Ezekiel 18:27-28

18:27 When a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life. 18:28 Because he considered ¹  and turned from all the sins he had done, he will surely live; he will not die.

Ezekiel 33:7-9

33:7 “As for you, son of man, I have made you a watchman ²  for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must warn them on my behalf. 33:8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you must certainly die,’ ³  and you do not warn ⁴  the wicked about his behavior, ⁵  the wicked man will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death. ⁶  33:9 But if you warn the wicked man to change his behavior, ⁷  and he refuses to change, ⁸  he will die for his iniquity, but you have saved your own life.

Ezekiel 33:14-16

33:14 Suppose I say to the wicked, ‘You must certainly die,’ but he turns from his sin and does what is just and right. 33:15 He ⁹  returns what was taken in pledge, pays back what he has stolen, and follows the statutes that give life, ¹⁰  committing no iniquity. He will certainly live – he will not die. 33:16 None of the sins he has committed will be counted ¹¹  against him. He has done what is just and right; he will certainly live.

Matthew 3:7-9

3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees ¹²  and Sadducees ¹³  coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 3:8 Therefore produce fruit ¹⁴  that proves your ¹⁵  repentance, 3:9 and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

Luke 3:7-9

3:7 So John ¹⁶  said to the crowds ¹⁷  that came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers! ¹⁸  Who warned you to flee ¹⁹  from the coming wrath? 3:8 Therefore produce ²⁰  fruit ²¹  that proves your repentance, and don’t begin to say ²²  to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ ²³  For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! ²⁴  3:9 Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees, ²⁵  and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be ²⁶  cut down and thrown into the fire.”

[18:28]  ¹ tn Heb “he saw.”

[33:7]  ² sn Jeremiah (Jer 6:17) and Habakkuk (Hab 2:1) also served in the role of a watchman.

[33:8]  ³ tn The same expression occurs in Gen 2:17.

[33:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “and you do not speak to warn.”

[33:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “way.”

[33:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and his blood from your hand I will seek.”

[33:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “from his way to turn from it.”

[33:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he does not turn from his way.”

[33:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “the wicked one.”

[33:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and in the statutes of life he walks.”

[33:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “remembered.”

[3:7]  ¹² sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[3:7]  ¹³ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[3:8]  ¹⁴ sn Fruit worthy of repentance refers to the deeds that indicate a change of attitude (heart) on the part of John’s hearers.

[3:8]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “fruit worthy of.”

[3:7]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:7]  ¹⁷ sn The crowds. It is interesting to trace references to “the crowd” in Luke. It is sometimes noted favorably, other times less so. The singular appears 25 times in Luke while the plural occurs 16 times. Matt 3:7 singles out the Sadducees and Pharisees here.

[3:7]  ¹⁸ tn Or “snakes.”

[3:7]  ¹⁹ sn The rebuke “Who warned you to flee…?” compares the crowd to snakes who flee their desert holes when the heat of a fire drives them out.

[3:8]  ²⁰ tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew; see v. 4).

[3:8]  ²¹ tn Grk “fruits.” The plural Greek term καρπούς has been translated with the collective singular “fruit” (so NIV; cf. Matt 3:8 where the singular καρπός is found). Some other translations render the plural καρπούς as “fruits” (e.g., NRSV, NASB, NAB, NKJV).

[3:8]  ²² tn In other words, “do not even begin to think this.”

[3:8]  ²³ sn We have Abraham as our father. John’s warning to the crowds really assumes two things: (1) A number of John’s listeners apparently believed that simply by their physical descent from Abraham, they were certain heirs of the promises made to the patriarch, and (2) God would never judge his covenant people lest he inadvertently place the fulfillment of his promises in jeopardy. In light of this, John tells these people two things: (1) they need to repent and produce fruit in keeping with repentance, for only that saves from the coming wrath, and (2) God will raise up “children for Abraham from these stones” if he wants to. Their disobedience will not threaten the realization of God’s sovereign purposes.

[3:8]  ²⁴ sn The point of the statement God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham is that ancestry or association with a tradition tied to the great founder of the Jewish nation is not an automatic source of salvation.

[3:9]  ²⁵ sn Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees. The imagery of an “ax already laid at the root of the trees” is vivid, connoting sudden and catastrophic judgment for the unrepentant and unfruitful. The image of “fire” serves to further heighten the intensity of the judgment referred to. It is John’s way of summoning all people to return to God with all their heart and avoid his unquenchable wrath soon to be poured out. John’s language and imagery is probably ultimately drawn from the OT where Israel is referred to as a fruitless vine (Hos 10:1-2; Jer 2:21-22) and the image of an “ax” is used to indicate God’s judgment (Ps 74:5-6; Jer 46:22).

[3:9]  ²⁶ tn Grk “is”; the present tense (ἐκκόπτεται, ekkoptetai) has futuristic force here.