireπῦρpur · fireG4442

Cross-references for Matthew 3:10

• Malachi 3:1“See, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to his temple, the Messenger of the covenant you delight in — see, he is coming,” says the Lord of Armies.
• Malachi 4:1“For look, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Armies, “not leaving them root or branches.
• Hebrews 3:1Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.
• Hebrews 10:28Anyone who disregarded the law of Moses died without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
• Hebrews 12:25See to it that you do not reject the one who speaks. For if they did not escape when they rejected him who warned them on earth, even less will we if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven.
• Luke 3:9The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
• Luke 23:31For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
• Psalms 1:3He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
• Psalms 92:13Planted in the house of the Lord, they thrive in the courts of our God.
• Isaiah 61:3to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify him.
• Jeremiah 17:8He will be like a tree planted by water: it sends its roots out toward a stream, it doesn’t fear when heat comes, and its foliage remains green. It will not worry in a year of drought or cease producing fruit.
• John 15:2Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.
• Matthew 7:19Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
• Matthew 21:19Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” At once the fig tree withered.
• Psalms 80:15the root your right hand planted, the son that you made strong for yourself.
• Isaiah 5:2He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones, and planted it with the finest vines. He built a tower in the middle of it and even dug out a winepress there. He expected it to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes.

Commentaries on Matthew 3:10

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 10And now also the axe is laid - Or, Even now the axe lieth. As if he had said, There is not a moment to spare - God is about to cut off every impenitent soul - you must therefore either turn to God immediately, or be utterly and finally ruined. It was customary with the prophets to represent the kingdoms, nations, and individuals, whose ruin they predicted, under the notion of forests and trees, doomed to be cut down. See Jeremiah 46:22, Jeremiah 46:23…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 10The axe is laid at the root of the tree - Laying the axe at the root of a tree is intended to denote that the tree is to be cut down. It was not merely to be trimmed, or to be cut about the limbs, but the very tree itself was to be struck. That is, a searching, trying kind of preaching has been commenced. A kingdom of justice is to be set up. Principles and conduct are to be investigated. No art, no dissimulation, will be successful: People are to be…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-12Verses 7-12 To make application to the souls of the hearers, is the life of preaching; so it was of John's preaching. The Pharisees laid their chief stress on outward observances, neglecting the weightier matters of the moral law, and the spiritual meaning of their legal ceremonies. Others of them were detestable hypocrites, making their pretences to holiness a cloak for iniquity. The Sadducees ran into the opposite extreme, denying the existence of…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1010. And now also--And even already. the axe is laid unto--"lieth at." the root of the trees--as it were ready to strike: an expressive figure of impending judgment, only to be averted in the way next described. therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire--Language so personal and individual as this can scarcely be understood of any national judgment like the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, with the…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 3:10

• Ax
• Minister, Christian
• Pharisees
• Reproof
• Unfaithfulness
• Unfruitfulness
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Axe
• John the Baptist
• Kingdom
• Meet
• Please
• Region
• Repentance
• Unquenchable
• Ax (axe); Ax-Head
• Eschatology of the New Testament

Commentaries on Matthew 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Catena Aurea
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• John Lightfoot Commentary
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings