Matthew 7:15

A Tree and Its Fruit

7:15 “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves. ¹ 

Matthew 13:56

13:56 And aren’t all his sisters here with us? Where did he get all this?” ² 

Matthew 15:14

15:14 Leave them! They are blind guides. ³  If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, ⁴  both will fall into a pit.”

Matthew 17:26

17:26 After he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons ⁵  are free.

Matthew 18:20

18:20 For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.”

Matthew 19:6

19:6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Matthew 22:30

22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels ⁶  in heaven.

¹ sn Sheep’s clothing…voracious wolves. Jesus uses a metaphor here to point out that these false prophets appear to be one thing, but in reality they are something quite different and dangerous.

² tn Grk “Where did he get these things?”

³ tc ‡ Most mss, some of which are significant, read “They are blind guides of the blind” (א¹ C L W Z Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). The shorter reading is read by א*^,2 B D 0237 Epiph. There is a distinct possibility of omission due to homoioarcton in א*; this manuscript has a word order variation which puts the word τυφλοί (tufloi, “blind”) right before the word τυφλῶν (tuflwn, “of the blind”). This does not explain the shorter reading, however, in the other witnesses, of which B and D are quite weighty. Internal considerations suggest that the shorter reading is original: “of the blind” was likely added by scribes to balance this phrase with Jesus’ following statement about the blind leading the blind, which clearly has two groups in view. A decision is difficult, but internal considerations here along with the strength of the witnesses argue that the shorter reading is more likely original. NA²⁷ places τυφλῶν in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

⁴ tn Grk “If blind leads blind.”

⁴ sn See the note on the phrase their sons in the previous verse.

⁵ tc Most witnesses have “of God” after “angels,” although some mss read ἄγγελοι θεοῦ (angeloi qeou; א L ˹³ {28} 33 892 1241 1424 al) while others have ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ (angeloi tou qeou; W 0102 0161 Ï). Whether with or without the article, the reading “of God” appears to be motivated as a natural expansion. A few important witnesses lack the adjunct (B D Θ {0233} ˹ 700 {sa}); this coupled with strong internal evidence argues for the shorter reading.