Bible Strands
Matthew 11:22
But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses the unrepentant Galilean towns of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum during His public ministry. He delivers this declaration immediately after contrasting their rejection of His miracles with the hypothetical repentance of the pagan cities of Tyre and Sidon.
The words — ἀνεκτότερον (anektoteron) translates literally to "more tolerable" and establishes the comparative scale of judgment. ἔσται (estai) is the future indicative of "to be," anchoring the statement to a definite future day of reckoning.
The thread — This structural comparison reappears in Matthew 11:24 regarding Capernaum and Sodom, and echoes the warning in Matthew 10:15 about Sodom and Gomorrah. Hebrews 10:26 addresses a different covenantal context but shares the principle that direct knowledge intensifies accountability.
Why it lands — The text states that greater exposure to divine works increases the severity of future judgment for those who refuse to repent. A reader must accept that religious proximity or witnessed miracles do not secure mercy but instead demand corresponding obedience.
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
But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.
Cross-references
- Matthew 11:24 But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
- Matthew 10:15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
- Hebrews 10:26 If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,
- Matthew 12:36 But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
- Luke 12:47 That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows.
- 1 John 4:17 In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him.
- Isaiah 23:1 This is the burden against Tyre: Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor. Word has reached them from the land of Cyprus.
- Jeremiah 25:22 all the kings of Tyre and Sidon; the kings of the coastlands across the sea;
- Jeremiah 27:3 Send word to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through the envoys who have come to Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
- Ezekiel 26:1 In the eleventh month of the twelfth year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,