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Texts -- Matthew 12:33-37 (NET)

Context
Trees and Their Fruit
12:33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good , or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad , for a tree is known by its fruit . 12:34 Offspring of vipers ! How are you able to say anything good , since you are evil ? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart . 12:35 The good person brings good things out of his good treasury , and the evil person brings evil things out of his evil treasury . 12:36 I tell you that on the day of judgment , people will give an account for every worthless word they speak . 12:37 For by your words you will be justified , and by your words you will be condemned .”

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Thirty-one New Testament Descriptions of Sinful Mankind; Judgments in Scripture

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Nob stood one and one-half miles northeast of Jerusalem and two and one-half miles southeast of Gibeah. There Ahimelech served as high priest. Priestly activity and evidently the tabernacle were now there (cf. 17:54). It is s...
  • The Book of Psalms is an inspired collection of Hebrew poems intended for use in worship. Spirit directed compilers put them in their present order for several reasons including authorship and affinity of ideas. The compilers...
  • Many of the analogies in this pericope deal with virtues and vices that are characteristic of the wise and the foolish.27:7 The point of this proverb seems to be that the quantity of a person's material possessions affects hi...
  • 6:1 Why did Isaiah date this passage since he did not date most of his others?70Probably he did so because King Uzziah had been the best king of Judah since Solomon. Nevertheless during the last part of his reign he suffered ...
  • Matthew often grouped his material into sections so that three, five, six, or seven events, miracles, sayings, or parables appear together.27Jewish writers typically did this to help their readers remember what they had writt...
  • I. The introduction of the King 1:1-4:11A. The King's genealogy 1:1-17B. The King's birth 1:18-25C. The King's childhood 2:1-231. The prophecy about Bethlehem 2:1-122. The prophecies about Egypt 2:13-183. The prophecies about...
  • Comparison of John's Gospel and Matthew's shows that Jesus ministered for about a year before John the Baptist's arrest. John had criticized Herod Antipas for having an adulterous relationship with his brother Philip's wife (...
  • Chapters 11-13 record Israel's rejection of her Messiah and its consequences. Opposition continued to build, but Jesus announced new revelation in view of hardened unbelief."The Evangelist has carefully presented the credenti...
  • The immediate connection between this section and what precedes is twofold. The first is the theme of rising opposition (11:2-13:53), and the second is the heavy yoke of Pharisaic tradition that made the Israelites weary and ...
  • 12:25-26 Probably Jesus' knew His critics' thoughts as anyone else who had suffered such an attack would (cf. 9:4). Alternatively this may be a statement of Jesus' omniscience. Any kingdom, city, or household that experiences...
  • "The die is cast. The religious leaders have openly declared their opposition to their Messiah. The people of Israel are amazed at the power of Jesus and His speech, but they fail to recognize Him as their King. Not seeing th...
  • Matthew linked this parabolic teaching with the controversy in chapter 12 by using the phrase "on that day"(NASB) or "that same day"(NIV, Gr. en te hemera ekeine). These parables were a response to Israel's rejection of her K...
  • Matthew leaves the reader with the impression from this concluding transition, as well as from the structure of the discourse, that Jesus related all the preceding parables at one time. This was apparently the case. Jesus now...
  • 15:10-11 Jesus had been responding to the question of His critics so far. Now He taught the assembled crowds the same lesson and at the same time gave a direct answer to the Pharisees and scribes. He responded with a parable ...
  • 16:18 "I say to you"(cf. 5:18, 20, 22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44; 8:10) may imply that Jesus would continue the revelation the Father had begun. However the phrase occurs elsewhere where that contrast is not in view. Undoubtedly it ...
  • 23:29-30 By building monuments to the prophets and other righteous people that their forefathers had martyred, the Pharisees were saying that they would not have killed them if they had been alive then. These construction pro...
  • Abbott-Smith, G. A. A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1937.Albright, W. F. and Mann, C. S. Matthew. The Anchor Bible series. Garden City: Doubleday, 1971.Alford, Henry. The Greek Testa...
  • Jesus apparently taught these parables shortly after the incident Mark just finished recording (3:20-35; cf. Matt. 13:1). This was a very busy day in Jesus' ministry that evidently included all the events in 3:19-4:41 (cf. Ma...
  • Jesus' point in this parable was that a person of bad character cannot normally produce good conduct (cf. Matt. 12:33-35). Therefore His disciples needed to clean up their lives before they could minister for Him effectively....
  • This short parable makes more explicit the same point about human conduct that Jesus had just made about trees (cf. Matt. 12:35). The conduct of people follows from their character, for good or for bad (cf. 3:7-9). The man's ...
  • Apparently Luke moved this teaching from Jesus' earlier controversy with the Pharisees over His authority to provide a conclusion for this section of teaching (cf. Matt. 12:22-50; Mark 3:19-35). It continues the theme of the ...
  • 11:45-46 The lawyers (or scribes) were a distinct group, though most of them were Pharisees. The scribes and Pharisees often acted together. The lawyer who spoke up wanted to distinguish his group from the Pharisees, but Jesu...
  • These inflammatory words of criticism and condemnation fanned the embers of Pharisaic hostility into an inferno of hatred and hostility. Luke wrote that these religious leaders now questioned Him closely on many subjects. He ...
  • "Luke 16:1-8 contains probably the most difficult parable in Luke."36716:1 The linguistic connection that ties this parable with its preceding context is the word "squander"(Gr. diaskorpizo, cf. 15:13). This is the clue to th...
  • 3:17-18 If Peter's charges against his hearers were harsh (vv. 13-15), his concession that they acted out of ignorance was tender. Peter undoubtedly hoped that his gentle approach would win a reversal of his hearers' attitude...
  • 20:11 This "And I saw"introduces something else John saw in this vision (cf. 19:11, 17, 19; 20:1, 4, 12; 21:1, 2). The continuation of chronological progression seems clear from the continued use of "And"to introduce new info...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Matthew 9-28
  • Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 17. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synago...
  • Make the tree good, and his fruit good '--Matt. 12:33.IN this Gospel we find that our Lord twice uses this image of a tree and its fruit. In the Sermon on the Mount He applies it as a test to false teachers, who hide, beneath...
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