Matthew 23:31

31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.

Matthew 23:31 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
English Standard Version (ESV)
31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
New Living Translation (NLT)
31 “But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
The Message Bible (MSG)
31 You protest too much! You're cut from the same cloth as those murderers,
American Standard Version (ASV)
31 Wherefore ye witness to yourselves, that ye are sons of them that slew the prophets.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
31 You therefore testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
31 So you give witness against yourselves. You admit that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets.

Matthew 23:31 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 23:31

Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves
Or "against yourselves", as the Syriac reads; for what they said was a plain acknowledgment, and a full confession, what their fathers had done, and whose offspring they were; and from whom better things were not to be expected; since they were their fathers' own children, and of the same temper and disposition with them: that ye are the children of them that killed the prophets.
They plainly owned, that their fathers killed the prophets, and that they descended from them; though they meant not so much to reproach, their ancestors, as to give themselves a greater character; yet it did not with those, that knew them; not with our Lord: for as their own words testified against them, that they were a seed of evildoers; their practices showed them to be of the same spirit and principles with their progenitors.

Matthew 23:31 In-Context

29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.
30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!
33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?

Cross References 1

  • 1. S Matthew 5:12; Acts 7:51-52
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