Matthew 12:36

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34 ^aBrood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? ^bFor out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

35 A good man out of the good treasure¹ of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.

36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.

37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

The Scribes and Pharisees Ask for a Sign

38 ^aThen some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”

39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and ^aadulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Commentaries:

Barnes' Notes

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Matthew 12:36

But I say unto you ... - Christ closes this address to his malignant and wicked hearers by a solemn declaration that for these things God would bring them into judgment. Therefore. They who had spoken so malignantly against him, could not escape.

Idle word - This literally means a vain, thoughtless, useless word; a word that accomplishes no good. Here it means, evidently, "wicked, injurious, false, malicious, for such" were the words which they had spoken.

**Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Matthew 12:36:**

Amos 5:18
Matthew 5:22
Ephesians 4:29
Ephesians 5:4

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