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 bear fruit in keeping with repentance; 9and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 11“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

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

• axeἀξίνηaxinē · axeG513
• is alreadyἤδηēdē · alreadyG2235
• laidκεῖμαιkeimai · to lay/be appointedG2749
• at the rootῥίζαrhiza · rootG4491
• of the treesδένδρονdendron · treeG1186
• thereforeοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
• everyπᾶςpas · allG3956
• that does not bearποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• goodκαλόςkalos · goodG2570
• fruitκαρπόςkarpos · fruitG2590
• is cutἐκκόπτωekkoptō · to preventG1581
• and thrownβάλλωballō · to throw: throwG906
• into the fireπῦρpur · fireG4442

Cross-references for Matthew 3:10

• Malachi 3:1“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts.
• Malachi 4:1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.”
• Hebrews 3:1Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;
• Hebrews 10:28Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
• Hebrews 12:25See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.
• Luke 3:9Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
• Luke 23:31For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
• Psalms 1:3He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.
• Psalms 92:13Planted in the house of the Lord, They will flourish in the courts of our God.
• Isaiah 61:3To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
• Jeremiah 17:8For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit.
• John 15:2Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.
• Matthew 7:19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
• Matthew 21:19Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.
• Psalms 80:15Even the shoot which Your right hand has planted, And on the son whom You have strengthened for Yourself.
• Isaiah 5:2He dug it all around, removed its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it And also hewed out a wine vat in it; Then He expected it to produce good grapes, But it produced only worthless ones.

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