Bible Strands
Matthew 23:31
So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus addresses the scribes and Pharisees during His final Jerusalem teaching, immediately following their claim that they would not have joined their ancestors in killing the prophets.
The words — The Greek verb μαρτυρεῖτε (martureite) means "you bear witness," paired with ἑαυτοῖς (he'autois) "to yourselves," forming the phrase "you testify against yourselves."
The thread — The pattern of ancestral violence and self-incrimination runs through Acts 7:51, where Stephen charges his listeners with resisting the Holy Spirit like their fathers, and Joshua 24:22, where the people acknowledge they are witnesses against themselves for choosing to serve the Lord.
Why it lands — The text states that their verbal disavowal of past prophetic murders actually confirms their identification with those murderers. This requires readers to recognize that continuing the same rejection of God's messengers validates their claimed lineage rather than distancing them from it.
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
Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Cross-references
- Acts 7:51 You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,
- Joshua 24:22 Then Joshua told them, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD.” “We are witnesses!” they said.
- Job 15:5 For your iniquity instructs your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.
- Luke 19:22 His master replied, ‘You wicked servant, I will judge you by your own words. So you knew that I am a harsh man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?
- Psalms 64:8 They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.