The Meaning of Matthew 23:33 Explained

Matthew 23:33

KJV: Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

YLT: 'Serpents! brood of vipers! how may ye escape from the judgment of the gehenna?

Darby: Serpents, offspring of vipers, how should ye escape the judgment of hell?

ASV: Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

[Ye] serpents,  [ye] generation  of vipers,  how  can ye  escape  the damnation  of hell? 

What does Matthew 23:33 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Jesus repeated epithets that He had used before to announce His critics" condemnation (cf. Matthew 3:7; Matthew 12:34). They would perish in hell for their failure to accept Jesus (cf. Matthew 5:22; Matthew 23:15).
"There is today only one proper Christian use of the woe saying of this pericope. It is found not primarily in the application of the passage to the historical Pharisees, and even less to modern Judaism as a religion, but in the application of the passage to members of the church. Hypocrisy is the real enemy of this pericope, not the scribes, the Pharisees, or the Jews. If, on the model of this pericope, a bitter woe is to be pronounced against anyone today, it must be directed solely against hypocrisy in the church (cf. 1 Peter 2:1)." [1]

Context Summary

Matthew 23:27-39 - Judgment And Lament
True goodness recognizes and rewards good in the living; while the evil-minded cannot, or will not, believe that the people whom they meet daily are purely and sincerely good. They pride themselves on what they would have done if they had lived in the great days of the past, but they miss the opportunities which are always ready to hand. In this they judge and condemn themselves.
How sad is this lament over Jerusalem! The yearning love which longed to intercept her descending judgment, as the hen the stroke of danger which menaces her brood, was about to be withdrawn. After striving His best to save them, the world's Redeemer was abandoning His people to the results of their sin, until the time spoken of in Zechariah 14:1-4. Oh my soul, see that thou art hidden under those wings, until all calamities are overpast and the day has broken! [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 23

1  Jesus admonishes the people to follow good doctrine, not bad examples
5  His disciples must beware of their ambition
13  He denounces eight woes against their hypocrisy and blindness,
34  and prophesies of the destruction of Jerusalem

Greek Commentary for Matthew 23:33

Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers [οπεις γεννηματα εχιδνων]
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 12:24). They cut to the bone like whip-cords. [source]
How shall ye escape [πως πυγητε]
Deliberate subjunctive. There is a curse in the Talmud somewhat like this: “Woe to the house of Annas! Woe to their serpent-like hissings.” [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 23:33

Matthew 3:7 Ye offspring of vipers [γεννηματα εχιδνων]
Jesus (Matthew 12:34; Matthew 23:33) will use the same language to the Pharisees. Broods of snakes were often seen by John in the rocks and when a fire broke out they would scurry No doubt the Pharisees and Sadducees winced under the sting of this powerful indictment. [source]
Mark 3:29 Eternal damnation [αἰωνίου ἁμαρτήματος]
An utterly false rendering. Rightly as Rev., of an eternal sin. So Wyc., everlasting trespass. The A. V. has gone wrong in following Tyndale, who, in turn, followed the erroneous text of Erasmus, κρίσεως , judgment, wrongly rendered damnation. See Matthew 23:33, and compare Rev. there. [source]
Acts 28:3 A bundle of sticks [πρυγανων τι πλητος]
“Some multitude (or pile) of dry twigs” Laid (επιτεντος — epithentos). So genitive absolute again with second aorist active participle of επιτιτημι — epitithēmi to place upon. Few things show Paul to better advantage than this incident. By reason of the heat Old word, only here in N.T. Ablative case with απο — apo (from the heat). The viper was in a state of torpor in the bundle of sticks. The heat wakened him. A viper (εχιδνα — echidna). The old word used by the Baptist of the Pharisees (Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7) and by Jesus also (Matthew 12:34; Matthew 23:33). It is objected that there is little wood in the island today and no vipers, though Lewin as late as 1853 believes that he saw a viper near St. Paul‘s Bay. But the island now has 1, 200 people to the square mile and snakes of any kind have a poor chance. The viper has also disappeared from Arran as the island became more frequented (Knowling). Ramsay thinks that the small constrictor (Coronella Austriaca) which still exists in the island may be the “viper,” though it has no poison fangs, but clings and bites. The natives thought that it was a poisonous viper. Fastened on his hand First aorist active indicative of καταπτω — kathaptō to fasten down on with the genitive case. Old verb, here only in N.T. Cf. Mark 16:18. [source]
Acts 28:3 By reason of the heat [απο της τερμης]
Old word, only here in N.T. Ablative case with απο — apo (from the heat). The viper was in a state of torpor in the bundle of sticks. The heat wakened him. A viper (εχιδνα — echidna). The old word used by the Baptist of the Pharisees (Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7) and by Jesus also (Matthew 12:34; Matthew 23:33). It is objected that there is little wood in the island today and no vipers, though Lewin as late as 1853 believes that he saw a viper near St. Paul‘s Bay. But the island now has 1, 200 people to the square mile and snakes of any kind have a poor chance. The viper has also disappeared from Arran as the island became more frequented (Knowling). Ramsay thinks that the small constrictor (Coronella Austriaca) which still exists in the island may be the “viper,” though it has no poison fangs, but clings and bites. The natives thought that it was a poisonous viper. Fastened on his hand First aorist active indicative of καταπτω — kathaptō to fasten down on with the genitive case. Old verb, here only in N.T. Cf. Mark 16:18. [source]
Acts 28:3 A viper [εχιδνα]
The old word used by the Baptist of the Pharisees (Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7) and by Jesus also (Matthew 12:34; Matthew 23:33). It is objected that there is little wood in the island today and no vipers, though Lewin as late as 1853 believes that he saw a viper near St. Paul‘s Bay. But the island now has 1, 200 people to the square mile and snakes of any kind have a poor chance. The viper has also disappeared from Arran as the island became more frequented (Knowling). Ramsay thinks that the small constrictor (Coronella Austriaca) which still exists in the island may be the “viper,” though it has no poison fangs, but clings and bites. The natives thought that it was a poisonous viper. [source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 23:33 mean?

Serpents Offspring of vipers How shall you escape from the sentence - of hell
ὄφεις γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν πῶς φύγητε ἀπὸ τῆς κρίσεως τῆς γεέννης

ὄφεις  Serpents 
Parse: Noun, Vocative Masculine Plural
Root: ὄφις  
Sense: snake, serpent.
γεννήματα  Offspring 
Parse: Noun, Vocative Neuter Plural
Root: γένημα 
Sense: that which has been born or begotten.
ἐχιδνῶν  of  vipers 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Plural
Root: ἔχιδνα  
Sense: a viper, offspring of vipers.
πῶς  How 
Parse: Adverb
Root: πῶς  
Sense: how, in what way.
φύγητε  shall  you  escape 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: φεύγω  
Sense: to flee away, seek safety by flight.
κρίσεως  sentence 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: κρίσις  
Sense: a separating, sundering, separation.
τῆς  - 
Parse: Article, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
γεέννης  of  hell 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular
Root: γέεννα  
Sense: Hell is the place of the future punishment call “Gehenna” or “Gehenna of fire”.