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.
• 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.
• New Living Translation (NLT)Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.

Context of Matthew 3:10

8Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 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. 11“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning 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

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 will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.
• Malachi 4:1“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.
• Hebrews 3:1Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.
• Hebrews 10:28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
• Hebrews 12:25See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?
• Luke 3:9The 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.”
• Luke 23:31For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
• Psalms 1:3That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.
• Psalms 92:13planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
• Isaiah 61:3and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
• Jeremiah 17:8They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
• John 15:2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
• Matthew 7:19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
• Matthew 21:19Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
• Psalms 80:15the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself.
• Isaiah 5:2He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.

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