God’s Word Translation
Matthew 3:7
7But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he said to them, “You poisonous snakes! Who showed you how to flee from God’s coming anger?
Matthew 3:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
- New International Version (NIV)But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
- English Standard Version (ESV)But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
- New King James Version (NKJV)But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
Context of Matthew 3:7
5Jerusalem, all Judea, and the whole Jordan Valley went to him. 6As they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he said to them, “You poisonous snakes! Who showed you how to flee from God’s coming anger? 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.
Read all of Matthew 3Matthew 3:7 word by word
Ἰδὼν δὲ πολλοὺς τῶν Φαρισαίων καὶ Σαδδουκαίων ἐρχομένους ἐπὶ τὸ βάπτισμα αὐτοῦ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, τίς ὑπέδειξεν ὑμῖν φυγεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς;Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Butδέde · thenG1161
- when he sawὁράωhoraō · to see: seeG3708
- manyπολύςpolus polos · muchG4183
- of the PhariseesΦαρισαῖοςPharisaios · PhariseeG5330
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- SadduceesΣαδδουκαῖοςSaddoukaios · SadduceeG4523
- comeἔρχομαιerchomai · to come/goG2064
- toἐπίepi · upon/to/againstG1909
- hisαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- baptismβάπτισμαbaptisma · baptismG908
- he saidλέγωlegō · to sayG3004
- O generationγέννημαgennēma · offspringG1081
- of vipersἔχιδναechidna · snakeG2191
- whoτίςtis · which?G5101
- hath warnedὑποδείκνυμιhupodeiknumi · to showG5263
- youσύsu · youG4771
- to fleeφεύγωpheugō · to fleeG5343
- fromἀπόapo · away fromG575
- the wrathὀργήorgē · wrathG3709
- to comeμέλλωmellō · to ensueG3195
Cross-references for Matthew 3:7
- Matthew 5:20I can guarantee that unless you live a life that has God’s approval and do it more faithfully than the experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
- Matthew 12:24When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man can force demons out of people only with the help of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons.”
- Matthew 15:12Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you realize that when the Pharisees heard your statement they were offended?”
- Matthew 16:6Jesus said to them, “Be careful! Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”
- Matthew 22:15Then the Pharisees went away and planned to trap Jesus into saying the wrong thing.
- Matthew 23:13“How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. You don’t enter it yourselves, and you don’t permit others to enter when they try.
- Mark 7:3(The Pharisees, like all other Jewish people, don’t eat unless they have properly washed their hands. They follow the traditions of their ancestors.
- Mark 8:15Jesus warned them, “Be careful! Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod!”
- Mark 12:13The leaders sent some of the Pharisees and some of Herod’s followers to Jesus. They wanted to trap him into saying the wrong thing.
- Luke 7:30But the Pharisees and the experts in Moses’ Teachings rejected God’s plan for them. They refused to be baptized.
- Luke 11:39The Lord said to him, “You Pharisees clean the outside of cups and dishes. But inside you are full of greed and evil.
- Luke 16:14The Pharisees, who love money, heard all this and were making sarcastic remarks about him.
- Luke 18:11The Pharisee stood up and prayed, ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people! I’m not a robber or a dishonest person. I haven’t committed adultery. I’m not even like this tax collector.
- John 1:24Some of those who had been sent were Pharisees.
- John 7:45When the temple guards returned, the chief priests and Pharisees asked them, “Why didn’t you bring Jesus?”
- John 9:40Some Pharisees who were with Jesus heard this. So they asked him, “Do you think we’re blind?”
Commentaries on Matthew 3:7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Pharisees - A very numerous sect among the Jews, who, in their origin, were, very probably, a pure and holy people. It is likely that they got the name of Pharisees, i.e. Separatists, (from פרש pharash, to separate), from their separating themselves from the pollution of the Jewish national worship; and hence, the word in the Anglo-saxon version is, holy persons who stand apart, or by themselves: but, in process of time, like all religious sects and…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7Pharisees and Sadducees - The Jews were divided into three great sects - the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. In addition to these, some smaller sects are mentioned in the New Testament and by Josephus: the Herodians, probably political friends of Herod; the Galileans, a branch of the Pharisees; and the Therapeutae, a branch of the Essenes, but converts from the Greeks. The three principal sects are supposed to have originated about 150 years…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
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7The Pahrisees' name comes from the Hebrew word perushim, which means separated ones or exact interpreters. The Sadducees, a group of priests, probably got their name from Zadok the priest (2 Samuel 15:24–29; Ezekiel 44:10–16).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them--astonished at such a spectacle. O generation of vipers--"Viper brood," expressing the deadly influence of both sects alike upon the community. Mutually and entirely antagonistic as were their religious principles and spirit, the stern prophet charges both alike with being the poisoners of the nation's religious principles. In Mt 12:34; 23:33, this strong…Read the comment
Topics related to Matthew 3:7
In the dictionaries
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
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