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:

Adam Clarke

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Matthew 12:36

Every idle word - , a word that does nothing, that neither ministers grace nor instruction to them who hear it. The word corresponds to the Hebrew shave , which signifies not only vain or empty, but also wicked and injurious, such as a false testimony against a neighbor, compare Deuteronomy 5:11, Deuteronomy 5:20. Add to this, that Symmachus translates piggul , polluted, Leviticus 19:7, by the very Greek word in the text. It was to explain this ambiguous meaning of the word, that ten MSS. have changed into , evil. Our Lord must be understood here as condemning all false and injurious words: the scope of the place necessarily requires this meaning.

**Other Adam Clarke entries containing Matthew 12:36:**

Hebrews 4:13

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Matthew 12:37 >>

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