Matthew 3:7

3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees ¹  and Sadducees ²  coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Matthew 23:33

23:33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ³ 

Luke 3:7

3:7 So John ⁴  said to the crowds ⁵  that came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers! ⁶  Who warned you to flee ⁷  from the coming wrath?

John 8:44

8:44 You people ⁸  are from ⁹  your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. ¹⁰  He ¹¹  was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, ¹²  because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, ¹³  he speaks according to his own nature, ¹⁴  because he is a liar and the father of lies. ¹⁵ 

John 8:1

8:1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ¹⁶ 

John 3:10

3:10 Jesus answered, ¹⁷  “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things? ¹⁸ 

[3:7]  ¹ 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]  ² 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.

[23:33]  ³ tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”

[3:7]  ⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:7]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “snakes.”

[3:7]  ⁷ 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.

[8:44]  ⁸ tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify that the Greek pronoun and verb are plural.

[8:44]  ⁹ tn Many translations read “You are of your father the devil” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB) or “You belong to your father, the devil” (NIV), but the Greek preposition ἐκ (ek) emphasizes the idea of source or origin. Jesus said his opponents were the devil’s very offspring (a statement which would certainly infuriate them).

[8:44]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the desires of your father you want to do.”

[8:44]  ¹¹ tn Grk “That one” (referring to the devil).

[8:44]  ¹² tn Grk “he does not stand in the truth” (in the sense of maintaining, upholding, or accepting the validity of it).

[8:44]  ¹³ tn Grk “Whenever he speaks the lie.”

[8:44]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he speaks from his own.”

[8:44]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “because he is a liar and the father of it.”

[8:1]  ¹⁶ sn The Mount of Olives is a hill running north to south about 1.8 mi (3 km) long, lying east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. It was named for the large number of olive trees that grew on it.

[3:10]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “Jesus answered and said to him.”

[3:10]  ¹⁸ sn Jesus’ question “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things?” implies that Nicodemus had enough information at his disposal from the OT scriptures to have understood Jesus’ statements about the necessity of being born from above by the regenerating work of the Spirit. Isa 44:3-5 and Ezek 37:9-10 are passages Nicodemus might have known which would have given him insight into Jesus’ words. Another significant passage which contains many of these concepts is Prov 30:4-5.