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 12:34

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.

Matthew 13:38

13:38 The field is the world and the good seed are the people ³  of the kingdom. The weeds are the people ⁴  of the evil one,

Matthew 23:33

23:33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ⁵ 

John 8:44

8:44 You people ⁶  are from ⁷  your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. ⁸  He ⁹  was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth, ¹⁰  because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, ¹¹  he speaks according to his own nature, ¹²  because he is a liar and the father of lies. ¹³ 

Acts 13:10

13:10 and said, “You who are full of all deceit and all wrongdoing, ¹⁴  you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness – will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? ¹⁵ 

Acts 13:1

The Church at Antioch Commissions Barnabas and Saul

13:1 Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: ¹⁶  Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, ¹⁷  Lucius the Cyrenian, ¹⁸  Manaen (a close friend of Herod ¹⁹  the tetrarch ²⁰  from childhood ²¹ ) and Saul.

Acts 3:8

3:8 He ²²  jumped up, ²³  stood and began walking around, and he entered the temple courts ²⁴  with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

Acts 3:10

3:10 and they recognized him as the man who used to sit and ask for donations ²⁵  at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with astonishment and amazement ²⁶  at what had happened to him.

[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.

[13:38]  ³ tn Grk “the sons of the kingdom.” This idiom refers to people who should properly be, or were traditionally regarded as, a part of God’s kingdom. L&N 11.13 translates the phrase: “people of God’s kingdom, God’s people.”

[13:38]  ⁴ tn Grk “the sons of the evil one.” See the preceding note on the phrase “people of the kingdom” earlier in this verse, which is the opposite of this phrase. See also L&N 9.4; 11.13; 11.14.

[23:33]  ⁵ tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna.”

[8:44]  ⁶ tn The word “people” is supplied in the translation to clarify that the Greek pronoun and verb are plural.

[8:44]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Grk “the desires of your father you want to do.”

[8:44]  ⁹ tn Grk “That one” (referring to the devil).

[8:44]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he does not stand in the truth” (in the sense of maintaining, upholding, or accepting the validity of it).

[8:44]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Whenever he speaks the lie.”

[8:44]  ¹² tn Grk “he speaks from his own.”

[8:44]  ¹³ tn Grk “because he is a liar and the father of it.”

[13:10]  ¹⁴ tn Or “unscrupulousness.”

[13:10]  ¹⁵ sn “You who…paths of the Lord?” This rebuke is like ones from the OT prophets: Jer 5:27; Gen 32:11; Prov 10:7; Hos 14:9. Five separate remarks indicate the magician’s failings. The closing rhetorical question of v. 10 (“will you not stop…?”) shows how opposed he is to the way of God.

[13:1]  ¹⁶ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[13:1]  ¹⁷ sn Simeon may well have been from North Africa, since the Latin loanword Niger refers to someone as “dark-complexioned.”

[13:1]  ¹⁸ sn The Cyrenian refers to a native of the city of Cyrene, on the coast of northern Africa west of Egypt.

[13:1]  ¹⁹ sn Herod is generally taken as a reference to Herod Antipas, who governed Galilee from 4 b.c. to a.d. 39, who had John the Baptist beheaded, and who is mentioned a number of times in the gospels.

[13:1]  ²⁰ tn Or “the governor.”

[13:1]  ²¹ tn Or “(a foster brother of Herod the tetrarch).” The meaning “close friend from childhood” is given by L&N 34.15, but the word can also mean “foster brother” (L&N 10.51). BDAG 976 s.v. σύντροφας states, “pert. to being brought up with someone, either as a foster-brother or as a companion/friend,” which covers both alternatives. Context does not given enough information to be certain which is the case here, although many modern translations prefer the meaning “close friend from childhood.”

[3:8]  ²² tn Grk “And he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[3:8]  ²³ tn Grk “Jumping up, he stood.” The participle ἐξαλλόμενος (exallomeno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. It is possible that the paralyzed man actually jumped off the ground, but more probably this term simply refers to the speed with which he stood up. See L&N 15.240.

[3:8]  ²⁴ tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

[3:10]  ²⁵ tn Grk “alms,” but this term is not in common use today, so the closest modern equivalent, “donations,” is used instead. The idea is that of a donation to charity.

[3:10]  ²⁶ sn Amazement is a frequent response to miracles of Jesus or the apostles. These took the ancients by as much surprise as they would people today. But in terms of response to what God is doing, amazement does not equal faith (Luke 4:36; 5:9, 26; 7:16).