Bible Strands
Matthew 10:36
A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker is the one who says “Me” in Matthew 10:37, addressing those who must choose between family and him. This comes in the warning that household ties will be divided.
The words — echthroi carries the verse as “enemies,” not merely rivals. oikiakoi identifies the household members as the man’s own people.
The thread — This same household conflict appears in Micah 7:6, where a son, daughter, and daughter-in-law rise against parents. Jeremiah 12:6 and Psalms 41:9 add betrayal by close kin and a trusted friend.
Why it lands — It asks the reader to expect that allegiance to the speaker can turn household members into enemies. It plainly demands that father, mother, son, or daughter not be loved more than him, per Matthew 10:37.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Cross-references
- Micah 7:6 For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household.
- Jeremiah 12:6 Even your brothers—your own father’s household—even they have betrayed you; even they have cried aloud against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you.
- Psalms 41:9 Even my close friend whom I trusted, the one who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
- Genesis 4:8 Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
- Job 19:13 He has removed my brothers from me; my acquaintances have abandoned me.
- Psalms 55:13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion and close friend.
- Genesis 37:17 “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.
- Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
- 1 Samuel 17:28 Now when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and wickedness of heart—you have come down to see the battle!”
- 2 Samuel 16:11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, my own son, my own flesh and blood, seeks my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone and let him curse me, for the LORD has told him so.