31“Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that ayou are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
32aFill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt.
33Serpents, abrood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?
34aTherefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: bsome of them you will kill and crucify, and csome of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city,
35athat on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, bfrom the blood of righteous Abel to cthe blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Jesus Laments over Jerusalem
37a“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets band stones those who are sent to her! How often cI wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks dunder her wings, but you were not willing!
Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers (ofeiv gennhmata exidnwn). These blistering words come as a climax and remind one of the Baptist (Matthew 3:17) and of the time when the Pharisees accused Jesus of being in league with Beelzebub (Matthew 12:34). They cut to the bone like whip-cords.
How shall ye escape (pwv fughte). Deliberate subjunctive. There is a curse in the Talmud somewhat like this: "Woe to the house of Annas! Woe to their serpent-like hissings."
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing Matthew 23:33:
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