Matthew 22:7

The king was enraged, and he sent his troops to destroy those murderers and burn their city.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The king acts within the parable's narrative, responding to the murder of his servants by the invited guests. He deploys military force against the perpetrators and their city as the story's judicial climax.

The words — The text emphasizes ὠργίσθη (ōrgisthē), translated literally as "was enraged," to mark the king's shift from patience to judgment. This verb directly precedes and motivates the dispatch of troops to destroy the murderers and burn their city.

The thread — The execution of judicial retribution against those who kill messengers aligns with the sovereign punishment in Luke 19:27 and the warning that judgment begins with God's family in 1 Peter 4:17. The supplied Joel 2:25 reference addresses agricultural restoration for years lost to locusts, not the rejection of prophets.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that persistent violence against God's envoys triggers decisive historical judgment. It requires the reader to weigh the consequences of rejecting divine authority before the invitation is extended to new guests.

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 when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Cross-references

Luke 19:27 And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for me to rule over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me.’”
1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?
Joel 2:25 I will repay you for the years eaten by locusts—the swarming locust, the young locust, the destroying locust, and the devouring locust—My great army that I sent against you.
Luke 21:24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Deuteronomy 28:49 The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,
Isaiah 13:2 Raise a banner on a barren hilltop; call aloud to them. Wave your hand, that they may enter the gates of the nobles.
Jeremiah 51:20 “You are My war club, My weapon for battle. With you I shatter nations; with you I bring kingdoms to ruin.
Daniel 9:26 Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.
Joel 2:11 The LORD raises His voice in the presence of His army. Indeed, His camp is very large, for mighty are those who obey His command. For the Day of the LORD is great and very dreadful. Who can endure it?
Joel 3:2 I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning My people, My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations as they divided up My land.