New Living Translation
Matthew 3:7
7But 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?
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 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?
Context of Matthew 3:7
5People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John. 6And when they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. 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? 8Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. 9Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very 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 5:20“But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
- Matthew 12:24But when the Pharisees heard about the miracle, they said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.”
- Matthew 15:12Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?”
- Matthew 16:6“Watch out!” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
- Matthew 22:15Then the Pharisees met together to plot how to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested.
- Matthew 23:13“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.
- Mark 7:3(The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions.
- Mark 8:15As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”
- Mark 12:13Later the leaders sent some Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested.
- Luke 7:30But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.
- Luke 11:39Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness!
- Luke 16:14The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him.
- Luke 18:11The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector!
- John 1:24Then the Pharisees who had been sent
- John 7:45When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
- John 9:40Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”
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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