Matthew 12:36

Matthew 12:36 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
• New International Version (NIV)But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.
• English Standard Version (ESV)I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
• New King James Version (NKJV)But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

Context of Matthew 12:36

34You are like the children of dangerous snakes. You cannot say good things when your thoughts are bad. When you speak, your words show what is in your mind. 35It is like things that you bring out of a room where you keep them. The good man says good things because he keeps good thoughts in his mind. The bad man says bad things because he keeps bad thoughts in his mind. I tell you this: One day, God will judge everybody. On that day, he will ask you about every useless word that you have spoken. 37God will think about the words that you have spoken. Then he will decide whether to let you go free or to punish you.’ 38Then some teachers of God's Law and some Pharisees said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we want to see you do something powerful. This will show us that God has really sent you.’

Matthew 12:36 word by word

Λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶν ῥῆμα ἀργὸν ὃ λαλήσουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, ἀποδώσουσιν περὶ αὐτοῦ λόγον ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• I sayλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
• unto youσύsu · youG4771
• Thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• everyπᾶςpas · allG3956
• idleἀργόςargos · idleG692
• wordῥῆμαrhēma · declarationG4487
• thatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• ·ἐάνean · ifG1437
• menὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• menἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
• shall speakλαλέωlaleō · to speakG2980
• they shall giveἀποδίδωμιapodidōmi · to payG591
• accountλόγοςlogos · wordG3056
• ·περίperi · aboutG4012
• thereofαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• the dayἡμέραhēmera · dayG2250
• of judgmentκρίσιςkrisis · judgmentG2920

Cross-references for Matthew 12:36

• Ecclesiastes 12:14Remember that God will judge everything that we do, to see if it is good or it is bad. He knows even the things that we do secretly.
• Romans 2:16That is the message that I tell people. God knows everything that people think secretly. One day he will judge everyone. He has given Jesus Christ the authority to do that.
• Ephesians 6:4Fathers, do not do things that make your children angry. Instead, teach them carefully as they grow up. Help them to understand the message of the Lord, and help them to obey it.
• Jude 1:14Long ago, Enoch also spoke about those false teachers. Enoch belonged to the seventh family that was born, starting with Adam. He said, ‘Look, the Lord will come with many thousands of his own angels.
• Revelation 20:12I also saw the people who had died, important people and ordinary people. They were standing in front of the great throne. Then someone opened books to see what was in them. God had written in them all the things that the people had done. Then someone opened another book which is God's book of life. God judged the people who had died. He looked in the books to see what they had done, and he decided what was right.

Commentaries on Matthew 12:36

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 36Every idle word - , a word that does nothing, that neither ministers grace nor instruction to them who hear it. The word corresponds to the Hebrew שוא shave, which signifies not only vain or empty, but also wicked and injurious, such as a false testimony against a neighbor, compare Deuteronomy 5:11, Deuteronomy 5:20. Add to this, that Symmachus translates פגול piggul, polluted, Leviticus 19:7, by the very Greek word in the text. It was to explain this…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 36But I say unto you … - Christ closes this address to his malignant and wicked hearers by a solemn declaration that for these things God would bring them into judgment. Therefore. They who had spoken so malignantly against him, could not escape. Idle word - This literally means a vain, thoughtless, useless word; a word that accomplishes no good. Here it means, evidently, “wicked, injurious, false, malicious, for such” were the words which they had spoken.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 33-37Verses 33-37 Men's language discovers what country they are of, likewise what manner of spirit they are of. The heart is the fountain, words are the streams. A troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring, must send forth muddy and unpleasant streams. Nothing but the salt of grace, cast into the spring, will heal the waters, season the speech, and purify the corrupt communication. An evil man has an evil treasure in his heart, and out of it brings forth evil…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 36-37The careless word, in this context, was the claim that demons empowered Jesus. What a person says will either free or condemn them on the day of judgment. What people say shows the true state of their hearts.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3636. But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment--They might say, "It was nothing: we meant no evil; we merely threw out a supposition, as one way of accounting for the miracle we witnessed; if it will not stand, let it go; why make so much of it, and bear down with such severity for it?" Jesus replies, "It was not nothing, and at the great day will not be treated as nothing: Words…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 12:36

• Conversation
• Jesting
• Jesus, the Christ
• Judgment
• Miracles
• Slander
• Speaking
• Words

In the dictionaries

• Day of Judgment
• Adulterous
• Condemn
• Desolation
• Idle
• Judgment
• Restore
• Sin
• Wither
• Give

Commentaries on Matthew 12

• 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