New International Version
Matthew 3:7
7But 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?
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?
- 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?
- New Living Translation (NLT)But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to watch him baptize, he denounced them. “You brood of snakes!” he exclaimed. “Who warned you to flee the coming wrath?
Context of Matthew 3:7
5People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 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? 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.
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 5:20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
- Matthew 12:24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”
- Matthew 15:12Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
- Matthew 16:6“Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
- Matthew 22:15Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.
- Matthew 23:13“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
- Mark 7:3(The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.
- Mark 8:15“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
- Mark 12:13Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words.
- Luke 7:30But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)
- Luke 11:39Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.
- Luke 16:14The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.
- Luke 18:11The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
- John 1:24Now the Pharisees who had been sent
- John 7:45Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
- John 9:40Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
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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