English · KJV

Luke 3:7

“John Preaches Repentance and Judgment”Luke 3:7–14

King James Version
Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
Then G3767 said G3004 he to the multitude G3793 that came forth G1607 to be baptized G907 of G5259 him G846, O generation G1081 of vipers G2191, who G5101 hath warned G5263 you G5213 to flee G5343 from G575 the wrath G3709 to come G3195?

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
Then John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
He said therefore to the multitudes that went out to be baptized of him, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
He said therefore to the multitudes who went out to be immersed by him, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
Then said he to the people that were come out to be baptized of him, O generations of vipers, who hath forewarned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
Then said he to the multitudes coming forth to be baptised by him, `Brood of vipers! who did prompt you to flee from the coming wrath?

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
18 Greek words
  1. ἜλεγενElegenHe was sayingG3004V-IAI-3SVerb Imperfect Active Indicative 3rd Singular
  2. οὖνounthereforeG3767CONJConjunction
  3. τοῖςtoisto theG3588T-DPMDefinite article Dative Plural Masculine
  4. ἐκπορευομένοιςekporeuomenoiscoming outG1607V-PNP-DPMVerb Present Middle Or Passive Deponent Participle Dative Plural Masculine
  5. ὄχλοιςochloiscrowdsG3793N-DPMNoun Dative Plural Masculine
  6. βαπτισθῆναιbaptisthēnaito be baptizedG907V-APNVerb Aorist Passive Infinitive
  7. ὑπ᾽hup᾽byG5259PREPPreposition
  8. αὐτοῦ·autouhimG846P-GSMPersonal pronoun Genitive Singular Masculine
  9. γεννήματαgennēmataOffspringG1081N-VPNNoun Vocative Plural Neuter
  10. ἐχιδνῶνechidnōnof vipersG2191N-GPFNoun Genitive Plural Feminine
  11. τίςtiswhoG5101I-NSMInterrogative pronoun Nominative Singular Masculine
  12. ὑπέδειξενhupedeixenforewarnedG5263V-AAI-3SVerb Aorist Active Indicative 3rd Singular
  13. ὑμῖνhuminyouG4771P-2DPPersonal pronoun Dative 2nd Plural
  14. φυγεῖνphugeinto fleeG5343V-2AANVerb 2nd Aorist Active Infinitive
  15. ἀπὸapofromG575PREPPreposition
  16. τῆςtēstheG3588T-GSFDefinite article Genitive Singular Feminine
  17. μελλούσηςmellousēssoon comingG3195V-PAP-GSFVerb Present Active Participle Genitive Singular Feminine
  18. ὀργῆς;orgēswrath?G3709N-GSFNoun Genitive Singular Feminine
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

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This verse

John calls the crowds coming to his baptism a generation of vipers and asks who warned them to flee God’s coming wrath, challenging them to examine why they have come.

“Then said he to the multitude”

John speaks in public to the whole crowd, the óchlos, gathered at the Jordan.

“that came forth to be baptized of him,”

They had come out into the wilderness for his baptism of repentance.

“O generation of vipers,”

Offspring of poisonous snakes, a shocking address that exposes their true nature.

“who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”

A challenge to their motive. Fear of judgment brought them, and John asks whether their hearts have turned.

Passage studyLuke 3:7–14

John Calls for Repentance That Bears Fruit

7Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 9And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 10And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? 11He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. 12Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? 13And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. 14And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

Summary

Crowds come out to the Jordan to be baptized by John, and he meets them with a hard question: “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” He calls them to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, warns them against trusting in their descent from Abraham, and tells them that the axe already lies at the root of the trees. When they ask, “What shall we do then?”, his answers are plain and practical. Whoever has two coats or food to spare is to share with someone who has none. Tax collectors are to collect only what is appointed. Soldiers are to keep from violence and false accusation and be content with their wages. In eight verses we learn that God’s judgment is near and real, that a turned heart shows itself in an honest and generous life, and that John’s stern words prepare the way for the One who comes after him.

Who came to John at the Jordan

Luke sets John’s ministry in a precise moment of history (Luke 3:1–2). John preaches in the wilderness near the Jordan River as the voice Isaiah foretold, preparing the way of the Lord (Luke 3:4–6, quoting Isaiah 40:3–5), and he comes “preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Luke 3:3). The Jordan was the boundary Israel crossed into the Promised Land. Ritual washing for purification was common in Judaism, but John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, and he gave it to Jews, which said that even the chosen people needed cleansing from sin.

The “multitude” of verse 7 is the óchlos, a crowd or throng of ordinary people, and the same word stands behind “the people” who ask their question in verse 10. It took in a broad cross-section of Jewish society. Matthew, who records the same sermon (Matthew 3:7–10), says that many Pharisees and Sadducees came to the baptism as well. Many in Israel were waiting for the Messiah and a day of God’s judgment, though they understood these hopes in different ways. John spoke into those hopes and made plain that the way to be ready was a changed life, which a family line or a religious standing could never supply.

Why John calls them a generation of vipers

“Generation” is génnēma, offspring or produce, and “vipers” is échidna, an adder or other poisonous snake. To call the crowd the offspring of vipers is to say that their nature matches their parentage: dangerous, deceitful and venomous. The picture calls to mind the serpent in Eden (Genesis 3), and the words are meant to shock people with an outward interest in religion into seeing their true state and their urgent need of a changed heart.

The question that follows, “who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”, is a challenge to their motives. John is asking whether they have come only from fear of judgment, hoping a ritual will shelter them while their hearts stay as they were. Someone has given them a false assurance, and verse 8 is his answer to it.

“Wrath” is orgḗ, which can mean violent passion or anger and, by implication, punishment. Used of God, it is his settled and holy indignation against sin, and “the wrath to come” is the righteous judgment he will surely carry out. Paul warns of those who treasure up “wrath against the day of wrath” and of God, who “will render to every man according to his deeds” (Romans 2:5–6). Jesus later tells his hearers to fear him who has power to cast into hell (Luke 12:5), and his woes on the Pharisees press John’s point that God looks at the inside of a person as well as the outside (Luke 11:37–54). John stands in the line of the prophets who called Israel to account, as Isaiah rebuked a people whose worship had become empty (Isaiah 1:10–20).

Who saves from the wrath to come?

Jesus saves from it, and John points to him when he speaks of the One who will baptize “with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (Luke 3:16). Jesus is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He bore God’s judgment on sin at the cross, so that “being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Romans 5:9), and “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Paul describes believers as people who turned to God from idols to wait for his Son, “even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:9–10). In Christ a generation of vipers can become children of God, by new birth and by trusting in him as Saviour.

What fruits worthy of repentance are

“Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance” is the command at the centre of the passage, and Matthew gives it as “fruits meet for repentance”. Karpós is fruit, the produce of a plant, and in its figurative sense it means the natural result of what has been done. Áxios, “worthy”, means fitting or of comparable worth, and its older sense is of something that weighs as much as another thing. So the fruit must match the repentance, the way a tree’s fruit shows what kind of tree it is. Repentance (metanoia) is a change of mind and direction, and John wants to see it in the lives of those who claim it.

Paul preached the same to Jews and Gentiles, that they “should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance” (Acts 26:20). James writes, “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (James 2:17). These works are the natural fruit of a heart that has turned to God, and salvation is never earned by them. The Spirit whom Christ sends brings that fruit to life in believers, and Paul names it: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22–23).

Why “We have Abraham to our father” was no defence

“Begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father.” Many of John’s hearers presumed that being Abraham’s descendants gave them a favoured place with God and shelter from judgment, whatever their conduct. Pharisees and Sadducees, for all their differences, shared this pride of nation and ancestry. John meets the excuse “within yourselves”, in the thoughts where it was being made.

“God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” Dýnamai, “is able”, means to have the power to do a thing. Líthos is simply a stone, and egeírō, “raise up”, means to waken, rouse or cause to stand up, and here God is the one who raises. Stones are the last place anyone would look for children, and God, who gives life, can make Abraham’s children even from them if he chooses. His promises rest on his own power and his own will, and he is free to keep his word to Abraham through people nobody expected, if Abraham’s descendants refuse to repent. As Jesus said, “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

The rest of the New Testament draws out what John says here. Paul writes that a true Jew is one inwardly, with circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:28–29), that “they are not all Israel, which are of Israel” (Romans 9:6–8), that “they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7), and that Abraham is the father of all who believe (Romans 4:11–12). Jesus told those who boasted of Abraham that Abraham’s children would do the works of Abraham (John 8:39–44), and he called whoever does the will of God his brother, sister and mother (Mark 3:35).

In Christ the stones are raised. People who were dead in trespasses and sins, strangers to God’s promises, are made alive together with him (Ephesians 2:1–5), and all who belong to Christ, Jew and Gentile alike, are “Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26–29). The church, gathered by faith from every people, is where John’s words come to their fulfilment.

What the axe at the root means

“And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees.” “Now also” makes the judgment present and close at hand. The axínē is a heavy axe for felling trees, and it already rests against the rhíza, the root, the part that gives a tree its life and holds it up. An axe laid at the root means felling the whole tree, and that is final.

Each tree stands for a person. “Every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit” picks up the call of verse 8, and “therefore” ties the consequence to it. “Good” is kalós, what is valuable and right. Cutting down an unfruitful tree was a common and necessary task in an orchard or vineyard, so John’s hearers knew the picture well. The prophets used the same kind of picture for Israel, as in Isaiah’s song of the vineyard (Isaiah 5:1–7).

“Is hewn down, and cast into the fire” speaks of being cut off from God’s kingdom and condemned. Fire in Scripture often stands for God’s judgment, and here the judgment is final. Jesus repeats John’s words in the Sermon on the Mount, “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire”, and adds, “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:16–20). The one who carries out this judgment is the Son of Man, who will separate the righteous from the unrighteous when he comes in his glory (Matthew 25:31–46), and John’s warning prepares for his coming.

Fruit is also what Christ grows in his people. He calls himself the true vine and his disciples the branches, and the Father purges every branch that bears fruit so that it brings forth more (John 15). “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.” The call for fruit is answered by abiding in him.

Is this verse about losing salvation?

This verse warns people who claimed a place with God, through descent from Abraham or through coming to be baptized, while their lives stayed unchanged. Their hope rested on outward marks, and John tells them that the barren tree will be cut down. The verse teaches that true faith will bear fruit, so a life that has none shows that saving faith is missing. Whether a truly born-again believer can lose salvation is a question this verse leaves to other passages. What good fruit looks like, John shows in his answers in verses 11 to 14: sharing with the needy, honest collecting, and keeping from violence, false charges and greed.

What shall we do then?

The people’s question is a real one, asked by people who took John’s warning to heart and wanted concrete steps for a changed life. “Asked” is eperōtáō, to ask, question or inquire of someone. “Do” is poiéō, to make or do, a verb of very wide use. The question begins with tís, “what”, and the little word oûn, “then”, ties it to everything John has just said about fruit and judgment. The same question comes three times in these verses, from the crowd, the publicans and the soldiers, and each gets an answer that fits his own life.

Peter’s hearers at Pentecost were pricked in their heart and asked the same thing, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”, and Peter called them to repent and be baptized (Acts 2:37–38). Jesus began his own preaching with John’s message, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17), and he said that the work of God is to “believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:29). The doing John asks for prepared people to receive the Messiah, and in Christ it flows from faith and from his Spirit living in us. Love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:10), and every deed John names in his answers is a deed of love toward a neighbour.

Why John speaks of two coats and meat

John’s first answer, to the whole crowd, is about sharing. The “coat” is the chitṓn, the tunic worn next to the body, an essential garment. To have two is to have more than one needs, and the one who has a spare is to “impart”, metadídōmi, to give a share of what is his own to the one who has none. “Meat” is brōma, food of any kind, for in the KJV’s English “meat” means food in general.

In first-century Judea many lived in poverty and struggled to find food and clothing, and to lack either was a sign of real need. By naming these two, John gives a command anyone could carry out that very day, and it reaches the poorest neighbour at the point of greatest want. The two clauses run side by side, and between them they stand for every kind of surplus.

The law had already told Israel to open the hand wide to a poor brother (Deuteronomy 15:7–8), and Isaiah called the fast God chooses one that deals bread to the hungry and covers the naked (Isaiah 58:7). Amos cried, “let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream” (Amos 5:24). Luke’s Gospel carries this care for the poor forward. Jesus announces that he is anointed to preach the gospel to the poor (Luke 4:18–19), he calls the poor blessed (Luke 6:20), and he counts food and clothing given to the least of his brethren as given to him (Matthew 25:35–40).

Christ gave far more than a spare coat. “Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). He fed the hungry crowds (Matthew 14:13–21) and gave his life a ransom for many. The generosity John asks for is a small share in the giving of God himself, and our possessions are entrusted to us by him for the good of others.

Why tax collectors came to be baptized

“Then came also publicans to be baptized.” The telṓnēs takes his name from telos (tax) and ōnéomai (to buy), and was literally a tax-buyer. Under Roman rule the right to collect taxes in a region was sold to contractors, who employed local men like these to gather them. They worked for Rome among their own people, and many grew rich by demanding more than was due, so their fellow Jews hated them as traitors and extortioners. The religious leaders grouped them with sinners, and Jesus was criticised for calling one of them, Matthew, and eating with publicans and sinners (Matthew 9:9–13).

That such men came to be baptized shows how far John’s call reached. Jesus later said that the publicans and the harlots believed John when the chief priests and elders would not (Matthew 21:31–32), and Luke records that the publicans who had been baptized by John “justified God”, while the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God (Luke 7:29–30).

They call John “Master”, didáskalos, a teacher or instructor, and they come to him as learners. Their question uses the same verb, poiéō, as the crowd’s. Jesus came “not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32), and the chief publican Zacchaeus shows what happens when such a man meets him (Luke 19:1–10). In Christ the despised and the outcast receive a new heart and become “a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Exact no more than that which is appointed

John’s answer is short. “Exact” is prássō, to practise or perform repeatedly, and in particular to collect dues. “No more” joins mēdeís, not even one, with pleíōn, more, the comparative of polýs. “Appointed” is diatássō, to arrange, prescribe or ordain, and here it is the amount officially set. So the publicans are to collect the lawful tax and keep strictly to it, with no surcharge for themselves.

Honest dealing in money runs all through Scripture. The law demanded “a perfect and just weight” and measure (Deuteronomy 25:15), and “A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight” (Proverbs 11:1). Paul tells believers to render to all their dues, “tribute to whom tribute is due” (Romans 13:7), which gives lawful taxes their rightful place. God who is righteous hates dishonest gain and the exploitation of the weak.

After meeting Jesus, Zacchaeus gave half his goods to the poor and restored fourfold to anyone he had wronged (Luke 19:8), an overflowing of the same honesty and generosity John called for. Jesus said that our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5:20), and the integrity John asked of the publicans is what that righteousness looks like at a tax table, now given a new heart in Christ.

Did John tell them to leave their work?

John told the tax collectors and the soldiers to do their work honestly, and he left them in it. The sin he named was using the position for unjust gain, and the work itself he let stand. Repentance can make any lawful calling a place of faithful service when it is carried out with integrity and justice.

What John told the soldiers

Soldiers were the most visible power in the land. Luke leaves unnamed whose soldiers these were, and they may have been Roman auxiliaries, Herod’s troops or a local force. Their position gave them many chances for abuse, especially as they were often quartered among the people and held authority over them, and their pay was often small, which pushed them toward gain by force or bribes. That they too asked, “And what shall we do?”, shows how deeply John’s preaching reached.

John gives them three commands. “Do violence to no man” translates diaseíō, from dia (through) and seíō (to shake), to shake thoroughly, and so to intimidate or extort by intimidation. It forbids using strength and authority to frighten money or goods out of people. “Neither accuse any falsely” is sykophantéō, built from sykon (fig) and phaínō (to show). An old explanation traces it to informers who reported people for exporting figs from Athens illegally, and in time it came to mean a false accuser, and in particular one who extorts money by false charges. “Be content with your wages” is arkéō, which properly means to ward off, and by implication to be enough or to be satisfied. The soldiers are to count their lawful pay as enough.

Contentment comes last and lies under the other two, because greed was the root of both the violence and the false charges. Paul writes, “But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6–8), and Micah sums up what the LORD requires: “to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8). Authority is a trust to be used for the good of others and the protection of the weak.

Christ is the perfect example of righteous authority. He used his power to heal and serve, and he taught that whoever would be chief must be servant of all, “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42–45). When Satan tempted him in the wilderness, he refused to use his power for his own ends and trusted his Father to provide (Matthew 4:1–11). Through him believers put off the old man and put on “the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22–24), and in their callings they are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13–16).

The good news in a hard sermon

Luke sums up John’s preaching a few verses later: “And many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people” (Luke 3:18), and the word for “preached” there is the word for telling good news. The sternness of these verses belongs to that good news. God sends a messenger to warn before the axe falls, because he does not want the tree cut down.

The passage shows us a holy God whose judgment is near and certain, who sees through every outward mark to the heart, and who is able to raise up children for Abraham from the stones. It shows a God whose call reaches the crowd, the hated publican and the soldier alike, and who meets each with duties fitted to his own life: a coat and a meal shared, an honest tax, a soldier’s pay counted as enough. And it points to Jesus, baptized in the same river soon after (Luke 3:21–22), who delivers us from the wrath to come and makes his people fruitful branches of the true vine.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Luke 3:1–14. He set out his notes in a four-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 14 verses
Passage under commentLuke 3:1–14
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details[1.] [2.] Fine details

John's baptism introducing a new dispensation, it was requisite that we should have a particular account of it. Glorious things were said of John, what a distinguished favourite of Heaven he should be, and what a great blessing to this earth (Luke 1:15, Luke 1:17); but we lost him in the deserts, and there he remains until the day of his showing unto Israel, Luke 1:80. And now at last that day dawns, and a welcome day it was to them that waited for it more than they that waited for the morning. Observe here,

I.The date of the beginning of John's baptism, when it was that he appeared; this is here taken notice of, which was not by the other evangelists, that the truth of the thing might be confirmed by the exact fixing of the time. And it is dated,

1.By the government of the heathen, which the Jews were under, to show that they were a conquered people, and therefore it was time for the Messiah to come to set up a spiritual kingdom, and an eternal one, upon the ruins of all the temporal dignity and dominion of David and Judah.

(1.)It is dated by the reign of the Roman emperor; it was in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, the third of the twelve Caesars, a very bad man, given to covetousness, drunkenness, and cruelty; such a man is mentioned first (saith Dr. Lightfoot), as it were, to teach us what to look for from that cruel and abominable city wherein Satan reigned in all ages and successions. The people of the Jews, after a long struggle, were of late made a province of the empire, and were under the dominion of this Tiberius; and that country which once had made so great a figure, and had many nations tributaries to it, in the reigns of David and Solomon, is now itself an inconsiderable despicable part of the Roman empire, and rather trampled upon than triumphed in.

- En quo discordia cives, Perduxit miseros

- What dire effects from civil discord flow!

The lawgiver was now departed from between Judah's feet; and, as an evidence of that, their public acts are dated by the reign of the Roman emperor, and therefore now Shiloh must come.

(2.)It is dated by the governments of the viceroys that ruled in the several parts of the Holy Land under the Roman emperor, which was another badge of their servitude, for they were all foreigners, which bespeaks a sad change with that people whose governors used to be of themselves (Jeremiah 30:21), and it was their glory. How is the gold become dim!

[1.]Pilate is here said to be the governor, president, or procurator, of Judea. This character is given of him by some other writers, that he was a wicked man, and one that made no conscience of a lie. He reigned ill, and at last was displaced by Vitellius, president of Syria, and sent to Rome, to answer for his mal-administrations.

[2.]The other three are called tetrarchs, some think from the countries which they had the command of, each of them being over a fourth part of that which had been entirely under the government of Herod the Great. Others think that they are so called from the post of honour they held in the government; they had the fourth place, or were fourth-rate governors: the emperor was the first, the pro-consul, who governed a province, the second, a king the third, and a tetrarch the fourth. So Dr. Lightfoot.

2.By the government of the Jews among themselves, to show that they were a corrupt people, and that therefore it was time that the Messiah should come, to reform them, Luke 3:2. Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. God had appointed that there should be but one high priest at a time, but here were two, to serve some ill turn or other: one served one year and the other the other year; so some. One was the high priest, and the other the sagan, as the Jews called him, to officiate for him when he was disabled; or, as others say, one was high priest, and represented Aaron, and that was Caiaphas; Annas, the other, was nasi, or head of the sanhedrim, and represented Moses. But to us there is but one high priest, one Lord of all, to whom all judgment is committed.

II.The origin and tendency of John's baptism.

1.The origin of it was from heaven: The word of God came unto John, Luke 3:2. He received full commission and full instructions from God to do what he did. It is the same expression that is used concerning the Old Testament prophets (Jeremiah 1:2); for John was a prophet, yea, more than a prophet, and in him prophecy revived, which had been long suspended. We are not told how the word of the Lord came to John, whether by an angel, as to his father, or by dream, or vision, or voice, but it was to his satisfaction, and ought to be to ours. John is here called the son of Zacharias, to refer us to what the angel said to his father, when he assured him that he should have this son. The word of the Lord came to him in the wilderness; for those whom God fits he will find out, wherever they are. As the word of the Lord is not bound in a prison, so it is not lost in a wilderness. The word of the Lord made its way to Ezekiel among the captives by the river of Chebar, and to John in the isle of Patmos. John was the son of a priest, now entering upon the thirtieth year of his age; and therefore, according to the custom of the temple, he was now to be admitted into the temple-service, where he should have attended as a candidate five years before. But God had called him to a more honourable ministry, and therefore the Holy Ghost enrols him here, since he was not enrolled in the archives of the temple: John the son of Zacharias began his ministration such a time.

2.The scope and design of it were to bring all the people of his country off from their sins and home to their God, Luke 3:3. He came first into all the country about Jordan, the neighbourhood wherein he resided, that part of the country which Israel took possession of first, when they entered the land of promise under Joshua's conduct; there was the banner of the gospel first displayed. John resided in the most solitary part of the country: but, when the word of the Lord came to him, he quitted his deserts, and came into the inhabited country. Those that are best pleased in their retirements must cheerfully exchange them, when God calls them into places of concourse. He came out of the wilderness into all the country, with some marks of distinction, preaching a new baptism; not a sect, or party, but a profession, or distinguishing badge. The sign, or ceremony, was such as was ordinarily used among the Jews, washing with water, by which proselytes were sometimes admitted, or disciples to some great master; but the meaning of it was, repentance for the remission of sins: that is, all that submitted to his baptism,

(1.)Were thereby obliged to repent of their sins, to be sorry for what they had done amiss, and to do so no more. The former they professed, and were concerned to be sincere in their professions; the latter they promised, and were concerned to make good what they promised. He bound them, not to such ceremonious observances as were imposed by the tradition of the elders, but to change their mind, and change their way, to cast away from them all their transgressions, and to make them new hearts and to live new lives. The design of the gospel, which now began, was to make men devout and pious, holy and heavenly, humble and meek, sober and chaste, just and honest, charitable and kind, and good in every relation, who had been much otherwise; and this is to repent.

(2.)They were thereby assured of the pardon of their sins, upon their repentance. As the baptism he administered bound them not to submit to the power of sin, so it sealed to them a gracious and pleadable discharge from the guilt of sin. Turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin; agreeing with the word of the Lord, by the Old Testament prophets, Ezekiel 18:30.

III.The fulfilling of the scriptures in the ministry of John.

The other evangelists had referred us to the same text that is here referred to, that of Esaias, Isaiah 40:3. It is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, which he heard from God, which he spoke for God, those words of his which were written for the generations to come. Among them it is found that there should be the voice of one crying in the wilderness; and John is that voice, a clear distinct voice, a loud voice, an articulate one; he cries, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight. John's business is to make way for the entertainment of the gospel in the hearts of the people, to bring them into such a frame and temper as that Christ might be welcome to them, and they welcome to Christ. Luke goes further on with the quotation than Matthew and Mark had done, and applies the following words likewise to John's ministry (Luke 3:5, Luke 3:6), Every valley shall be filled. Dr. Hammond understands this as a prediction of the desolation coming upon the people of the Jews for their infidelity: the land should be made plain by the pioneers for the Roman army, and should be laid waste by it, and there should then be a visible distinction made between the impenitent on the one side and the receivers of the gospel on the other side. But it seems rather to be meant of the gospel of Christ, of which that was the introduction.

1.The humble shall by it be enriched with grace: Every valley that lies low and moist shall be filled and be exalted.

2.The proud shall by it be humbled; the self-confident that stand upon their own bottom, and the self-conceited that lift up their own top, shall have contempt put upon them: Every mountain and hill shall be brought low. If they repent, they are brought to the dust; if not, to the lowest hell.

3.Sinners shall be converted to God: The crooked ways and the crooked spirits shall be made straight; for, though none can make that straight which God hath made crooked (Ecclesiastes 7:13), yet God by his grace can make that straight which sin hath made crooked.

4.Difficulties that were hindering and discouraging in the way to heaven shall be removed: The rough ways shall be made smooth; and they that love God's law shall have great peace, and nothing shall offend them. The gospel has made the way to heaven plain and easy to be found, smooth and easy to be walked in.

5.The great salvation shall be more fully discovered than ever, and the discovery of it shall spread further (Luke 3:6): All flesh shall see the salvation of God; not the Jews only, but the Gentiles. All shall see it; they shall have it set before them and offered to them, and some of all sorts shall see it, enjoy it, and have the benefit of it. When way is made for the gospel into the heart, by the captivation of high thoughts and bringing them into obedience to Christ, by the leveling of the soul and the removing of all obstructions that stand in the way of Christ and his grace, then prepare to bid the salvation of God welcome.

IV.The general warnings and exhortations which he gave to those who submitted to his baptism, Luke 3:7-9.

In Matthew he is said to have preached these same things to many of the Pharisees and Sadducees, that came to his baptism (Matthew 3:7-10); but here he is said to have spoken them to the multitude, that came forth to be baptized of him, Luke 3:7. This was the purport of his preaching to all that came to him, and he did not alter it in compliment to the Pharisees and Sadducees, when they came, but dealt as plainly with them as with any other of his hearers. And as he did not flatter the great, so neither did he compliment the many, or make his court to them, but gave the same reproofs of sin and warnings of wrath to the multitude that he did to the Sadducees and Pharisees; for, if they had not the same faults, they had others as bad. Now observe here,

1.That the guilty corrupted race of mankind is become a generation of vipers; not only poisoned, but poisonous; hateful to God, hating one another. This magnifies the patience of God, in continuing the race of mankind upon the earth, and not destroying that nest of vipers. He did it once by water, and will again by fire.

2.This generation of vipers is fairly warned to flee from the wrath to come, which is certainly before them if they continue such; and their being a multitude will not be at all their security, for it will be neither reproach nor loss to God to cut them off. We are not only warned of this wrath, but are put into a way to escape it, if we look about us in time.

3.There is no way of fleeing from the wrath to come, but by repentance. They that submitted to the baptism of repentance thereby evidenced that they were warned to flee from the wrath to come and took the warning; and we by our baptism profess to have fled out of Sodom, for fear of what is coming upon it.

4.Those that profess repentance are highly concerned to live like penitents (Luke 3:8): "Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance, else, notwithstanding your professions of repentance, you cannot escape the wrath to come." By the fruits of repentance it will be known whether it be sincere or no. By the change of our way must be evidenced the change of our mind.

5.If we be not really holy, both in heart and life, our profession of religion and relation to God and his church will stand us in no stead at all: Begin not now to frame excuses from this great duty of repentance, by saying within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father. What will it avail us to be the children of godly parents if we be not godly, to be within the pale of the Church if we be not brought into the bond of the covenant?

6.We have therefore no reason to depend upon our external privileges and professions of religion, because God has no need of us or of our services, but can effectually secure by his own honour and interest without us. If we were cut off and ruined, he could raise up to himself a church out of the most unlikely, - children to Abraham even out of stones.

7.The greater professions we make of repentance, and the greater assistances and encouragements are given us to repentance, the nearer and the sorer will our destruction be if we do not bring forth fruits meet for repentance. Now that the gospel begins to be preached, now that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, now that the axe is laid to the root of the tree, threatenings to the wicked and impenitent are now more terrible than before, as encouragements to the penitent are now more comfortable. "Now that you are upon your behaviour, look to yourselves."

8.Barren trees will be cast into the fire at length; it is the fittest place for them: Every tree that doth not bring forth fruit, good fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the fire. If it serve not for fruit, to the honour of God's grace, let it serve for fuel, to the honour of his justice.

V.The particular instructions he gave to several sorts of persons, that enquired of him concerning their duty:

the people, the publicans, and the soldiers. Some of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to his baptism; but we do not find them asking, What shall we do? They thought they knew what they had to do as well as he could tell them, or were determined to do what they pleased, whatever he told them. But the people, the publicans, and the soldiers, who knew that they had done amiss, and that they ought to do better, and were conscious to themselves of great ignorance and unacquaintedness with the divine law, were particularly inquisitive: What shall we do? Note,

1.Those that are baptized must be taught, and those that have baptized them are concerned, as they have opportunity, to teach them, Matthew 28:19, Matthew 28:20.

2.Those that profess and promise repentance in general must evidence it by particular instances of reformation, according as their place and condition are.

3.They that would do their duty must desire to know their duty, and enquire concerning it. The first good word Paul said, when he was converted, was, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? These here enquire, not, What shall this man do? but, What shall we do? What fruits meet for repentance shall we bring forth? Now John gives answer to each, according to their place and station.

(1.)He tells the people their duty, and that is to be charitable (Luke 3:11): He that has two coats, and, consequently, one to spare, let him give, or lend at least, to him that has none, to keep him warm. Perhaps he saw among his hearers some that were overloaded with clothes, while others were ready to perish in rags, and he puts those who had superfluities upon contributing to the relief of those that had not necessaries. The gospel requires mercy, and not sacrifice; and the design of it is to engage us to do all the good we can. Food and raiment are the two supports of life; he that hath meat to spare, let him give to him that is destitute of daily food, as well as he that hath clothes to spare: what we have we are but stewards of, and must use it, accordingly, as our Master directs.

(2.)He tells the publicans their duty, the collectors of the emperor's revenue (Luke 3:13): Exact no more than that which is appointed you. They must do justice between the government and the merchant, and not oppress the people in levying the taxes, nor any way make them heavier or more burdensome than the law had made them. They must not think that because it was their office to take care that the people did not defraud the prince they might therefore, by the power they had, bear hard upon the people; as those that have ever so little a branch of power are apt to abuse it: "No, keep to your book of rates, and reckon it enough that you collect for Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and do not enrich yourselves by taking more." The public revenues must be applied to the public service, and not to gratify the avarice of private persons. Observe, He does not direct the publicans to quit their places, and to go no more to the receipt of custom; the employment is in itself lawful and necessary, but let them be just and honest in it.

(3.)He tells the soldiers their duty, Luke 3:14. Some think that these soldiers were of the Jewish nation and religion: others think that they were Romans; for it was not likely either that the Jews would serve the Romans or that the Romans would trust the Jews in their garrisons in their own nation; and then it is an early instance of Gentiles embracing the gospel and submitting to it. Military men seldom seem inclined to religion; yet these submitted even to the Baptist's strict profession, and desired to receive the word of command from him: What must we do? Those who more than other men have their lives in their hands, and are in deaths often, are concerned to enquire what they shall do that they may be found in peace. In answer to this enquiry, John does not bid them lay down their arms, and desert the service, but cautions them against the sins that soldiers were commonly guilty of; for this is fruit meet for repentance, to keep ourselves from our iniquity.

[1.]They must not be injurious to the people among whom they were quartered, and over whom indeed they were set: "Do violence to no man. Your business is to keep the peace, and prevent men's doing violence to one another; but do not you do violence to any. Shake no man" ( so the word signifies); "do not put people into fear; for the sword of war, as well as that of justice, is to be a terror only to evil doers, but a protection to those that do well. Be not rude in your quarters; force not money from people by frightening them. Shed not the blood of war in peace; offer no incivility either to man or woman, nor have any hand in the barbarous devastations that armies sometimes make." Nor must they accuse any falsely to the government, thereby to make themselves formidable, and get bribes.

[2.]They must not be injurious to their fellow-soldiers; for some think that caution, not to accuse falsely, has special reference to them: "Be not forward to complain one of another to your superior officers, that you may be revenged on those whom you have a pique against, or undermine those above you, and get into their places." Do not oppress any; so some think the word here signifies as used by the Septuagint in several passages of the Old Testament.

[3.]They must not be given to mutiny, or contend with their generals about their pay: "Be content with your wages. While you have what you agreed for, do not murmur that it is not more." It is discontent with what they have that makes men oppressive and injurious; they that never think they have enough themselves will not scruple at any the most irregular practices to make it more, by defrauding others. It is a rule to all servants that they be content with their wages; for they that indulge themselves in discontents expose themselves to many temptations, and it is wisdom to make the best of that which is.

Historical interpretation

Five Centuries of Reception

11 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.

11 quotes · AD 215–735
Ante-NicenePost-NiceneEarly Medieval
200300400500600700

Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.

d. AD 253Origen of Alexandriaas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Ante-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
No one that remains in his old state, and forsakes not his old habits and practices, can rightly come to be baptized; whoever then wishes to be baptized, let him go forth. Hence are those words significantly spoken, And he said unto the multitude that went forth to be baptized of him. To the multitudes then who are going forth to the laver of baptism, He speaks the following words, for if they had already gone forth, He would not have said, O generation of vipers.
d. AD 379Basil of Caesareaas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(cont. Eunom. lib. 2.) Now it may be observed, that the following words natus and filius are spoken of animals, but genimen may be said of the fœtus before it is formed in the womb; the fruit of the palm trees is also called genimina, but that word is very seldom used with respect to animals, and when it is, always in a bad sense.

(non occ.) For neither does the speed of its sire make the horse swift; but as the goodness of other animals is looked for in individuals, so also that is reckoned to be man's legitimate praise which is decided by the test of his present worth. For it is a disgraceful thing for a man to be adorned with the honours of another, when he has no virtue of his own to commend him.
d. AD 395Gregory of Nyssaas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(non occ.) So then having foretold the casting away of the Jews, He goes on to allude to the calling of the Gentiles, whom He calls stones. Hence it follows, For I say unto you, &c.
d. AD 397Ambrose of Milanas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
We see these men through the compassion of God, inspired with prudence to seek repentance of their crimes, dreading with wise devotion the terror of the judgment to come. Or perhaps, according to the precept, Be ye wise as serpents, (Matt. 10:16.) they are shown to have a natural prudence, who perceive what is coming, and earnestly desire help, though they still forsake not what is hurtful.

But although God can alter and change the most diverse natures, yet in my mind a mystery is of more avail than a miracle. For what else than stones were they who bowed down to stones, like indeed to them who made them. It is prophesied therefore that faith shall be poured into the stony hearts of the Gentiles, and through faith the oracles promise that Abraham shall have sons. But that you may know who are the men compared to stones, he has also compared men to trees, adding, For now the axe is laid to the root of the tree. This change of figure was made, that by means of comparison might be understood to have now commenced a more kindly growth of manhood.

Let him then that is able bring forth fruit unto grace, him who ought, unto repentance. The Lord is at hand seeking for His fruit, who shall cherish the fruitful, but rebuke the barren.
d. AD 407John Chrysostomas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(Hom. in Matt. 10.) The dweller in the wilderness, when he saw all the people of Palestine standing round him and wondering, bent not beneath the weight of such respect, but rose up against them and reproved them. (Hom. in Gen. 12.) The holy Scripture often gives the names of wild beasts to men, according to the passions which excite them, calling them sometimes dogs because of their impudence, horses on account of their lust, asses for their folly, lions and panthers for their ravening and wantonness, asps for their guile, serpents and vipers for their poison and cunning; and so in this place John calls the Jews a generation of vipers.

(Hom. in Matt. 11.) Now they say that the female viper kills the male in copulation, and the fœtus as it increases in the womb kills the mother, and so comes forth into life, bursting open the womb in revenge as it were of its father's death; the viper progeny therefore are parricides. Such also were the Jews, who killed their spiritual fathers and teachers. But what if he found them not sinning, but beginning to be converted? He ought not surely to rebuke them, but to comfort them. We answer, that he gave not heed to those things which are outward, for he knew the secrets of their hearts, the Lord revealing them to him; for they vaunted themselves too much in their forefathers. Cutting therefore at this root, he calls them a generation of vipers, not indeed that he blamed the Patriarchs, or called them vipers.

(ubi sup.) For it is not sufficient for the penitent to leave off his sins, he must also bring forth the fruits of repentance, as it is in the Psalms, depart from evil and do good, (Ps. 34:14.) just as in order to heal, it will not do to pluck out the arrow only, but we must also apply a salve to the wound. But he says not fruit, but fruits, signifying abundance.

(ubi sup.) Not meaning thereby that they had not descended in their natural course from Abraham, but that it avails them nothing to have Abraham for their father, unless they observed the relationship in respect of virtue. For Scripture is accustomed to entitle laws of relationship, such as do not exist by nature, but are derived from virtue or vice. To whichsoever of these two a man conforms himself, he is called its son or brother.

(ubi sup.) As if He said, Think not that if you perish the Patriarch will be deprived of sons, for God even from stones can produce men unto him, and prolong the line of his descendants. For so has it been from the beginning, seeing that for men to be made from stones unto Abraham is but equivalent to the coming forth of a son from the dead womb of Sarah.

It is elegantly said, that beareth not fruit, and it is added, good. For God created man an animal fond of employment, and constant activity is natural to him, but idleness is unnatural. For idleness is hurtful to every member of the body, but much more to the soul. For the soul being by nature in constant motion does not admit of being slothful. But as idleness is an evil, so also is an unworthy activity. But having before spoken of repentance, he now declares that the axe lies near, not indeed actually cutting, but only striking terror.
d. AD 444Cyril of AlexandriaPost-NiceneSourceCommentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon 7
WE affirm therefore that the blessed Baptist, as being full of the Holy Ghost, was not ignorant of the daring acts that Jewish wickedness would venture against Christ. For he foreknew that they would both disbelieve in Him, and wagging their envenomed tongue, would pour forth railings and accusations against Him: accusing Him at one time of being born of fornication; at another, as one who wrought His miracles by the help of Beelzebub, prince of the devils: and again, as one that had a devil, and was no whit better than a Samaritan. Having this therefore in view, he calls even those of them who repent wicked, and reproves them because, though they had the law speaking unto them the mystery of Christ, and the predictions of the prophets relating thereunto, they nevertheless had become dull of hearing, and unready for faith in Christ the Saviour of all. "For who hath warned you to flee from the coining wrath?" Was it not the inspired Scripture, which tells the happiness of those who believe in Christ, but forewarns those who believe not, and are ignorant, that they will be condemned to severe and inevitable punishment?
d. AD 604Gregory the DialogistEarly MedievalSourceForty Gospel Homilies, Homily 20
For because this statement aims at this—that He will be seen by all flesh at the final examination—it is rightly added: "He said therefore to the crowds that went out to be baptized by him: You offspring of vipers, who has shown you to flee from the wrath to come?" For the wrath to come is the punishment of final vengeance, which the sinner cannot then escape who does not now have recourse to the laments of penance. And it should be noted that evil offspring, imitating the actions of evil parents, are called offspring of vipers, because by envying the good and persecuting them, by returning evil to some, by seeking injuries against their neighbors—since in all these things they follow the ways of their carnal forebears—they are as if venomous children born from venomous parents.
d. AD 604Gregory the Dialogistas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Early MedievalSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(ubi sup.) Or else, All flesh, i. e. Every man can not see the salvation of God in Christ in this life. The Prophet therefore stretches his eye beyond to the last day of judgment, when all men both the elect and the reprobate shall equally see Him.

(in Hom. 20, in Ev.) Because the Jews hated good men, and persecuted them, following the steps of their carnal parents, they are by birth the poisonous sons, as it were, of poisonous or sorcerous parents. But because the preceding verse declares that at the last judgment Christ shall be seen by all flesh, it is rightly added, Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? The wrath to come being the awarding of final punishment.

(ubi sup.) But because he cannot then flee from the wrath of God, who now has not recourse to the sorrows of repentance, it is added, Bring forth therefore fruits.

(ubi sup.) He warns them that they must bring forth not only the fruits of repentance, but fruits worthy of repentance. For he that has violated no law, to him it is permitted to use what is lawful, but if a man has fallen into sin, he ought so to cut himself off from what is lawful, as he remembers to have committed what is unlawful. For the fruit of good works ought not to be equal in the man who has sinned less, and the man who has sinned more, nor in him who has fallen into no crimes, and him who has fallen into some. In this way it is adapted to the conscience of each man, that they should seek for so much the greater blessing on good works through repentance, as they have by guilt brought on themselves the heavier penalties.

(ubi sup.) But the Jews glorying in their noble birth were unwilling to acknowledge themselves sinners, because they were descended from the stock of Abraham. So then it is rightly said, And begin not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham for our father.

(ubi sup.) Or we may take it in this way; The tree represents the whole human race in this world, but the axe is our redeemer, who by the handle and iron, as it were, is held indeed in the hand of man, but strikes by the power of God. Which axe indeed is now laid at the root of the tree; for although it waits patiently, yet it is plain what it is about to do. And we must observe that the said axe is to be laid not at the branches, but at the root. For when the children of the wicked are taken away, what is this but the cutting off of the branches of an unfruitful tree. But when the whole family together with the parent is removed, the unfruitful tree is cut off from the very root. But every hardened sinner finds the fire of hell the quicker prepared for him, as he disdains to bring forth the fruits of good works. Hence it follows, Every one then.
d. AD 662Maximus the Confessoras quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Early MedievalSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(lib. Ascet.) The fruit of repentance is an equanimity of soul, which we do not fully obtain, as long as we are at times affected by our passions, for not as yet have we performed the fruits worthy of repentance. Let us then repent truly, that being delivered from our passions we may obtain the pardon of their sins.
d. AD 735BedeEarly MedievalSourceOn the Gospel of Luke
He said therefore to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him: "Brood of vipers," etc. For the coming wrath is the judgment of final retribution. The sinner will not be able to escape this judgment who now does not turn to the laments of penance. And it is to be noted that the offspring of the wicked, imitating the actions of their evil parents, are called a brood of vipers. Because by envying the good and persecuting them, by repaying evil to others, by seeking to harm their neighbors, in all these things they follow the ways of their carnal predecessors, as if venomous offspring born of venomous parents. But since we have already sinned, since we are entangled in the habit of evil custom, let him tell us what we must do to be able to flee from the coming wrath.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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