Matthew 23:33

Matthew 23:33 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
• New International Version (NIV)“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
• English Standard Version (ESV)You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

Context of Matthew 23:33

31By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34“For this reason I am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, 35so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

Matthew 23:33 word by word

ὄφεις γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, πῶς φύγητε ἀπὸ τῆς κρίσεως τῆς γεέννης;Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• serpentsὄφιςophis · snakeG3789
• generationγέννημαgennēma · offspringG1081
• of vipersἔχιδναechidna · snakeG2191
• how canπῶςpōs · how?!G4459
• ye escapeφεύγωpheugō · to fleeG5343
• ·ἀπόapo · away fromG575
• the damnationὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the damnationκρίσιςkrisis · judgmentG2920
• of hellγέενναgeenna · hell: GehennaG1067

Cross-references for Matthew 23:33

• Matthew 3:7But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
• Matthew 12:34Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart.
• Matthew 21:34When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop.
• Genesis 3:15And I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; her offspring will attack your head, and you will attack her offspring’s heel.”
• Psalms 58:3The wicked turn aside from birth; liars go astray as soon as they are born.
• Isaiah 57:3But approach, you sons of omen readers, you offspring of adulteresses and prostitutes!
• Luke 3:7So John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
• John 8:44You people are from your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
• 2 Corinthians 11:3But I am afraid that just as the serpent deceived Eve by his treachery, your minds may be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
• Revelation 12:9So that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him.
• Hebrews 2:3how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him,
• Hebrews 10:29How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for the Son of God, and profanes the blood of the covenant that made him holy, and insults the Spirit of grace?
• Hebrews 12:25Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven?

Commentaries on Matthew 23:33

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 33Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers - What a terrible stroke! - Ye are serpents, and the offspring of serpents. This refers to Matthew 23:31; : they confessed that they were the children of those who murdered the prophets; and they are now going to murder Christ and his followers, to show that they have not degenerated - an accursed seed, of an accursed breed. My old MS. translates this passage oddly - Gee serpentis, fruytis of burrownyngis of eddris…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 33Ye serpents - This name is given to them on account of their pretending to be pious, and very much devoted to God, but being secretly evil, At the heart, with all their pretensions, they were filled with evil designs, as the serpent was, Genesis 3:1-5 Generation of vipers - See the notes at Matthew 12:34. Damnation of hell - This refers, beyond all question, to future punishment. So great was their wickedness and hypocrisy, that, if they persevered in…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. 3333. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?--In thus, at the end of His ministry, recalling the words of the Baptist at the outset of his, our Lord would seem to intimate that the only difference between their condemnation now and then was, that now they were ripe for their doom, which they were not then.Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 23:33

• Church
• Ecclesiasticism
• Escape
• Hell
• Hypocrisy
• Judgments
• Pharisees
• Punishment
• Responsibility
• Satire
• Sin
• Teachers
• Viper
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Abase
• Bewray
• Devour
• Exalt
• Fill
• Gehenna
• Gnat
• Hell
• Hinnom
• Ought

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