New King James Version
Matthew 3:7
7But 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?
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 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
5Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 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? 8Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to 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 5:20For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
- Matthew 12:24Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
- Matthew 15:12Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
- Matthew 16:6Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”
- Matthew 22:15Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk.
- Matthew 23:13“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
- Mark 7:3For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.
- Mark 8:15Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
- Mark 12:13Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.
- Luke 7:30But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.
- Luke 11:39Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness.
- Luke 16:14Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.
- Luke 18:11The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.
- John 1:24Now those who were sent were from the Pharisees.
- John 7:45Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”
- John 9:40Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries