MAT 3:7 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) [ref]But when Yohan saw many from the party of the Pharisees and from the Sadducee sect coming for immersion, he told them, “You brood of snakes, who warned you to flee from God’s severe anger that’s coming?

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object, magenta:vocative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Now, having seen many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

UST In fact, many men from the Pharisee sect and from the Sadducee sect went to John so that he would baptize them. When he saw them, he declared to them, “You people are sneaky and dangerous like poisonous snakes! You think that if I baptize you, God will spare you when he punishes sinners. But I did not say that!

BLB But having seen many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

AICNT But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to {his}[fn] baptism, he said to them, “Brood[fn] of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

3:7, his: Some manuscripts read “the.” ℵ(01) B(03)

3:7, Brood: Or offspring

OEB But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to receive his baptism, he said to them, ‘You children of snakes! Who has prompted you to seek refuge from the coming judgment?

WEBBE But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

WMBB But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his immersion, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

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

LSV And having seen many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming about his immersion, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who showed you to flee from the coming wrath?

FBV But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized, he said to them, “You vipers' brood! Who warned you to run away from the coming judgment?[fn]

3:7 Literally, “wrath.”

TCNT But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

T4T After John noted that many men of the Pharisee religious group and of the Sadducee religious group were coming to him to be baptized {in order that he would baptize them}, he said to them, “You people are evil like poisonous snakes [MET]! I warn you that God will some day punish [MTY] everyone who sins. ◄And do not think that you can escape from his punishing you [MTY] if you do not turn from your sinful behavior!/Did someone tell you that you can escape from his punishing you [MTY] if you do not turn from your sinful behavior?► [RHQ]

LEB But when he[fn] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

3:7 *Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal

BBE But when he saw a number of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of snakes, at whose word are you going in flight from the wrath to come?

Moff But when he noticed a number of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers, who told you to flee from the coming Wrath?

Wymth But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he exclaimed, "O vipers' brood, who has warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

ASV But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

DRA And seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them: Ye brood of vipers, who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come?

YLT And having seen many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming about his baptism, he said to them, 'Brood of vipers! who did shew you to flee from the coming wrath?

Drby But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, Offspring of vipers, who has forewarned you to flee from the coming wrath?

RV But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
(But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said unto them, Ye/You_all offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? )

SLT And seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his immersion, he said to them, O generation of vipers, who has indicated to you to flee from the wrath about to come?

Wbstr But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said to them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

KJB-1769 ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
(¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, Oh generation of vipers, who hath/has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? )

KJB-1611 ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his Baptisme, he said vnto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
(¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his Baptisme, he said unto them, Oh generation of vipers, who hath/has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?)

Bshps But when he sawe many of the Pharisees, and Saducees come to his baptisme, he sayde vnto them. O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the anger to come?
(But when he saw many of the Pharisees, and Saducees come to his baptism, he said unto them. Oh generation of vipers, who hath/has warned you to flee from the anger to come?)

Gnva Now when he sawe many of the Pharises, and of the Sadduces come to his baptisme, he said vnto them, O generations of vipers, who hath forewarned you to flee from the anger to come?
(Now when he saw many of the Pharisees, and of the Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, Oh generations of vipers, who hath/has forewarned you to flee from the anger to come? )

Cvdl Now when he sawe many of the Pharises and of ye Saduces come to hys baptim, he sayde vnto them: ye generacio of vipers, who hath certified you, that ye shal escape ye vengeaunce to come?
(Now when he saw many of the Pharisees and of ye/you_all Sadducees come to his baptim, he said unto them: ye/you_all generation of vipers, who hath/has certified you, that ye/you_all shall escape ye/you_all vengeance to come?)

TNT When he sawe many of the Pharises and of the Saduces come to hys baptism he sayde vnto the: O generacion of vipers who hath taught you to fle from the vengeauce to come?
(When he saw many of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees come to his baptism he said unto them: Oh generation of vipers who hath/has taught you to flee from the vengeauce to come? )

Wycl But he siy manye of the Farysees and of Saduceis comynge to his baptym, and seide to hem, Generaciouns of eddris, who shewide to you to fle fro the wraththe that is to come?
(But he saw many of the Farysees and of Sadducees coming to his baptism, and said to hem, Generations of eddris, who shewide to you to flee from the wrath that is to come?)

Luth Da er nun viel Pharisäer und Sadduzäer sah zu seiner Taufe kommen, sprach er zu ihnen: Ihr Otterngezüchte, wer hat denn euch geweiset, daß ihr dem künftigen Zorn entrinnen werdet?
(So he now many Pharisees and Sadduzäer saw to/for his Taufe coming, spoke he to/for to_them: You(pl) otterngezüchte, who has because/than you geweiset, that you(pl)/their/her to_him future anger escape(v) become?)

ClVg Videns autem multos pharisæorum, et sadducæorum, venientes ad baptismum suum, dixit eis: Progenies viperarum, quis demonstravit vobis fugere a ventura ira?[fn]
(Seeing however many pharisæorum, and sadducæorum, coming to baptism his_own, he/she_said to_them: Progenies viperarum, who/any demonstravit to_you(pl) to_flee from to_come anger/rage? )

3.7 Multos Pharisæorum, etc. Hi sunt ex hæreticis Judæorum, et Pharisæi observationum et traditionum præferunt justitiam. Unde et Pharisæi, id est, divisi a populo per privatam justitiam dicuntur. Sadducæi, id est justi: vindicant enim sibi quod non sunt: hi negant resurrectionem, dicentes animam interire cum corpore: quinque libros Moysi recipiunt, prophetas respuunt. Hos venientes ad baptismum Joannes increpat: quia maxime indigebant correctione et pœnitentia. Progenies viperarum, etc., id est, venenati venenatorum filii: quia bonis invident eosque persequuntur, proximos lædunt ut patres eorum. Vipera patrem suum occidit, sic Judæi prophetas qui erant patres eorum.

3.7 Muchs of_the_Pharisees, etc. They are from heretics Yudahorum, and Pharisees observationum and traditionum beforeferunt justice. From_where/who and Pharisees, that it_is, divided from to_the_people through privatam justice are_said. Sadducæi, that it_is just: vindicant because to_himself that not/no are: these they_deny resurrection, saying the_soul to_perish when/with body: five books of_Moses they_receive, a_prophets respuunt. Hos coming to baptism Yoannes increpat: because especially/most indigebant correctione and repentance. Progenies viperarum, etc., that it_is, poisonsti poisonstorum children: because good invident themque pursue, neighbours lædunt as fathers their. Vipera father his_own killed, so Jews a_prophets who/which they_were fathers their.

UGNT ἰδὼν δὲ πολλοὺς τῶν Φαρισαίων καὶ Σαδδουκαίων ἐρχομένους ἐπὶ τὸ βάπτισμα αὐτοῦ, εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, τίς ὑπέδειξεν ὑμῖν φυγεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς?
(idōn de pollous tōn Farisaiōn kai Saddoukaiōn erⱪomenous epi to baptisma autou, eipen autois, gennaʸmata eⱪidnōn, tis hupedeixen humin fugein apo taʸs mellousaʸs orgaʸs?)

SBL-GNT Ἰδὼν δὲ πολλοὺς τῶν Φαρισαίων καὶ Σαδδουκαίων ἐρχομένους ἐπὶ τὸ βάπτισμα ⸀αὐτοῦ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, τίς ὑπέδειξεν ὑμῖν φυγεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς;
(Idōn de pollous tōn Farisaiōn kai Saddoukaiōn erⱪomenous epi to baptisma ⸀autou eipen autois; Gennaʸmata eⱪidnōn, tis hupedeixen humin fugein apo taʸs mellousaʸs orgaʸs;)

RP-GNT Ἰδὼν δὲ πολλοὺς τῶν Φαρισαίων καὶ Σαδδουκαίων ἐρχομένους ἐπὶ τὸ βάπτισμα αὐτοῦ, εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, τίς ὑπέδειξεν ὑμῖν φυγεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς;
(Idōn de pollous tōn Farisaiōn kai Saddoukaiōn erⱪomenous epi to baptisma autou, eipen autois, Gennaʸmata eⱪidnōn, tis hupedeixen humin fugein apo taʸs mellousaʸs orgaʸs;)

TC-GNT Ἰδὼν δὲ πολλοὺς τῶν Φαρισαίων καὶ Σαδδουκαίων ἐρχομένους ἐπὶ τὸ βάπτισμα [fn]αὐτοῦ, εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, τίς ὑπέδειξεν ὑμῖν φυγεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς;
(Idōn de pollous tōn Farisaiōn kai Saddoukaiōn erⱪomenous epi to baptisma autou, eipen autois, Gennaʸmata eⱪidnōn, tis hupedeixen humin fugein apo taʸs mellousaʸs orgaʸs; )

3:7 αυτου ¦ — WH

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:1–12: John the Baptist taught people to repent and obey God

The story starting at 3:1 occurred about twenty-eight years after 2:23. Matthew did not tell what happened during those twenty-eight years. But he restarted the story at this time in Jesus’ life because Jesus was ready to begin the work that God gave him to do. He began at the time God chose for him.

John the Baptist was the last prophet before Jesus. The story of how John was born is in Luke chapter 1. He was the prophet whom God said would come (3:3). John wore the kind of clothes prophets often wore (3:4). He baptized people who repented. John preached that Jesus would be greater than he was (3:11).

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The work of John the Baptist/Baptizer

The work of John who baptized people

John the Baptizer preached repentance and submission to God’s rule

John the Baptizer prepared people to receive the Lord

There are parallel passages for this section in Mark 1:1, Luke 3:1–18 and John 1:19–28.

Paragraph 3:7–10

In this paragraph, John the Baptist spoke to the Pharisees and Sadducees.

3:7a

But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism,

¶ But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be baptized,
¶ When John saw many men from the Jewish religious groups called the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to receive baptism,

But when John saw: Verse 3:7 introduces John’s reaction to the Pharisees and Sadducees. His reaction to them contrasts with his reaction to other people who came to be baptized. Some versions indicate this contrast with the word But. Other versions have no conjunction here. For example:

When John saw (GNT)

the Pharisees: The word Pharisees refers to men who were members of a particular Jewish religious group. The Pharisees believed that it was necessary to strictly obey all the laws of the Old Testament. It was also very important to them to carefully obey many other religious laws that they added. They also said that other people must obey these laws.

The Pharisees along with the Sadducees were the two most influential religious groups of the time. There were many more Pharisees than Sadducees.

Some ways to translate Pharisees are:

Transliterate the word Pharisees according to the sounds of your language and indicate that it refers to a group of people. For example:
Farisi members
Parise adherents
Transliterate the word Pharisees and indicate that it refers to a group of people with certain beliefs. For example:
people belonging to the Farise religious sect/group
members of the Jewish group called the Farasi

You may also want to explain the word Pharisees in a footnote or glossary. A sample footnote is:

The Pharisees were a conservative Jewish religious group. They carefully followed the Old Testament laws and added other rules as well. They were the dominant religious group among the Jews and were highly respected by other Jews.

Sadducees: The word Sadducees refers to men who were members of another Jewish religious group. They believed that people must follow the laws in the Old Testament and not add other rules. They did not believe that God would bring people back to life again after they died (Matthew 22:23). They also did not believe that angels or spirits existed (Acts 23:8). They also accepted some ideas held by the Greeks. Many Sadducees were priests.

The Sadducees along with the Pharisees were the two most influential religious groups of the time. Even though they were a much smaller group than the Pharisees, the Sadducees were wealthy and more politically important.

Here are some ways to translate Sadducees:

Transliterate the word Sadducees according to the sounds of your language and indicate that it refers to a group of people. For example:
Sadusi members
Saduce adherents
Transliterate the word Sadducees and indicate that it refers to a group of people with certain beliefs. For example:
people belonging to the Sadusi religious group
members of the Jewish group called the Saduce

You may also want to explain the word Sadducees in a footnote or glossary. Here is a sample footnote:

The Sadducees were another Jewish religious group. They claimed to follow only the laws in the Old Testament because they added no other rules. But they did not believe in angels or spirits or in the resurrection from the dead. They also accepted some Greek ideas. They were a small group but had much political power. They usually were wealthy.

coming to his place of baptism: There are two ways to interpret the Greek clause that the BSB literally translates as coming to his place of baptism:

They were coming for John to baptize them. For example:
coming to him to be baptized (GNT) (GNT, RSV, NJB, NASB, NLT96, REB, GW, CEV, JBP)
They were coming to where John was baptizing, but they were not necessarily coming so that they themselves could be baptized. For example:
coming to watch him baptize (NLT) (BSB, NIV, NCV, NET, ESV, KJV, NLT)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) as do the majority of the English versions. The parallel passage in Luke 3:7 also supports this interpretation.

See also baptize, Meaning 1, in the Glossary for information on the word baptism.

3:7b

he said to them, “You brood of vipers,

he said to them, “You^(plur) children/family of poisonous snakes!
he criticized them by saying, “You^(plur) are as evil/dangerous as poisonous snakes!

You brood of vipers: The word vipers refers to poisonous snakes. Another name for this type of snakes is “adders.” The phrase brood of vipers means “children/offspring of poisonous snakes.”

This phrase is a metaphor. In this metaphor, John compared the Pharisees and Sadducees to a brood of vipers. John used this metaphor to criticize the Pharisees and Sadducees.

The way that these men and snakes are similar is that both are evil and dangerous.

Here are some other ways to translate this metaphor:

Use a simile. In some languages, it may be necessary to make the point of comparison clear. For example:
You^(plur) are as evil/dangerous as a group of vipers!
Translate the metaphor but leave the word brood untranslated. John was not saying that the people were young or childlike. So some English translations do not explicitly translate the word brood. For example:
You snakes (GNT)
Translate the meaning without a simile or metaphor. For example:
You^(plur) dangerous hypocrites!
You^(plur) wicked people!
Use a simile and explain the meaning. For example:
You evil people! You are like poisonous snakes.

If calling someone a poisonous snake is not an insult in your culture, you may also need to add a word to “John said to them.” For example:

John insulted/criticized them by saying

3:7c

who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Who has warned you to run away from God’s coming judgment/punishment?
God is angry at you and will punish you. Apparently someone warned you to try to escape! Ha!

who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?: This is a rhetorical question. John asked this question to rebuke the Pharisees and Sadducees. He implied that the only reason that they wanted to be baptized was so that God would not punish them in the future. John also implied that they did not really intend to repent of their sins.

Here are some other ways to translate this rebuke:

As a rhetorical question. For example:
Who warned you to run away from God’s coming punishment? (NCV)
Why are you here? Do you think that you can flee from the coming judgment?
As a statement. For example:
Ah ha! So someone has told you to try to escape God’s wrath!

Translate this rebuke in a way that is natural in your language.

flee: The word flee means “run away from something” or “try to avoid/escape something.” For example:

run from (CEV)

run away from (NCV)

escape (GNT)

try to avoid

the coming wrath: The word wrath means “anger” or “the punishment that comes as a consequence of someone’s anger.” In this context, the phrase the coming wrath refers to the fact that God will judge and punish people because of their rebellious attitudes and their sins.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

the coming judgment (CEV)

God’s coming punishment (NCV)

In some languages, it may be necessary to translate this phrase as a clause. It may also be necessary to change the order of the words in 3:7c. For example:

God is angry at you and will punish you. Who warned you to flee from that?

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-newevent

δὲ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἰδών Δέ πολλούς τῶν Φαρισαίων καί Σαδδουκαίων ἐρχομένους ἐπί τό βάπτισμα αὐτοῦ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν τίς ὑπέδειξεν ὑμῖν φυγεῖν ἀπό τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς)

Here, the word Now introduces the next major event in the story. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces the next event, or you could leave Now untranslated. Alternate translation: [Then,]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἐπὶ τὸ βάπτισμα αὐτοῦ

Here, the phrase for his baptism could indicate that the Pharisees and Sadducees are coming: (1) so that they can receive John’s baptism. Alternate translation: [to receive his baptism] (2) to the place where John is baptizing. Alternate translation: [to where he was baptizing] or [to the place of his baptism]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns

ἐπὶ τὸ βάπτισμα αὐτοῦ

If your language does not use an abstract noun for the idea of baptism, you could express the same idea in another way. Alternate translation: [to be baptized by him]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν

The expression Offspring of is an idiom that means a person shares the qualities of something. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [You are like vipers] or [You have the qualities of vipers]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν

Here John speaks of the Pharisees and Sadducees as if they were like vipers (see the previous note for the meaning of the phrase Offspring of). He means that they are evil and hurt other people. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a simile form or state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [You are like poisonous creatures] or [You evil people]

Note 6 topic: translate-unknown

ἐχιδνῶν

˱of˲_vipers

If your readers would not recognize the name vipers, which refers to dangerous poisonous snakes, you could state something more general. Alternate translation: [of poisonous snakes] or [of poisonous animals]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / rquestion

τίς ὑπέδειξεν ὑμῖν φυγεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς?

who warned ˱to˲_you_all ˓to˒_flee (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἰδών Δέ πολλούς τῶν Φαρισαίων καί Σαδδουκαίων ἐρχομένους ἐπί τό βάπτισμα αὐτοῦ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν τίς ὑπέδειξεν ὑμῖν φυγεῖν ἀπό τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς)

John is using the question form to rebuke the Pharisees and Sadducees for coming to be baptized by him when they really do not believe that they need to flee from the coming wrath. In other words, they want to be baptized, but they do not think that they need to repent of anything. If you would not use the question form for this purpose in your language, you could translate this as a statement or an exclamation. Alternate translation: [I realize that you do not really think that you need to flee from the coming wrath!] or [You do not actually believe that you must flee from the coming wrath.]

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / personification

τῆς μελλούσης ὀργῆς

the coming wrath

Here, the word wrath refers to how God will punish people who do not believe and who disobey him. The word coming means that the wrath will happen soon. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make this idea more explicit. Alternate translation: [the future punishment] or [the punishment that God will soon inflict]

Parallel MAT 3:7

Section 3:1–12: John the Baptist taught people to repent and obey God

Paragraph 3:7–10

3:7a

3:7b

3:7c