Bible Strands
Matthew 23:33
You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to the Pharisees and religious leaders in Jerusalem during his final week of public teaching. He delivers this rebuke immediately after charging them with completing the sins of their ancestors.
The words — The Greek terms ὄφεις (opheis) and γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν (gennēmata echidnōn) literally mean "serpents" and "offspring of vipers." The verb φύγητε (phugēte) paired with κρίσεως (kriseōs) denotes escaping from a judicial sentence.
The thread — Jesus uses this same animal metaphor in Matthew 3:7 when warning John’s baptismal crowds and in Matthew 12:34 to explain the source of corrupt speech. The imagery links their current rejection of him to the historical pattern of persecuting the messengers he will send.
Why it lands — The text presents a direct challenge to assess whether one’s actions align with the lineage they claim. It demands a concrete decision about which authority and which future judgment will ultimately determine one’s fate.
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
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Cross-references
- Matthew 3:7 But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
- Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
- Matthew 5:22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be subject to the fire of hell.
- Luke 3:7 Then John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
- Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
- Psalms 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; the liars go astray from birth.
- Matthew 21:34 When the harvest time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit.
- John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.
- Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
- Isaiah 57:3 “But come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!