Matthew 23:31

Matthew 23:31 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
• New International Version (NIV)So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
• New Living Translation (NLT)“But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

Context of Matthew 23:31

29"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

Matthew 23:31 word by word

ὥστε μαρτυρεῖτε ἑαυτοῖς ὅτι υἱοί ἐστε τῶν φονευσάντων τοὺς προφήτας·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Whereforeὥστεhōste · soG5620
• ye be witnessesμαρτυρέωmartureō · to testifyG3140
• unto yourselvesἑαυτοῦheautou · themselfG1438
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• ye areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• the childrenυἱόςuihos · sonG5207
• of them which killedφονεύωphoneuō · to murderG5407
• the prophetsπροφήτηςprophētēs · prophetG4396

Cross-references for Matthew 23:31

• Joshua 24:22Then Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him." And they said, "We are witnesses."
• Job 15:5For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty.
• Psalms 64:8They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them; all who see them will wag their heads.
• Luke 19:22He said to him, 'I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?
• Acts 7:51"You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.
• 1 Thessalonians 2:15who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind

Commentaries on Matthew 23:31

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31Ye 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31Ye 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…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-33Verses 13-33 The scribes and Pharisees were enemies to the gospel of Christ, and therefore to the salvation of the souls of men. It is bad to keep away from Christ ourselves, but worse also to keep others from him. Yet it is no new thing for the show and form of godliness to be made a cloak to the greatest enormities. But dissembled piety will be reckoned double iniquity. They were very busy to turn souls to be of their party. Not for the glory of God and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-36Matthew gathered seven warnings of sorrow to come (literally woe to you) inspired by similar Old Testament lists (Isaiah 5:8–23; Habakkuk 2:6–20). Matthew arranged them to reach a climax with the killing of the prophets.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-39For this long and terrible discourse we are indebted, with the exception of a few verses in Mark and Luke, to Matthew alone. But as it is only an extended repetition of denunciations uttered not long before at the table of a Pharisee, and recorded by Luke (Lu 11:37-54), we may take both together in the exposition. Denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees (Mt 23:1-36). The first twelve verses were addressed more immediately to the disciples, the rest to…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 23:31

• Church
• Ecclesiasticism
• Hypocrisy
• Pharisees
• Responsibility
• Satire
• Self-Condemnation
• Self-Righteousness
• Teachers

In the dictionaries

• Abase
• Bewray
• Devour
• Exalt
• Fill
• Gnat
• Ought
• Partaker
• Scribes
• Sit

Commentaries on Matthew 23

• 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