English · KJV

Luke 6:44

“Parables of Discipleship and Integrity”Luke 6:39–45

King James Version
For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.

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

KJV (with Strong's)
For G1063 every G1538 tree G1186 is known G1097 by G1537 his own G2398 fruit G2590. For G1063 of G1537 thorns G173 men do not G3756 gather G4816 figs G4810, nor G3761 of G1537 a bramble bush G942 gather they G5166 grapes G4718.

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

Berean Standard Bible
For each tree is known by its own fruit. Indeed, figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor grapes from brambles.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
For each tree is known by its own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.

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

World English Bible Messianic
For each tree is known by its own fruit. For people don’t gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.

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

Geneva Bible (1599)
For euery tree is knowen by his owne fruite: for neither of thornes gather men figges, nor of bushes gather they grapes.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
for each tree from its own fruit is known, for not from thorns do they gather figs, nor from a bramble do they crop a grape.

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
19 Greek words
  1. ἕκαστονhekastonEachG1538A-NSNAdjective Nominative Singular Neuter
  2. γὰρgarforG1063CONJConjunction
  3. δένδρονdendrontreeG1186N-NSNNoun Nominative Singular Neuter
  4. ἐκekbyG1537PREPPreposition
  5. τοῦtoutheG3588T-GSMDefinite article Genitive Singular Masculine
  6. ἰδίουidiouownG2398A-GSMAdjective Genitive Singular Masculine
  7. καρποῦkarpoufruitG2590N-GSMNoun Genitive Singular Masculine
  8. γινώσκεταιginōsketaiis knownG1097V-PPI-3SVerb Present Passive Indicative 3rd Singular
  9. οὐouNotG3756PRT-NNegative Particle Negative
  10. γὰρgarforG1063CONJConjunction
  11. ἐξexfromG1537PREPPreposition
  12. ἀκανθῶνakanthōnthornsG173N-GPFNoun Genitive Plural Feminine
  13. συλλέγουσινsullegousindo they gatherG4816V-PAI-3PVerb Present Active Indicative 3rd Plural
  14. σῦκαsukafigsG4810N-APNNoun Accusative Plural Neuter
  15. οὐδὲoudenorG3761CONJ-NConjunction Negative
  16. ἐκekfromG1537PREPPreposition
  17. βάτουbatoua bramble bushG942N-GSFNoun Genitive Singular Feminine
  18. σταφυλὴνstaphulēngrapesG4718N-ASFNoun Accusative Singular Feminine
  19. τρυγῶσινtrugōsingather theyG5166V-PAI-3PVerb Present Active Indicative 3rd Plural
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

Every tree is known by its own fruit, as plainly as men gather figs from fig trees and grapes from vines, and never from thorns and brambles.

“For every tree is known by his own fruit.”

“For”, gár, gives the reason for what precedes. A tree is known (ginṓskō) by what it bears, and so is a person.

“For of thorns men do not gather figs,”

A thornbush has no figs to give, however long one searches it.

“nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.”

A second case makes the point certain. Wild brambles stand for a life that yields nothing good.

Passage studyLuke 6:39–45

Clear Sight, Good Fruit and a Good Heart

39And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master. 41And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 42Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye. 43For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Summary

Jesus is still preaching the sermon he began on the plain. He has just told his hearers to love their enemies and to give up condemning one another, and now he gives them a string of short sayings about sight, teachers and the heart. A blind man who leads another blind man brings both of them into the ditch. A disciple grows to be like his teacher, so the teacher he chooses matters. A man who wants to take a speck out of his brother’s eye must first deal with the beam in his own. And a tree shows what kind it is by its fruit, just as a man’s words show what is stored in his heart. Together these sayings teach that clear sight and good fruit both come from a heart that God has made good, and they point us to Christ, the one guide who sees perfectly.

Can the blind lead the blind?

A blind guide takes everyone who follows him into the ruin he falls into himself. Luke calls this saying a parable, a short picture that carries a spiritual truth, and Jesus speaks it to his disciples and to the crowd gathered to hear him. He puts it as two questions, and the answer to both is plain to anyone who hears them.

The word for blind, typhlós, means unable to see, and figuratively unable to understand. To lead is hodēgéō, built on the word for a way, and it means to show the way, to guide or to teach. The ditch, bóthynos, is a pit or a hole in the ground. Off the main roads of Galilee and Judaea a traveller could meet unseen pits and ravines, so a fall into one was a danger everyone knew. In the parable the ditch stands for ruin, and the word “both” carries the weight, because the leader and the one he leads end up in the same place.

Matthew records the same saying, spoken of the Pharisees: “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch” (Matthew 15:14).

Who are the blind guides?

In Jesus’ own day they were above all the scribes and Pharisees, who prided themselves on knowing the Law and on guiding the people. Jesus calls them “blind guides” (Matthew 23:16). His woes against them dwell on that same blindness (Matthew 23:16–26), and in John he speaks of a blindness that belongs to people who say they see (John 9:39–41).

The saying reaches every person with spiritual influence over others, whether pastor, teacher, parent or mentor, who tries to guide people before he has clear sight from God’s truth. James warns, “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation” (James 3:1). Peter writes that “there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies”, and that through covetousness they will make merchandise of those who listen to them (2 Peter 2:1–3).

The follower carries his share of the responsibility too, since he falls into the same ditch. A disciple weighs what he is taught against Scripture, and his own sight grows through prayer, the study of God’s word and reliance on the Holy Spirit.

A disciple becomes like his teacher

The next saying explains why the choice of a guide matters so much: “The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.” A disciple, mathētḗs, is a learner, from the verb manthanō, “to learn”, and in Jesus’ ministry a disciple was a follower who took up his teacher’s whole way of life. The master is the didáskalos, the teacher or instructor. The same word is used of false teachers as well as true ones, so a disciple grows like whichever teacher he follows, and a blind teacher makes blind pupils.

A rabbi’s disciples, his talmidim, lived with him, watched how he acted, and copied his life and his reading of the Law. One saying from that world urged a disciple to cover himself with the dust of his rabbi’s feet, so closely was he to follow. Jesus’ hearers knew this pattern well, and he takes it up for those who follow him. They are to become like him in character and in mission, and agreeing with his teaching is only where that begins.

What does it mean to be perfect here?

The KJV’s “perfect” translates katartízō, a verb meaning to complete thoroughly, to repair, to adjust, to fit, to frame or to restore. Here it describes a disciple whose training is complete, one who has been equipped and made fit, so the sense is “fully trained”. It speaks of readiness and full competence under the teacher, and sinless perfection is outside its meaning here. The disciple stays below his master, and the promise is that, once fully trained, he will be like him. Matthew records the same saying (Matthew 10:24–25).

For us the master is Christ himself, and becoming like him is the goal of all discipleship. God has purposed that his people be conformed to the image of his Son (Romans 8:29), and the church is built up until we come to the full stature of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Jesus himself spoke as the Father taught him (John 8:28), and whoever says he abides in Christ is to walk as he walked (1 John 2:6). That likeness grows by the work of the Spirit, as we are changed into the same image “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18), and the one we come to resemble is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Following him means taking up the way of the cross (Luke 9:23–27).

Coming between the blind guide and the beam, this saying also prepares for what follows. A disciple who has been fully trained by his Master is the one equipped to help others.

The mote and the beam

Jesus now turns the warning about blind guides on his hearers themselves: “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” The mote, kárphos, from a root meaning to wither, is a dry twig, a splinter, a bit of straw or chaff, something tiny and easily missed. The beam, dokós, from the idea of holding up, is a great piece of timber, a rafter or a log used in building. People who knew carpentry and building would picture both at once, and the picture is meant to be absurd: a man with a log in his eye peering at a splinter in someone else’s.

The verbs sharpen the point. The man “beholdest” (blépō) his brother’s speck, looking right at it, while his own beam goes unperceived. That second verb, katanoéō, from katá and noéō, means to observe fully or to consider carefully. He studies the small fault closely and passes over the great one. “Thine own eye” is ídios ophthalmós, and ídios simply means one’s own. The brother, adelphós, is a fellow member of the community, a fellow disciple or a neighbour. The mote stands for a small fault in another person, and the beam for a great, unacknowledged sin in ourselves, often the pride and self-righteousness that make us so quick to find fault.

“Thou hypocrite”

In the next verse the man goes further and offers his help: “Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye.” The offer sounds kind, but he still “beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye”, and Luke uses the same verb, blépō, for the looking he does and the looking he leaves undone.

Jesus calls him “Thou hypocrite”. The hypokritḗs was first an actor, a stage player who took on an assumed character. Jesus uses the word for a person who plays at righteousness, appearing pious while serious sin lies unaddressed within. The word is strong because the danger is great. Such pretence undermines love, hinders growth and distorts righteousness itself, which begins in humility before God. Jesus brings the same charge against religious leaders who put outward show ahead of inward change (Matthew 23). He tells them they are careful about outward observances while their hearts go unchanged (Matthew 23:27–28), and Luke records the same rebukes in the woes to the Pharisees and lawyers (Luke 11:37–54).

Then comes the command: “cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.” Casting out the beam is honest self-examination and repentance, and the one who has dealt with his own sin will “see clearly”. That verb, diablépō, means to look through, to recover full vision. Matthew gives the same teaching (Matthew 7:1–5), and Paul warns of God’s judgment on the hypocrisy that condemns others (Romans 2:1–3). In Luke these words follow straight on from Jesus’ commands about judging and condemning (Luke 6:37–38).

Does Jesus forbid correcting a brother?

Jesus sets an order for correction, and its goal is that the brother be helped: “and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.” The man who has dealt with his own beam comes to his brother humbly, knowing his own need of forgiveness, and he can help in love where before he would only have condemned. Paul describes the same work when he tells believers to restore a brother who stumbles gently and to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:1–2). What Jesus forbids is the hypocrite’s posture, and the remedy he gives is a clear eye, after which the speck can still come out.

A tree is known by its fruit

“For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” The tree, déndron, stands for a person, and its fruit, karpós, for what that person produces. Karpós is the produce of a plant, what is plucked from it, and figuratively the natural result of what has been done: words, deeds, attitudes and the whole pattern of a life. The good tree is kalós, good, and the corrupt tree and its fruit are saprós, rotten, decayed, worthless, unfit to use or eat. A sound tree gives sound fruit and a diseased or wild tree gives poor or inedible fruit, as every farmer in Jesus’ audience knew. A fig tree was expected to bear figs, and a good fig tree good figs.

The next verse draws the conclusion: “For every tree is known by his own fruit.” Ginṓskō means to know, to come to know, to perceive or understand, and here the kind of tree becomes plain from what grows on it. “His own fruit” belongs to that tree and comes from it. Then Jesus gives two cases from the fields: “For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.” Thorns and brambles are wild, fruitless plants, and the land was full of them, while figs and grapes came from tended orchards and vineyards. In the same way a heart full of malice or deceit yields malice and deceit, and real love and truth come from a heart that God has made good.

Matthew records this teaching in a warning against false prophets (Matthew 7:15–20). There Jesus says, “Ye shall know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). That ties these verses back to the blind guide of verse 39, because the way to tell a true teacher from a false one is to look at what his life produces. James uses the same kind of picture when he asks whether one fountain can give both salt water and fresh, or a fig tree bear olives (James 3:11–12). The good fruit God looks for in his people is the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace and the rest (Galatians 5:22–23).

What does bad fruit say about a believer?

Jesus is speaking of the nature of a tree and what it bears over time, so the steady pattern of a life shows what is at its root. We who believe still sin, and at times we bear bad fruit. The overall course of a good tree, a true believer, is good fruit, produced in us by the Holy Spirit. A corrupt tree is a nature still set against God and unrenewed by him, and whatever good deeds it shows now and then, the pattern and the motives of its life show what kind of tree it is.

Is it judging to know a tree by its fruit?

Knowing a tree by its fruit is discernment, and Jesus gives it to his followers in the same sermon in which he forbids condemning others (Luke 6:37). The judging he forbids is the hypocrite’s: a spirit that hunts for faults, condemns others for small things while blind to its own great ones, presumes to read motives, and takes the place that belongs to God as judge. Discernment watches what a life steadily produces, especially the life of someone who claims to speak for God, and it lets us choose wisely whom to follow and trust. It is humble, it aims at restoring others and protecting the flock, and it leaves a person’s eternal state with God. Paul prays that love may grow in knowledge and judgment (Philippians 1:9–10).

Out of the abundance of the heart

The last saying names the root that the tree pictured: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” The heart, kardía, is the innermost part of a person. In Scripture it holds the whole inner life, the mind, the will, the conscience and moral character as well as the feelings, as the Hebrew lev or levav does in the Old Testament. Everything a person thinks, intends and does springs from it, and Proverbs says of the heart, “out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

The treasure, thēsaurós, from a word meaning to place or put, is a deposit, something stored up. Jesus’ hearers knew what it was to lay up valuables, and the heart is that kind of storehouse. What a man brings out is whatever has been gathered there, good or evil, so outward wickedness is the symptom of a disease within.

The reason comes with “for”, gár. The abundance, perísseuma, is a surplus or superabundance, what spills over when something is full, and our mouths speak what fills our hearts. Words are the plainest fruit of all, and they carry weight. Among the Jews words were taken to show the speaker’s true nature and to have power to bless or to curse. Matthew records Jesus saying the same about the abundance of the heart and the mouth (Matthew 12:34), and Jesus also teaches that what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart (Matthew 15:18–19). James shows how hard the tongue is to tame (James 3:8–10). The change our speech needs begins in the heart our words flow from.

How does a heart become good?

God gives a new heart. Scripture says that the human heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9) and that by nature it leans toward sin (Romans 3:10–12), so the change is God’s work of grace, often called the new birth. It begins with repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, and through Ezekiel God promises to give his people a new heart and to put his Spirit within them (Ezekiel 36:26–27). The Spirit of Christ dwells in those who belong to him (Romans 8:9–11). The new heart is then filled with good treasure as God’s word is hidden in it (Psalm 119:11), through prayer, fellowship and obedience. What we let into our minds, from what we watch to the company we keep and the thoughts we dwell on, adds to the store as well.

Christ, the guide who sees and the tree that is good

Every warning in these verses finds its answer in Jesus. He is the guide with perfect sight: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). As the Good Shepherd he calls his own sheep and leads them out (John 10:3–4) into abundant life, and he is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). He also gives sight to the blind, as he did for the man born blind (John 9:1–7), and he opens eyes that were closed to God.

He alone lived a sinless life, and so he alone is fully fit to judge. Yet God sent his Son into the world to save it (John 3:17). Our beams come out through his death, for in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7), and when we confess our sins he forgives us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). He came to call sinners as a physician comes to the sick (Mark 2:17), and those he has healed can go to their brothers with the same grace, loving one another as he has loved us (John 13:34).

He is also the good tree whose fruit was all good, and the good man whose words came from a perfectly good heart, which is why he taught with authority (Matthew 7:29). He calls himself the true vine (John 15:1), and the whole of John 15 teaches that his disciples bear fruit by abiding in him. The branch that abides in him bears much fruit (John 15:5), and the Father is glorified when his disciples do (John 15:8). Good fruit in us is the evidence of his life lived out through us by his Spirit.

How the sayings hang together

These verses come from the sermon Jesus preached on the plain (Luke 6:17–49), Luke’s counterpart to Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount. It opens with the blessings and woes (Luke 6:20–26) and continues with the commands to love enemies, turn the other cheek, give freely and refrain from judging (Luke 6:27–38). The sayings here follow from that call, because a person who would help others needs a good teacher, a clear eye and a renewed heart. The warnings on judging and the beam (Luke 6:37–42) lead into the tree and the heart, and Jesus then closes the sermon with the two builders (Luke 6:46–49), where hearing his words and doing them is the fruit that shows a life built on rock. All through his teaching he looks for eyes that see and ears that hear (Luke 8:8).

The sight and the heart God gives

These verses show how seriously God takes the guiding of his people. He cares where his sheep are led, and he has given them a Shepherd who sees perfectly and leads them into life. He is patient with the long work of making disciples, and the promise stands that every one that is perfect shall be as his master, with Christ himself as the Master we are being made like.

The mote and the beam show the honesty God loves. The one who has faced his own sin before God and found it forgiven sees his brother clearly and can help him gently.

The tree and the treasure show that God works from the inside. He promises a new heart, and from that heart, filled with his word and his Spirit, come good words and good deeds, as naturally as figs come from a fig tree. Day by day our words show what he has been storing there.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Luke 6:37–49. He set out his notes in a four-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 13 verses
Passage under commentLuke 6:37–49
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details[1.] [2.] Fine details

All these sayings of Christ we had before in Matthew; some of them in ch. 7, others in other places. They were sayings that Christ often used; they needed only to be mentioned, it was easy to apply them. Grotius thinks that we need not be critical here in seeking for the coherence: they are golden sentences, like Solomon's proverbs or parables. Let us observe here,

I.We ought to be very candid in our censures of others, because we need grains of allowance ourselves:

"Therefore judge not others, because then you yourselves shall not be judged; therefore condemn not others, because then you yourselves shall not be condemned, Luke 6:37. Exercise towards others that charity which thinks no evil, which bears all things, believes and hopes all things; and then others will exercise that charity towards you. God will not judge and condemn you, men will not." They that are merciful to other people's names shall find others merciful to theirs.

II.If we are of a giving and a forgiving spirit, we shall ourselves reap the benefit of it:

Forgive and you shall be forgiven. If we forgive the injuries done to us by others, others will forgive our inadvertencies. If we forgive others' trespasses against us, God will forgive our trespasses against him. And he will be no less mindful of the liberal that devise liberal things (Luke 6:38): Give, and it shall be given to you. God, in his providence, will recompense it to you; it is lent to him, and he is not unrighteous to forget it (Hebrews 6:10), but he will pay it again. Men shall return it into your bosom; for God often makes use of men as instruments, not only of his avenging, but of his rewarding justice. If we in a right manner give to others when they need, God will incline the hearts of others to give to us when we need, and to give liberally, good measure pressed down and shaken together. They that sow plentifully shall reap plentifully. Whom God recompenses he recompenses abundantly.

III.We must expect to be dealt with ourselves as we deal with others:

With the same measure that ye mete it shall be measured to you again. Those that deal hardly with others must acknowledge, as Adoni-bezek did (Judges 1:7), that God is righteous, if others deal hardly with them, and they may expect to be paid in their own coin; but they that deal kindly with others have reason to hope that, when they have occasion, God will raise them up friends who will deal kindly with them. Though Providence does not always go by this rule, because the full and exact retributions are reserved for another world, yet, ordinarily, it observes a proportion sufficient to deter us from all acts of rigour and to encourage us in all acts of beneficence.

IV.Those who put themselves under the guidance of the ignorant and erroneous are likely to perish with them (Luke 6:39):

Can the blind lead the blind? Can the Pharisees, who are blinded with pride, prejudice, and bigotry, lead the blind people into the right way? Shall not both fall together into the ditch? How can they expect any other? Those that are led by the common opinion, course, and custom, of this world, are themselves blind, and are led by the blind, and will perish with the world that sits in darkness. Those that ignorantly, and at a venture, follow the multitude to do evil, follow the blind in the broad way that leads the many to destruction.

V.Christ's followers cannot expect better treatment in the world than their Master had, Luke 6:40.

Let them not promise themselves more honour or pleasure in the world than Christ had, nor aim at the worldly pomp and grandeur which he was never ambitious of, but always declined, nor affect that power in secular things which he would not assume; but every one that would show himself perfect, an established disciple, let him be as his Master - dead to the world, and every thing in it, as his Master is; let him live a life of labour and self-denial as his Master doth, and make himself a servant of all; let him stoop, and let him toil, and do all the good he can, and then he will be a complete disciple.

VI.Those who take upon them to rebuke and reform others are concerned to look to it that they be themselves blameless, and harmless, and without rebuke, Luke 6:41, Luke 6:42.

1.Those with a very ill grace censure the faults of others who are not aware of their own faults. It is very absurd for any to pretend to be so quick-sighted as to spy small faults in others, like a mote in the eye, when they are themselves so perfectly past feeling as not to perceive a beam in their own eye.

2.Those are altogether unfit to help to reform others whose reforming charity does not begin at home. How canst thou offer thy service to thy brother, to pull out the mote from his eye, which requires a good eye as well as a good hand, when thou thyself hast a beam in thine own eye, and makest no complaint of it?

3.Those therefore who would be serviceable to the souls of others must first make it appear that they are solicitous about their own souls. To help to pull the mote out of our brother's eye is a good work, but then we must qualify ourselves for it by beginning with ourselves; and our reforming our own lives may, by the influence of example, contribute to others reforming theirs.

VII.We may expect that men's words and actions will be according as they are, according as their hearts are, and according as their principles are.

1.The heart is the tree, and the words and actions are fruit according to the nature of the tree, Luke 6:43, Luke 6:44. If a man be really a good man, if he have a principle of grace in his heart, and the prevailing bent and bias of the soul be towards God and heaven, though perhaps he may not abound in fruit, though some of his fruits be blasted, and though he may be sometimes like a tree in winter, yet he does not bring forth corrupt fruit; though he may not do you all the good he should, yet he will not in any material instance do you hurt. If he cannot reform ill manners, he will not corrupt good manners. If the fruit that a man brings forth be corrupt, if a man's devotion tend to debauch the mind and conversation, if a man's conversation be vicious, if he be a drunkard or fornicator, if he be a swearer or liar, if he be in any instance unjust or unnatural, his fruit is corrupt, and you may be sure that he is not a good tree. On the other hand, a corrupt tree doth not bring forth good fruit, though it may bring forth green leaves; for of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble do they gather grapes. You may, if you please, stick figs upon thorns, and hang a bunch of grapes upon a bramble, but they neither are, nor can be, the natural product of the trees; so neither can you expect any good conduct from those who have justly a bad character. If the fruit be good, you may conclude that the tree is so; if the conversation be holy, heavenly, and regular, though you cannot infallibly know the heart, yet you may charitably hope that it is upright with God; for every tree is known by its fruit. But the vile person will speak villany (Isaiah 32:6), and the experience of the moderns herein agrees with the proverb of the ancients, that wickedness proceedeth from the wicked, 1 Samuel 24:13.

2.The heart is the treasure, and the words and actions are the expenses or produce from that treasure, Luke 6:45. This we had, Matthew 12:34, Matthew 12:35. The reigning love of God and Christ in the heart denominates a man a good man; and it is a good treasure a man may bring forth that which is good. But where the love of the world and the flesh reign there is an evil treasure in the heart, out of which an evil man is continually bringing forth that which is evil; and by what is brought forth you may know what is in the heart, as you may know what is in the vessel, water or wine, by what is drawn out from it, John 2:8. Of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks; what the mouth ordinarily speaks, speaks with relish and delight, generally agrees with what is innermost and uppermost in the heart: He that speaks of the earth is earthly, John 3:31. Not but that a good man may possibly drop a bad word, and a wicked man make use of a good word to serve a bad turn; but, for the most part, the heart is as the words are, vain or serious; it therefore concerns us to get our hearts filled, not only with good, but with abundance of it.

VIII.It is not enough to hear the sayings of Christ, but we must do them; not enough to profess relation to him, as his servants, but we must make conscience of obeying him.

1.It is putting an affront upon him to call him Lord, Lord, as if we were wholly at his command, and had devoted ourselves to his service, if we do not make conscience of conforming to his will and serving the interests of his kingdom. We do but mock Christ, as they that in scorn said, Hail, King of the Jews, if we call him ever so often Lord, Lord, and yet walk in the way of our own hearts and in the sight of our own eyes. Why do we call him Lord, Lord, in prayer (compare Matthew 7:21, Matthew 7:22), if we do not obey his commands? He that turns away his ear from hearing the law, his prayer shall be an abomination.

2.It is putting a cheat upon ourselves if we think that a bare profession of religion will save us, that hearing the sayings of Christ will bring us to heaven, without doing them. This he illustrates by a similitude (Luke 6:47-49), which shows,

(1.)That those only make sure work for their souls and eternity, and take the course that will stand them in stead in a trying time, who do not only come to Christ as his scholars, and hear his sayings but do them, who think, and speak, and act, in every thing according to the established rules of his holy religion. They are like a house built on a rock. These are they that take pains in religion, as they do, - that dig deep, that found their hope upon Christ, who is the Rock of ages (and other foundation can no man lay); these are they who provide for hereafter, who get ready for the worst, who lay up in store a good foundation for the time to come, for the eternity to come, 1 Timothy 6:19. They who do thus do well for themselves; for,

[1.]They shall keep their integrity, in times of temptation and persecution; when others fall from their own stedfastness, as the seed on the stony ground, they shall stand fast in the Lord.

[2.]They shall keep their comfort, and peace, and hope, and joy, in the midst of the greatest distresses. The storms and streams of affliction shall not shock them, for their feet are set upon a rock, a rock higher than they.

[3.]Their everlasting welfare is secured. In death and judgment they are safe. Obedient believers are kept by the power of Christ, through faith, unto salvation, and shall never perish.

(2.)That those who rest in a bare hearing of the sayings of Christ, and do not live up to them, are but preparing for a fatal disappointment: He that heareth and doeth not (that knows his duty, but lives in the neglect of it), he is like a man that built a house without a foundation. He pleases himself with hopes that he has no ground for, and his hopes will fail him when he most needs the comfort of them, and when he expects the crowning of them; when the stream beats vehemently upon his house, it is gone, the sand it is built upon is washed away, and immediately it falls, Such is the hope of the hypocrite, though he has gained, when God takes away his soul; it is as the spider's web, and the giving up of the ghost.

Historical interpretation

Five Centuries of Reception

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

14 quotes · AD 253–735
Ante-NicenePost-NiceneEarly Medieval
300400500600700

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 AlexandriaAnte-NiceneSourceFRAGMENTS ON LUKE 112
"The good tree" is the Holy Spirit. The "bad tree" is the devil and his underlings. The person who has the Holy Spirit manifests the fruits of the Spirit, which the apostle describes when he says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control." The one who has the opposing power brings forth briars and thistles, the passions of dishonor.
d. AD 378Titus of Bostraas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
But take not these words to thyself as an encouragement to idleness, for the tree is moved conformably to its nature, but thou hast the exercise of free will; and every barren tree has been ordained for some good, but thou wert created unto the good work of virtue.
d. AD 379Basil of Caesareaas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(Hom. 9, in Hexameron.) In truth, self knowledge seems the most important of all. For not only the eye, looking at outward things, fails to exercise its sight upon itself, but our understanding also, though very quick in apprehending the sin of another, is slow to perceive its own defects.

The quality of the words shows the heart from which they proceed, plainly manifesting the inclination of our thoughts. Hence it follows, For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
d. AD 397Ambrose of Milanas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
On the thorns of this world the fig cannot be found, which as being better in its second fruit, is well fitted to be a similitude of the resurrection. Either because, as you read, The fig trees have put forth their green figs, (Cant. 2:13.) that is, the unripe and worthless fruit came first in the Synagogue. Or because our life is imperfect in the flesh, perfect in the resurrection, and therefore we ought to cast far from us worldly cares, which eat into the mind and scorch up the soul, that by diligent culture we may obtain the perfect fruits. This therefore has reference to the world and the resurrection, the next to the soul and the body, as it follows, Nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. Either because no one living in sin obtains fruit to his soul, which like the grape nearest the ground is rotten, on the higher branches becomes ripe. Or because no one can escape the condemnations of the flesh, but he whom Christ has redeemed, Who as a grape hung on the tree.
AD 400Pseudo-ClementPost-NiceneSourceTwo Epistles on Virginity
For virginity of such a kind is impure, and disowned by all good works. For "every tree whatsoever is known from its fruits." "See that you understand what I say: God will give you understanding." [2 Timothy 2:7]
d. AD 407John Chrysostomas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(Hom. 42. in Matt.) But although the fruit is caused by the tree, yet it brings to us the knowledge of the tree, because the distinctive nature of the tree is made evident by the fruit, as it follows, For every tree is known by its fruit.

(Hom. 42. in Matt.) For it is a natural consequence when wickedness abounds within, that wicked words are breathed as far as the mouth; and therefore when you hear of a man uttering abominable things, do not suppose that there lies only so much wickedness in him as is expressed in his words, but believe the fountain to be more copious than the stream.
d. AD 444Cyril of AlexandriaPost-NiceneSourceCOMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 33
See again, Christ commands that those who come to us must be distinguished not by their clothing but by what they really are. "By its fruit," he says, "the tree is known." It is ignorance and folly for us to expect to find the choicer kinds of fruits on thorns, grapes for instance, and figs. So it is ridiculous for us to imagine that we can find in hypocrites and the profane anything that is admirable, such as the nobleness of virtue.
d. AD 444Cyril of Alexandriaas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
Each man's life also will be a criterion of his character. For not by extrinsic ornaments and pretended humility is the beauty of true happiness discovered, but by those things which a man does; of which he gives an illustration, adding, For of thorns men do not gather figs.
d. AD 450Isidore of Pelusiumas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(lib. iv. ep. 81.) He does not then exclude repentance, but a continuance in evil, which as long as it is evil cannot bring forth good fruit, but being converted to virtue, will yield abundance. But what nature is to the tree, our affections are to us. If then a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit, how shall a corrupt heart?
d. AD 735BedeEarly MedievalSourceOn the Gospel of Luke
For each tree is known by its own fruit. Which fruit it is by which a tree should be distinguished as good or evil, the Apostle shows, saying: "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, quarrels, jealousies, wraths, strifes, dissensions, heresies, envies, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and such like. I forewarn you, as I have forewarned you, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, modesty, continence (Galatians 5). Furthermore, almsgiving, or prayer, or fasting, are indeed properly fruits of the good, but sometimes are simulated and even usurped by the wicked. About these the Lord says: "For they have received their reward" (Matthew 6). And elsewhere: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matthew 7). But for this reason, sheep should not hate their clothing, because wolves often hide themselves with it, showing one thing to deceive, and another to prey upon or kill those who cannot see the wolves under this sheep's clothing. Therefore, it is not this fruit by which he warns the tree should be known, but that which is shown above.
d. AD 735BedeEarly MedievalSourceHomilies on the Gospels 2.25
“Every tree which does not bear fruit will be cut down and cast into the fire.” He is referring to human beings as trees and to their works as the fruit. Do you want to know which are the bad trees and what are the bad fruits? The apostle teaches us this. He says, “The works of the flesh are manifest: they are fornication, impurity, self-indulgence, idolatry, sorcery, malice, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, conflict, factions, envy, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and things of this sort.” Do you want to hear whether trees which bring forth fruits such as these belong in the heavenly temple of the eternal King? The apostle continues: “I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not attain the kingdom of God.” He subsequently lists the fruits of a good tree. He says, “The fruit, however, of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faith, gentleness, self-control.”
d. AD 735BedeEarly MedievalSourceHomilies on the Gospels 2.25
“The good man produces good from the good treasure in his heart, and the evil man produces evil from the evil treasure.” The treasure in one’s heart is the intention of the thought, from which the Searcher of hearts judges the outcome.…Christ subsequently adds force to his pronouncement by clearly showing that good speech without the additional attestation of deeds is of no advantage at all. He asks, “And why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say?” To call upon the Lord seems to be the gift of a good treasure, the fruit of a good tree. “For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” If anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord resists the Lord’s commands by living perversely, it is evident that the good that the tongue has spoken has not been brought out of the good treasure in his heart. It was not the root of a fig tree but that of a thorn bush that produced the fruit of such a confession—a conscience, that is, bristling with vices, and not one filled with the sweetness of the love of the Lord.
d. AD 735Bedeas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Early MedievalSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
Our Lord continues the words which He had begun against the hypocrites, saying, For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; i. e. as if He says, If thou wouldest have a true and unfeigned righteousness, what thou settest forth in words make up also in works, for the hypocrite though he pretends to be good is not good, who doeth evil works; and the innocent though he be blamed, is not therefore evil, who doeth good works.

Or, I think the thorns and bramble are the cares of the world and the prickings of sin, but the figs and the grapes are the sweetness of a new life and the warmth of love, but the fig is not gathered from the thorns nor the grape from the bramble, because the mind still debased by the habits of the old man may pretend to, but cannot bring forth the fruits of the new man. But we must know, that as the fruitful palm tree is inclosed and supported by a hedge, and the thorn bearing fruit not its own, preserves it for the use of man, so the words and acts of the wicked wherein they serve the good are not done by the wicked themselves, but by the wisdom of God working upon them.

The treasure of the heart is the same as the root of the tree. He therefore who has in his heart the treasure of patience and perfect love, brings forth the best fruits, loving his enemy, and doing the other things which have been taught above. But he who keeps a bad treasure in his heart does the contrary to this.

By the speaking of the mouth the Lord signifies all things, which by word, or deed, or thought, we bring forth from the heart. For it is the manner of the Scripture to put words for deeds.
d. AD 735BedeEarly MedievalSourceOn the Gospel of Luke
For they do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they harvest grapes from a bramble. I think thorns and the bramble are the cares of the world and the pricks of vices, about which it was said to the sinful man: Your land will produce thorns and thistles for you (Gen. III). But the fig and the grape, the sweetness of a new way of life which the Lord hungered for in us, and the fervor of love, which gladdens the heart of man. About which, with the Gospel shining, the voice of the turtledove resonates far and wide on the earth, the fig tree has put forth its figs, the flowering vines have given their fragrance (Cant. II). But figs are not gathered from thorns, nor grapes from a bramble. Because a mind still oppressed by the habit of the old man can pretend, but cannot bear the fruit of the new man. But if anyone wishes to object and say that Moses harvested a grape from a bramble when he received useful counsel from a gentile relative, and that they gathered figs from thorns, to whom it was said about the Pharisees: Do what they say, but do not do what they do (Matth. XXIII); let them know that just as a true vine sometimes reclines entangled in a hedge, bearing its fruit, the thorn does not keep its fruit for human use, so the words or actions of the wicked, if they sometimes profit the good, it is not the wicked who make this happen, but it is done by the providence of the supreme plan.
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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