Devine Scripture

Matthew 23:31

What does Matthew 23:31 mean?

A plain-English look at Matthew 23:31 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Matthew 23:31 means

Jesus directly confronts the Pharisees' self-righteous claim by declaring that their actions themselves serve as a witness against them: they are indeed "sons of them that slew the prophets." By condemning the ancient prophets' murderers while actively rejecting and planning to kill God's current messenger (Jesus) and His followers, they prove their spiritual lineage. They inherit and continue the same murderous opposition to God's truth as their ancestors, sealing their own condemnation.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

Wherefore ye witness to yourselves, that ye are sons of them that slew the prophets.

KJV

King James Version · 1611

Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

Wherefore ye witness to yourselves, that ye are sons of them that slew the prophets.

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

So that you are witnesses against yourselves that you are the sons of those who put the prophets to death.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

So that ye testify to yourselves, that ye are sons of them who did murder the prophets;

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

Wherefore you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons of them that killed the prophets.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

So that ye bear witness of yourselves that ye are sons of those who slew the prophets:

Context

This verse directly refutes the Pharisees' self-justifying claims from the previous verse. Jesus uses their own words and actions to condemn them, revealing that their outward honoring of dead prophets does not absolve them but rather confirms their spiritual lineage as persecutors of God's messengers. This sharp verdict sets the stage for Jesus' command to "fill up the measure of your fathers" in the next verse, intensifying the impending judgment.

v.30and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

v.31This passage

v.32Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Psalms 64:8

    So they shall be made to stumble, their own tongue being against them: All that see them shall wag the head.

  • Job 15:5

    For thine iniquity teacheth thy mouth, And thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.

  • Acts 7:51

    Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye.

  • Luke 19:22

    He saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I am an austere man, taking up that which I laid not down, and reaping that which I did not sow;

  • Joshua 24:22

    And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you Jehovah, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.

  • 1 Thessalonians 2:15

    who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove out us, and please not God, and are contrary to all men;

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