The Meaning of Matthew 16:7 Explained

Matthew 16:7

KJV: And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.

YLT: and they were reasoning in themselves, saying, 'Because we took no loaves.'

Darby: And they reasoned among themselves, saying, Because we have taken no bread.

ASV: And they reasoned among themselves, saying, We took no bread.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  they reasoned  among  themselves,  saying,  [It is] because  we have taken  no  bread. 

What does Matthew 16:7 Mean?

Context Summary

Matthew 16:1-12 - Beware Of Evil Influences
The signs of the times in our own day are much as they were in that. Still men are lovers of pleasure rather than of God. Still they who will live a godly life must be prepared to suffer persecution. The forms of hatred and dislike of the gospel change, but the hatred of the Cross is as inveterate as ever. The sign of Jonah was his resurrection to take up his cry against Nineveh; the resurrection of Jesus is the Father's seal of endorsement. See to it that He shall rise, not only in Joseph's garden, but in thy heart! That is the best evidence of the truth of our holy faith.
There is abroad today much teaching which may be compared to leaven. The germs of hurtful and false doctrine are as thick as microbes. Propagated by the agencies of the spoken address and the written page, they produce fermentation and unrest in the young and unstable. We must judge these pernicious teachings, not by their pleasant and innocent appearance, but by their effect on heart and character. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 16

1  The Pharisees require a sign
5  Jesus warns his disciples of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees
13  The people's opinion of Jesus,
16  and Peter's confession of him
21  Jesus foretells his death;
23  reproves Peter for dissuading him from it;
24  and admonishes those who will follow him, to bear the cross

Greek Commentary for Matthew 16:7

They reasoned [διελογιζοντο]
It was pathetic, the almost jejune inability of the disciples to understand the parabolic warning against “the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6) after the collision of Christ just before with both parties in Magadan. They kept it up, imperfect tense. It is “loaves” (αρτους — artous) rather than “bread.” [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 16:7

Mark 8:16 They reasoned one with another [διελογιζοντο προς αλληλους]
(διελογιζοντο προς αλληλους — dielogizonto pros allēlous), implying discussion. Imperfect tense, kept it up. Matthew 16:7 has εν εαυτοις — en heautois in themselves or among themselves. [source]
Philippians 2:14 Disputings [διαλογισμῶν]
See on Mark 7:21. It is doubtful whether disputings is a legitimate meaning. The kindred verb διαλογίζομαι is invariably used in the sense of to reason or discuss, either with another or in one's own mind, Matthew 16:7; Matthew 21:25; Mark 2:6; Luke 12:17. The noun is sometimes rendered thoughts, as Matthew 15:19; Mark 7:21; but with the same idea underlying it, of a suspicion or doubt, causing inward discussion. See 1 Timothy 2:8. Better here questionings or doubtings. See on Romans 14:1. The murmuring is the moral, the doubting the intellectual rebellion against God. [source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 16:7 mean?

- And they were reasoning among themselves saying Because bread not we took
Οἱ δὲ διελογίζοντο ἐν ἑαυτοῖς λέγοντες Ὅτι Ἄρτους οὐκ ἐλάβομεν

Οἱ  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
διελογίζοντο  they  were  reasoning 
Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Plural
Root: διαλογίζομαι  
Sense: to bring together different reasons, to reckon up the reasons, to reason, revolve in one’s mind, deliberate.
ἑαυτοῖς  themselves 
Parse: Reflexive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἑαυτοῦ  
Sense: himself, herself, itself, themselves.
λέγοντες  saying 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: λέγω 
Sense: to say, to speak.
Ὅτι  Because 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
Ἄρτους  bread 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Plural
Root: ἄρτος  
Sense: food composed of flour mixed with water and baked.
ἐλάβομεν  we  took 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 1st Person Plural
Root: λαμβάνω  
Sense: to take.

What are the major concepts related to Matthew 16:7?

Loading Information...