Bible Strands
Matthew 12:30
He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses the Pharisees who have just attributed his exorcisms to Beelzebul, immediately after the strong-man illustration (v.29) and before the warning on the unforgivable sin (v.31).
The words — The present participle ὢν (ōn, "being") paired with ἐστιν (estin, "is") renders the alignment a continuous state, not a single act of decision.
The thread — Luke 11:23 preserves the identical saying; Mark 9:40 ("whoever is not against us is for us") reflects a different context and should not be read as a contradiction. Joshua 24:15 frames the same binary in the language of covenant choice.
Why it lands — The verse removes the option of neutrality: a reader must determine on which side of the divide they stand, and the text treats that determination as already made.
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
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
Cross-references
- Mark 9:40 For whoever is not against us is for us.
- Luke 11:23 He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
- Joshua 24:15 But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”
- Luke 9:50 “Do not stop him,” Jesus replied, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”
- 1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.
- Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
- 2 Corinthians 6:15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
- Revelation 3:15 I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other!
- Joshua 5:13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in His hand. Joshua approached Him and asked, “Are You for us or for our enemies?”
- 1 Chronicles 12:17 And David went out to meet them, saying, “If you have come to me in peace to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my enemies when my hands are free of violence, may the God of our fathers see it and judge you.”