New Testament · Gospel

Matthew 23:34

Woe to the Hypocrites

Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town. Matthew 23:34 · Berean Standard Bible

What It Means

Matthew 23:34, in plain English

Jesus says He will send prophets, wise people, and teachers to them, and they will kill some, crucify others, and chase them from town to town. The cycle of rejecting God's messengers will continue.

Why it's here

This prophecy came true in the book of Acts and early church history. The followers Jesus sent out were persecuted just as He predicted.

Who's speaking

Jesus speaks about the future with the authority of someone who knows exactly what's going to happen.

Where it sits in the story

It's both a promise and a warning. Jesus will keep sending people with His message, and the leaders will keep rejecting them, piling up the evidence against themselves.

A Closer Look

The scholar's commentary

Jesus prophesies that He will send (apostellō) 'prophets, wise men, and teachers' — terms echoing both Old Testament and Jewish categories. The church's future missionaries are described in Jewish terms, emphasizing continuity. The predicted persecution (killing, crucifying, flogging, pursuing) will indeed befall the early church.

Language and setting

Jesus speaks of sending messengers with divine authority ('I am sending'), implicitly claiming the prerogative of God, who sent the prophets of old (cf. Jer 7:25).

Voice

Jesus speaks with divine authority, prophesying both the mission and the suffering of His future followers.

Significance

Jesus looks ahead to the future: He will send messengers, and the pattern will repeat. His followers will face the same persecution the prophets did.

In context

Matthew 23:32–36

32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.

33You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?

34Because of this, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and others you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town.

35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

36Truly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Read all of Matthew 23 — Seven devastating woes crash down on the religious establishment. Jesus doesn't whisper his critique — he thunders it.

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