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

8Do those things that prove you have turned to God and have changed the way you think and act. 9Don’t think you can say, ‘Abraham is our ancestor.’ I can guarantee that God can raise up descendants for Abraham from these stones. The ax is now ready to cut the roots of the trees. Any tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire. 11I baptize you with water so that you will change the way you think and act. But the one who comes after me is more powerful than I. I am not worthy to remove his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing shovel is in his hand, and he will clean up his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into a barn, but he will burn the husks in a fire that can never be put 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“I’m going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way ahead of me. Then the Lord you are looking for will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the promise will come. He is the one you want,” says the Lord of Armies.
• Malachi 4:1“Certainly the day is coming! It will burn like a furnace. All arrogant people and all evildoers will be ⌞like⌟ straw. The day that is coming will burn them up completely,” says the Lord of Armies. “It won’t leave a single root or branch.
• Hebrews 3:1Brothers and sisters, you are holy partners in a heavenly calling. So look carefully at Jesus, the apostle and chief priest about whom we make our declaration of faith.
• Hebrews 10:28If two or three witnesses accused someone of rejecting Moses’ Teachings, that person was shown no mercy as he was executed.
• Hebrews 12:25Be careful that you do not refuse to listen when God speaks. Your ancestors didn’t escape when they refused to listen to God, who warned them on earth. We certainly won’t escape if we turn away from God, who warns us from heaven.
• Luke 3:9The ax is now ready to cut the roots of the trees. Any tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire.”
• Luke 23:31If people do this to a green tree, what will happen to a dry one?”
• Psalms 1:3He is like a tree planted beside streams— a tree that produces fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither. He succeeds in everything he does.
• Psalms 92:13They are planted in the Lord’s house. They blossom in our God’s courtyards.
• Isaiah 61:3⌞He has sent me⌟ to provide for all those who grieve in Zion, to give them crowns instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of ⌞tears of⌟ grief, and clothes of praise instead of a spirit of weakness. They will be called Oaks of Righteousness, the Plantings of the Lord, so that he might display his glory.
• Jeremiah 17:8He will be like a tree that is planted by water. It will send its roots down to a stream. It will not be afraid in the heat of summer. Its leaves will turn green. It will not be anxious during droughts. It will not stop producing fruit.
• John 15:2He removes every one of my branches that doesn’t produce fruit. He also prunes every branch that does produce fruit to make it produce more fruit.
• Matthew 7:19Any tree that fails to produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into a fire.
• Matthew 21:19When he saw a fig tree by the road, he went up to the tree and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to the tree, “May fruit never grow on you again!” At once the fig tree dried up.
• Psalms 80:15Take care of what your right hand planted, the son you strengthened for yourself.
• Isaiah 5:2He dug it up, removed its stones, planted it with the choicest vines, built a watchtower in it, and made a winepress in it. Then he waited for it to produce good grapes, but it produced only sour, wild 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