Matius 12:33-35

Trees and Their Fruit

12:33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad ¹  and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit. 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. 12:35 The good person ²  brings good things out of his ³  good treasury, ⁴  and the evil person brings evil things out of his evil treasury.

Matius 15:18-19

15:18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a person. 15:19 For out of the heart come evil ideas, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.

Matius 21:43

21:43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people ⁵  who will produce its fruit.

[12:33]  ¹ tn Grk “rotten.” The word σαπρός, modifying both “tree” and “fruit,” can also mean “diseased” (L&N 65.28).

[12:35]  ² tn The Greek text reads here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos). The term is generic referring to any person.

[12:35]  ³ tn Grk “the”; the Greek article has been translated here and in the following clause (“his evil treasury”) as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[12:35]  ⁴ sn The treasury here is a metaphorical reference to a person’s heart (cf. BDAG 456 s.v. θησαυρός 1.b and the parallel passage in Luke 6:45).

[21:43]  ⁵ tn Or “to a nation” (so KJV, NASB, NLT).