Matthew 12 34

Matthew 12:34 kjv

O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

Matthew 12:34 nkjv

Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Matthew 12:34 niv

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Matthew 12:34 esv

You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Matthew 12:34 nlt

You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.

Matthew 12 verses

Matthew 12 34 Meaning

Matthew 12:34 reveals a foundational spiritual truth: one's words are a direct and undeniable outflow of the true condition and content of their heart. It asserts the impossibility of wicked hearts producing genuinely good speech and exposes the hypocrisy of those who outwardly claim righteousness while harboring evil within. Jesus here directly challenges His opponents, indicating that their accusations against Him were born of a malevolent inner state rather than truth.

Matthew 12 34 Context

Matthew 12:34 is spoken by Jesus to the Pharisees immediately after they blasphemously accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of devils (Matt 12:24). This accusation followed Jesus healing a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, leading the crowds to marvel if Jesus was the Son of David. Jesus had just pronounced the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit (Matt 12:31-32) and laid down the principle that "the tree is known by its fruit" (Matt 12:33), setting the stage for this direct address. The verse serves as a stinging rebuke to their hypocrisy, contrasting their outwardly religious appearance with the inner evil that produced their venomous accusations. Historically, the Pharisees were a prominent Jewish religious sect known for their strict adherence to the Mosaic Law and their own oral traditions, often leading to a focus on external conformity while neglecting inward piety. Jesus consistently challenged this legalism, often engaging in direct polemics against their self-righteousness and spiritual blindness.

Matthew 12 34 Word analysis

• O: A particle of address, indicating a strong, often lamenting or condemnatory, interjection. It signifies the severity and directness of Jesus' rebuke.
• generation: Greek gennema (γέννημα), meaning offspring, brood, or progeny. It emphasizes their descent and characteristic nature, linking them to a particular kind or family.
• of vipers: Greek echidnon (ἐχιδνῶν), meaning venomous snakes, particularly an adder or viper. This imagery is highly derogatory, portraying them as deceptive, dangerous, and possessing a destructive nature, much like the venom of a serpent. It is a grave insult, directly implying their malevolent and spiritually deadly character.
• how: A rhetorical question implying impossibility or extreme impropriety. It suggests that their actions are illogical given their character.
• can: Indicates capability or possibility. Jesus challenges their ability to do what they claim or present.
• ye: Refers specifically to the Pharisees and scribes who were accusing Jesus. This direct address personalizes the rebuke.
• being: Greek ontes (ὄντες), participle of "to be." It emphasizes their present and inherent state or condition. It’s not just what they do, but what they fundamentally are.
• evil: Greek poneroi (πονηροὶ), meaning inherently bad, morally corrupt, malicious, wicked, destructive. It describes their intrinsic moral character, the very core of their being. This is a severe indictment of their spiritual state.
• speak: To utter words. This focuses on their verbal expressions as the primary manifestation of their inner state.
• good: Greek agatha (ἀγαθά), meaning morally good, excellent, beneficial, upright. It refers to speech that is wholesome, truthful, and spiritually pure.
• things: A general term indicating the content or substance of their speech.
• for: A conjunction introducing the explanation or reason for the preceding statement. It introduces the foundational principle Jesus is laying out.
• out of: Indicating origin or source. It emphasizes that speech proceeds directly from the inner being.
• the abundance: Greek perisseuma (περίσσευμα), meaning surplus, overflow, what is left over, an excess. This signifies that it's not merely a part of the heart, but the dominant or overflowing contents of the heart that spill out. It implies that their speech reflects what truly fills their inner being.
• of the heart: Greek tēs kardias (τῆς καρδίας). In biblical context, the heart is not merely the emotional center, but the totality of one's inner being—the mind, will, intellect, desires, moral center, and true personality. It is the core identity of a person.
• the mouth: The physical organ of speech.
• speaketh: Utters words. Reinforces the direct connection between the inner self (heart) and outer expression (mouth).

• "O generation of vipers": A deeply condemning phrase used to address individuals whose actions demonstrate inherent malice, deceptiveness, and spiritual poison. It highlights their spiritual lineage, connecting them to the very evil they represent, aligning them with the serpent of Genesis (Satan).
• "how can ye, being evil, speak good things?": A powerful rhetorical question asserting a spiritual impossibility. It implies a direct contradiction between their internal spiritual corruption (poneroi) and any attempt at producing truly righteous or beneficial words. It exposes their hypocrisy: external religiosity cannot mask internal wickedness, and true good speech cannot emanate from a depraved heart.
• "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh": This is the universal principle underlying Jesus' accusation. It articulates the direct causal link between a person's innermost being (the perisseuma, or overflow, of the kardia) and their verbal expressions. Words are not arbitrary; they are the involuntary leakage of one's dominant thoughts, attitudes, desires, and spiritual condition. This truth explains why their accusations against Him, despite being framed in religious language, revealed their underlying wickedness.

Matthew 12 34 Bonus section

This verse carries a powerful implications for discernment: judging character by words is biblically sound because words reveal the heart. It also calls for introspection: our speech patterns, idle words, and regular expressions are precise indicators of our own spiritual temperature and inner preoccupations. Transformation, therefore, must begin with the heart. A change in speech flows from a heart transformed by grace, aligning with the prophetic promises of a "new heart" (Ezek 36:26) where Christ dwells. It also serves as a strong warning against hypocrisy; merely mouthing religious phrases or condemning others will not hide the true nature of one's spirit from God, who judges the heart. The sharpness of Jesus' rebuke also demonstrates His righteous anger against profound spiritual blindness and hardened unbelief, emphasizing the gravity of opposing divine truth.

Matthew 12 34 Commentary

Matthew 12:34 is a pivotal statement by Jesus, not just a casual insult, but a profound theological principle articulated amidst a fierce confrontation with the Pharisees. Jesus' "O generation of vipers" is an unvarnished condemnation of their true spiritual nature. It highlights that their hostile accusations, culminating in the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, were not honest misjudgments but venomous utterances flowing from hearts consumed by spiritual malevolence and deep-seated opposition to God's work. The rhetorical question "how can ye, being evil, speak good things?" underscores the essential incompatibility between an evil internal state and truly good external expression. Jesus reveals that genuineness in speech is contingent upon the sincerity of the heart. The culminating axiom, "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," is a timeless truth that bypasses all pretense. It declares that words are a natural overflow, a manifestation of the perisseuma—the dominant, overflowing content of one's inner self (the seat of thought, emotion, and will). What a person genuinely is inside inevitably comes out in their words, serving as an unfiltered spiritual indicator. This means that outward religious performance or even careful word choices cannot long hide the true spiritual condition. Ultimately, it emphasizes a divine reckoning where actions (and especially words, as seen in Matt 12:36-37) are direct evidence of the heart's true state, a state for which everyone will give account.

Example: A person who constantly complains and criticizes despite claiming to be joyful in the Lord may reveal that their heart is actually filled with discontent. Conversely, someone who consistently speaks words of encouragement and truth likely has a heart abundant with hope and love.