Matius 3:7

3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees ¹  and Sadducees ²  coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Matius 12:34

12:34 Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart.

Matius 21:34-35

21:34 When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves ³  to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop. ⁴  21:35 But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one, ⁵  killed another, and stoned another.

[3:7]  ¹ sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Ant. 17.2.4 [17.42] there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

[3:7]  ² sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). See also Matt 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.

[21:34]  ³ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[21:34]  sn These slaves represent the prophets God sent to the nation, who were mistreated and rejected.

[21:34]  ⁴ tn Grk “to collect his fruits.”

[21:35]  ⁵ sn The image of the tenants mistreating the owner’s slaves pictures the nation’s rejection of the prophets and their message.