Matthew 23:31

Matthew 23:31 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
• New International Version (NIV)So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
• New King James Version (NKJV)“Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

Context of Matthew 23:31

29“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed. 30Then you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets.’ “But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started. 33Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?

Matthew 23:31 word by word

ὥστε μαρτυρεῖτε ἑαυτοῖς ὅτι υἱοί ἐστε τῶν φονευσάντων τοὺς προφήτας·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Whereforeὥστεhōste · soG5620
• ye be witnessesμαρτυρέωmartureō · to testifyG3140
• unto yourselvesἑαυτοῦheautou · themselfG1438
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• ye areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• the childrenυἱόςuihos · sonG5207
• of them which killedφονεύωphoneuō · to murderG5407
• the prophetsπροφήτηςprophētēs · prophetG4396

Cross-references for Matthew 23:31

• Joshua 24:22“You are a witness to your own decision,” Joshua said. “You have chosen to serve the Lord.” “Yes,” they replied, “we are witnesses to what we have said.”
• Job 15:5Your sins are telling your mouth what to say. Your words are based on clever deception.
• Psalms 64:8Their own tongues will ruin them, and all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
• Luke 19:22“‘You wicked servant!’ the king roared. ‘Your own words condemn you. If you knew that I’m a hard man who takes what isn’t mine and harvests crops I didn’t plant,
• Acts 7:51“You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you!
• 1 Thessalonians 2:15For some of the Jews killed the prophets, and some even killed the Lord Jesus. Now they have persecuted us, too. They fail to please God and work against all humanity

Commentaries on Matthew 23:31

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31Ye be witnesses - Ye acknowledge that ye are the children of those murderers, and ye are about to give full proof that ye are not degenerated. There are many who think that, had they lived in the time of our Lord, they would not have acted towards him as the Jews did. But we can scarcely believe that they who reject his Gospel, trample under foot his precepts, do despite to the Spirit of his grace, love sin, and hate his followers, would have acted…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31Ye be witnesses unto yourselves - The emphasis, here, lies in the words “to yourselves.” It is an appeal to their conscience. It was not by their building the tombs that they were witnesses that they were the children of those who killed the prophets; but that, in spite of all this pretence of piety, under all this cloak of profession, they knew in their consciences, and were witnesses to themselves, that it was mere hypocrisy, and that they really…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. 1-39For this long and terrible discourse we are indebted, with the exception of a few verses in Mark and Luke, to Matthew alone. But as it is only an extended repetition of denunciations uttered not long before at the table of a Pharisee, and recorded by Luke (Lu 11:37-54), we may take both together in the exposition. Denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees (Mt 23:1-36). The first twelve verses were addressed more immediately to the disciples, the rest to…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 23:31

• Church
• Ecclesiasticism
• Hypocrisy
• Pharisees
• Responsibility
• Satire
• Self-Condemnation
• Self-Righteousness
• Teachers

In the dictionaries

• Abase
• Bewray
• Devour
• Exalt
• Fill
• Gnat
• Ought
• Partaker
• Scribes
• Sit

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