Bible Strands
Matthew 15:13
But Jesus replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by its roots.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus replies to the Pharisees' offense over His teaching on external purity, as the disciples report it to Him (Matthew 15:12).
The words — φυτεία (phuteia) is the noun at the center of the verse: not a wild growth but a deliberate planting, something set in the ground by a planter.
The thread — The same logic of divine planting and removal runs through John 15:2, 6 (branches cut off or pruned) and Isaiah 60:21 ("the branch of My planting").
Why it lands — It forces a question of origin: not whether you look righteous, but who put you in the ground.
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 he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.
Cross-references
- John 15:2 He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.
- Isaiah 60:21 Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.
- John 15:6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.
- Isaiah 61:3 to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
- Psalms 92:13 Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.
- Matthew 13:40 As the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age.
- 1 Corinthians 3:12 If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,
- 1 Corinthians 3:9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.