O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
34. generation of vipers ] Cp. ch. Mat 3:7.
abundance ] The same Greek word is translated, “that which was left,” Mar 8:8. Words are, as it were, the overflow of the heart.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
O generation of vipers! – Christ here applies the argument which he had suggested in the previous verse. They were a wicked race; like poisonous reptiles, with a corrupt and evil nature. They could not be expected to speak good things – that is, to speak favorably of him and his works. As the bad fruit of a tree was the proper effect of its nature, so were their words about him and his works the proper effect of their nature. The abundance or fullness of the heart produced the words of the lips. Vipers are a poisonous kind of serpents, not often a yard long, and about an inch thick, having a flat head. The males have two large teeth, through which a most deadly poison is thrown into the wound made by the bite. They are an emblem of malignity and mischief. These were strong expressions to be used by the meek and lowly Jesus; but they were not the effect of anger and malice; they were a declaration of the true character of the people with whom he was conversing – a declaration most justly deserved. See the notes at Mat 3:7.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 12:34-35
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart,
The treasures of a good and evil heart
I.
Describe the good treasure of the heart.
1. A good heart contains good affections.
2. Good desires.
3. Good intentions.
4. Good volitions.
5. Good passions.
II. Describe the evil treasures of the evil heart. The opposite to the good treasure.
III. That men are good or evil according to the good of evil treasure of the heart.
1. Every man forms his opinion of himself by the exercises of his heart.
2. It is a dictate of common sense that nothing can properly dominate men either morally good or evil, but that in which they are really active.
3. Scripture confirms this consideration-As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.
(1) This gives us a great idea of the heart.
(2):Religion chiefly consists in good affections.
(3) The propriety of Gods requiring sinners to change their hearts. (N. Emmons, D. D.)
I. The good man. Not the natural man; the regenerate man.
1. He has the life of God in his soul.
2. The spirit of God in his heart.
3. The peace of God in his conscience.
4. The power of God in his life.
II. The good treasure. Good because-
1. Given by a good God.
2. With a good design. The good things of which He speaks are
(1) the Person of Christ;
(2) the work of Christ;
(3) the fulness of Christ;
(4) the operation of His Spirit. All these subjects are good, pleasing, and profitable.
III. The evil man. He is without the life, spirit, love, peace, and power of God. He is evil because he possesses an evil heart, mixes with an evil world, is under the influence of an evil devil.
IV. The evil treasure.
1. Its evil nature.
2. Its evil tendency.
3. Its evil effects. Evil thoughts, words, and actions. (S. Barnard.)
The heart a reservoir
You have seen the great reservoirs provided by our water companies, in which the water that is to supply hundreds of streets and thousands of houses is kept. Now, the heart is just the reservoir of man; and our life is allowed to flow in its proper season. That life may flow through different pipes-the mouth, the hand, the eye; but still all the issues of hand, of eye, of lip, derive their source from the great fountain and central reservoir, the heart; and hence there is no difficulty in showing the great necessity that exists for keeping this reservoir-the heart-in a proper state and condition; since otherwise that which flows through the pipes must be tainted and corrupt. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The good treasure of the heart
The heart of many a poor, neglected Christian is as if we opened some rude sea-chest, brought by a foreign ship from distant lauds, which though it have so rude an outside, is full of pearls, and gems, and diamonds.
A sanctified heart
The devil knows that if there be any good treasure, it is in our hearts; and he would gladly have the key of these cabinets, that he might rob us of our jewels. A heart which is sanctified is better than a tongue that is silvered. He that gives only the skin of worship to God, receives only the shell of comfort from God. It is not the bare touching of the strings that makes an harmonious tune. A spiritual man may pray carnally, but a carnal man cannot pray spiritually. If Gods mercies do not eat out the heart of our sins, our sins will soon eat out the heart of our duties. A work that is heartless is a work that is fruitless. God cares not for the crazy cabinet, but for the precious jewel. (Archbishop Seeker.)
Of the necessity of settling good principles in the heart
I. Of the high importance of fixing good principles in the heart, if ever we would hope for a good course of life and action.
II. That the course of life and action will discover what is the prevailing principle of the heart, and will make it known to the world.
III. That the train of thought in which we delight will betray itself in speech, as well as in our general course of action; so that it will be known by the tendency of our conversation in this respect, whether we are good or evil.
IV. That it is of high importance that we set a watch upon our tongues, because we must give account, in the day of judgment, of everything we say, as well as everything we do. (J. Burroughs.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 34. O generation of vipers] These are apparently severe words; but they were extremely proper in reference to that execrable people to whom they were addressed: the whole verse is an inference from what was spoken before.
Out of the abundance (, the overflowings) of the heart] Wicked words and sinful actions may be considered as the overflowings of a heart that is more than full of the spirit of wickedness; and holy words and righteous deeds may be considered as the overflowings of a heart that is filled with the Holy Spirit, and running over with love to God and man.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The evangelist Luke, Luk 6:45, hath much the same with what is here.
O generation of vipers: John had so called them, and Christ again so called them, Mat 23:33. A viper is of all other the most venomous and dangerous serpent. Christ is calling them a generation of vipers, intimates that the Pharisees were generally a most mischievous faction for the souls of men.
How can ye, being evil, speak good things? Why do I (saith he) spend my time and breath in reproving or admonishing you? you have cankered hearts, full of pride, malice, and envy, and therefore, cannot ordinarily speak good things.
For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh: what men ordinarily and deliberately do speak is from the affections and thoughts of their hearts. Hence good men out of the good treasure of their hearts speak good things, that is, most ordinarily and commonly; and evil men out of the stock of malice, revenge, envy, pride and other lusts, which are in their hearts, speak evil things.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
34. O generation of vipers(Seeon Mt 3:7).
how can ye, being evil, speakgood things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouthspeaketha principle obvious enough, yet of deepestsignificance and vast application. In Lu6:45 we find it uttered as part of the discourse delivered afterthe choice of the apostles.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
O generation of vipers,…. Though they boasted of their being the seed of Abraham, yet their immediate ancestors were no other than vipers, deceitful, hurtful, poisonous creatures; and they were exactly like them: for though they made a fair show in the flesh, and outwardly appeared righteous, yet were inwardly full of the poison of wickedness, envy and malice; and which their pestilential breath, their blasphemy against the Spirit, fully discovered; and gave just cause and reason for so severe a reproof, and such resentment, as here made by Christ.
How can ye, being evil, speak good things? This is not to be expected, nor is it commonly and constantly done; an evil man may sometimes speak good things, or which seem to be so; but these are not his common talk; as he is, so, for the most part, is his language; his speech betrays him: and since these men were by nature evil, were destitute of the Spirit and grace of God, had no good thing in them, how should any good thing come out of them? And since they were so full of wickedness, spite and malice, it is no wonder that they belched out such blasphemous expressions concerning the miracles of Christ;
for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh: a phrase much like this is used by the Septuagint, in Ec 2:15. “I spoke abundance”, or “much in my heart”;
, “for the fool out of his abundance speaketh”: as there is abundance of folly in him, there is much delivered out by him; and where there is abundance of wickedness in the heart, if the grace of God is wanting to restrain it, much of it will come out by the lips; as is a man’s heart, ordinarily is his language.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Ye offspring of vipers ( ). These same terrible words the Baptist had used to the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to his baptism (Mt 3:7). But these Pharisees had deliberately made their choice and had taken Satan’s side. The charge against Jesus of being in league with Satan reveals the evil heart within. The heart “spurts out” () good or evil according to the supply (treasure, ) within. Verse 33 is like Mt 7:17-19. Jesus often repeated his crisp pungent sayings as every teacher does.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Comments.
1) “0 generation of vipers,” (gennemata echidnon) “0 ye offspring of vipers,” venomous serpents, having or holding, the nature or disposition of demons themselves, or that old serpent from Eden, the Devil, Gen 3:1; Gen 3:5; Gen 3:13-14; Mat 3:7.
2) “Now can ye, being evil, speak good things?” (pos dunasthe agathe lalein poneroi ontes) “How are you all able to speak good or ideal things, while being or existing as wicked ones from the heart?” They were given an I.D. (identification) of snake-hearted hypocrites, and children of the Devil, the occasion of their carping criticism of Jesus, His disciples and all that He did, Mat 23:33; Joh 8:44.
3) “For out of the abundance of the heart,” (ek gar tou perisseumatos tes kardios) “Because out of the overflow of the heart (the seat of emotional affections)” Mat 15:18-20; Jer 17:9. What man is in heart, is expressed in what he says in words. His speech “betrayeth” him, gives him away, Mat 26:73.
4) “The mouth speaketh.” (to stoma lalei) “The mouth speaks repeatedly,” reflecting what is in the heart, Psa 37:30-31; Psa 51:2; Pro 16:21; Pro 16:24; and man gives account of his words, decisions expressed, and even idle words, Mat 12:36-37.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
34. Offspring of vipers. The similarity between the tree and the fruit is here applied by Christ to nothing more than speech, because this afforded an opportunity of detecting the inward and concealed malice of the scribes; and that is the reason why he dwells so much on this one kind of sin. It is because their falsehood and slanders betrayed what was not so visible in the rest of their life, that Christ attacks them with such severity. “There is no reason to wonder,” he says, “that you vomit out wicked words; for your heart is full of malice.” Nor are we to suppose that he ought to have treated them with greater gentleness, because some might regard this reproof as excessively severe. There are other sins, no doubt, that call for harsh reproofs; but when hypocritical persons pervert what is right, or put a false coloring on what is sinful, such wickedness renders it necessary that God should thunder against it in a more terrible manner than against other sins.
Now the design of Christ, suggested by the present occurrence, was to condemn the wicked sophistry which turns light into darkness. This passage shows how highly valuable in the sight of the Lord truth is, since he maintains and defends it with such rigor. Would that this were earnestly considered by those persons, whose ingenuity is too ready to be employed in defending any cause, and whose venal tongue disguises impostures! In a particular manner, Christ waxes wroth against those whom ambition, or envy, or some other fraudulent design, prompts to slander, even when there is nothing that their conscience condemns. Against the Pharisees, too, as his custom was, Christ used greater harshness, because they were so captivated by an unfounded conviction of their righteousness, that an ordinary warning had no effect upon them. And till hypocrites are sharply pierced, (136) all that is said to them is treated with scorn and contempt.
How can you speak what is good? We have formerly hinted, that proverbial sayings ought not to be rigidly interpreted as an invariable rule, for they state nothing more than the ordinary fact. Sometimes, no doubt, a cruel man will deceive the simple by honied flatteries, a cunning man will cheat under the garb of simplicity, and a man of very wicked thoughts will breathe almost angelical purity of language. (137) But the ordinary practice demonstrates the truth of what Christ here says, that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh; agreeably to the old proverb, which declared the tongue to be the index of the mind. (138) And, indeed, whatever hidden and crooked recesses may exist in the heart of man, and whatever may be the amazing contrivances by which every man conceals his vices, yet the Lord extorts from each of them some kind of confession, so that they discover by the tongue their natural disposition and hidden feelings. We must also observe the purpose for which Christ employs those parables; for he reproaches the Pharisees with having manifested by words the malice which they had inwardly conceived. Besides, knowing them to be sworn enemies, he takes occasion from, single calumny to expose their whole life, and to destroy their credit with the people, which gave them too great influence in deceiving and in doing mischief. Though good speeches do not always proceed from the inmost heart, but originate (as the phrase is) on the tip of the tongue, yet it is an invariable truth, that bad speeches are indications of a bad heart.
(136) “ Iusques a ce qu’ils sentent qu’on le poigne a bon escient;” — “till they feel that they are pierced in good earnest.”
(137) “ Il semblera, a l’ouir parler, qu’il ait une purete Angelique;” — “to hear him speak, you would imagine that he has the purity of an Angel.”
(138) “ Comme aussi le proverbe ancien portoit, Que la langue est le charactere ou pourtrait du coeur;” — “as also the old proverb bore, That the tongue is the type or portrait of the heart.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(34) O generation of vipers.Better, as in Mat. 3:7, brood of vipers. Here the law which had been pressed in its logical bearing in the preceding verse, is brought in to explain the bitter and evil words of the Pharisees. As long as they were what they were, nothing else was to be looked for. Nothing but the serpents hiss could come from the brood of vipers, nothing but bitter words from hearts so full of bitterness.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
34. O generation of vipers Our Lord in the last verse had used these doctrines to show that he was pure and good, because his actions were so. He now turns upon his opponents to convince them that they were the reverse in nature, and must be the reverse in action. The term generation of vipers indicates that depravity is inborn. As the viper’s nature is derived by propagation from its original parents, so man’s moral nature is derived from his progenitors. Divine grace is therefore necessary as that which by nature we cannot have; and a man must as a free agent use that grace which worketh within him both to will and to do. He must not receive the grace of God in vain. How can ye They could not by mere nature, any more than an Ethiop can make himself white. Experience, Scripture, and reason teach this. God’s grace, over and above nature, must give the power of change, and man must use it. Abundance of the heart Abundance of the dispositions back of the will.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
‘You, being evil.’ Jesus was under no illusions about men. He had said a similar thing to His disciples (Mat 7:11). That did not render them unsavable. Indeed it explained why they needed to be made whole. But the difference was that the Pharisees wanted to go on being evil. And they revealed it continually by what they said. Furthermore by resisting the work of the Holy Spirit they were making themselves even more evil.
For these Pharisees who are so hardened against Him, and are falsely accusing Him (this is not all Pharisees), are revealing their corruptness by their evil words, and confirming it within them. In their subtlety and their reaction to His goodness they are revealing themselves to be like vipers, which lie in the way and bite all who disturb them (compare Gen 49:17). They are revealing that they are evil. ‘They have sharpened their tongue like a serpent, the poison of vipers is under their lips’ (Psa 140:3). How then can they speak good things? For the mouth speaks what is in the heart. It reveals what is within.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mat 12:34-37. O generation of vipers, &c. Without attending to the context, and our Saviour’s general argument, which he is here closely pursuing, interpreters have been strangely perplexed with the phrase every idle word, in Mat 12:36., which many of them have considered as a distinct and separate injunction; whereas it is closely connected with that calumnious and blasphemous way of speaking, proceeding out of an evil heart, which our Saviour is so sharply condemning in the Pharisees. He declares that the atrociousness of the blasphemyagainst the Holy Spirit is not lessened by its being a sin committed in words; the reason whereof is obvious: words are only the dress of thought; they express the dispositions of men’s hearts, and consequently partake of the nature of those dispositions; on which account we shall be rewarded or punished for our words as well as for our actions. The malicious and blasphemous heart discovers its malignity by malicious and blasphemous words, and those are the idle or wicked words whereof our Saviour here speaks, as the context indisputably proves. The editors of the Prussian testament have observed very well, that the LXX, whose style the apostles generally make use of, render the Hebrew word sheker, which signifies falsehood, reviling, calumny,by vain, or unprofitable. Compare the Hebrew with the LXX, Exo 5:9. Hos 12:1. Mic 1:14. Hab 2:3 and see Eph 5:6. Now it is manifest from Mat 12:31-32 that our Saviour is not speaking here of idle or impertinent, but of false, reviling, and blasphemous words. For this reason some manuscripts read , wicked, and thus St. Chrysostom understood it. To what these editors observe, we may add, that the word idle was used formerly, and perhaps at the time when our translation was made, to convey the idea of wicked; for though we read now in the first verse of the first psalm of Sternhold’s version, to wicked wight his ear, in some ancient copies it is, to idle wight. But God forbid, that any thing should drop from my pen, which might in the least measure contribute to injure the cause of holiness. I am perfectly conscious, from a thousand texts, as well as from the universal tenor of the word of God, that the whole of religion consists in living in the presence and to the glory of God in all well-pleasing, which includes the whole man, the whole life, and consequently the whole of our conversation; and that every thing we are, and speak and do, has a constant and immediate reference to our eternal state. But as an honest and faithful Commentator, Imust candidly and without reserve give the meaning of every passage in the word of God, agreeably to the context, and to the best of my judgment, united with the best light I can draw from other genuine Commentators. See Jam 1:26 and the whole of James, ch. 3: where the general subject of our words and conversation will be considered at large, to the full satisfaction, I trust, of every pious reader.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 12:34 . , (the preposterous nature of which Jesus has just exposed, Mat 12:33 ) , . , Euth. Zigabenus. For . . comp. Mat 3:7 .
] moral impossibility founded upon the wickedness of the heart, although not denying that one may still be open to conversion, and that with conversion the impossibility in question must cease to exist.
. . . . .] out of that with which the heart is overflowing , so that with the speaking a partial emptying, outflow, takes place. Beck, bibl. Seelenl. p. 68.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
“O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
I would beg the Reader to pause over this verse; and to collect the sense of our Lord’s expression, in calling those men whom he had in view, generation of vipers. It is a very solemn consideration, but therefore the more to be regarded, that throughout the whole word of God, this generation is spoken of, in one and the same uniform character. Indeed, the seed of the woman, and the seed of the serpent, are expressly marked and defined, from the first moment in which the Lord declared, he would put enmity in the seed, to each other. Gen 3:15 . Hence those strong expressions of Christ: Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. Joh 8:44 . And hence, as in this verse, Jesus speaks of it as a thing impossible, that they should do otherwise than what is evil. How can ye being evil speak good things? Ye believe not (said Jesus), because ye are not of my sheep. Joh 10:26 . And elsewhere, he calls them, serpents and a generation of vipers, which cannot escape the damnation, of hell! Mat 23:33 . See Mat 25:33Mat 25:33 . And in like manner, his servants the Apostles adopt the same language. Paul called Elymas the sorcerer, child of the devil. Act 13:10 . And Peter speaking of the same race, calls them cursed children; and as brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed. 2Pe 2:12-14 . And John if possible, yet more strongly defines the stock; for when. speaking of Cain’s murdering his brother, he asketh the question by way of answering it. And wherefore (said he) did Cain slay his brother? Because he was of that wicked one.1Jn 3:12 . See those scriptures in further confirmation. Gal 3:16-29 ; 1Jn 3:8-9 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Ver. 34. How can ye, being evil, &c. ] The stream riseth not higher its source; the bell is known of what metal by the clapper; what is in the well will be in the bucket; what in the warehouse will be in the shop; so what is in the heart will be in the mouth. a
” Aera puto nosci tinnitu; pectora verbis:
Sic est; namque id sunt utraque, quale sonant.
a Qualia sunt principia, talia et principiata.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 12:34 . , vide Mat 3:7 . John and Jesus agree in thinking the Pharisees a viper-brood. Both conceive them as morally hopeless. The Baptist wonders that they should come to a baptism of repentance. Jesus thinks them far on the way to final impenitence. But the point He makes here is that, being what they are, they cannot but speak evil. The poison of their nature must come out in their words.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
generation = offspring or brood. Compare Mat 3:7; Mat 23:33.
evil. See App-128.
out of. Greek. ek.
abundance: or overflow.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mat 12:34. , , of the heart, the mouth) See ch. Mat 15:18; Rom 10:9; 2Co 4:13.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
generation
Progeny. Mat 3:7; Mat 23:33.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
generation: Mat 3:7, Mat 23:33, Luk 3:7, Joh 8:44, 1Jo 3:10
how: 1Sa 24:13, Psa 10:6, Psa 10:7, Psa 52:2-5, Psa 53:1, Psa 64:3, Psa 64:5, Psa 120:2-4, Psa 140:2, Psa 140:3, Isa 32:6, Isa 59:4, Isa 59:14, Jer 7:2-5, Rom 3:10-14, Jam 3:5-8
for: Luk 6:45
Reciprocal: Gen 3:15 – thy seed Exo 35:21 – General 1Sa 1:16 – out of 2Ch 9:1 – communed Neh 6:8 – thou feignest Job 2:10 – In all this Psa 14:1 – abominable Psa 36:1 – The transgression Psa 59:7 – belch Psa 94:4 – shall Psa 119:13 – I declared Psa 119:172 – tongue Psa 145:7 – abundantly Pro 6:12 – walketh Pro 10:11 – but Pro 10:16 – the fruit Pro 10:20 – the heart Pro 15:7 – the heart Pro 15:26 – but Pro 15:28 – the mouth Pro 16:23 – heart Pro 18:4 – words Isa 6:5 – a man Isa 9:17 – every mouth Isa 44:18 – cannot Isa 57:3 – sons Isa 59:5 – crushed breaketh out into a viper Isa 59:13 – speaking Isa 65:2 – after Mat 6:21 – there Mat 11:16 – this Mat 12:35 – and an Mat 15:11 – but Mat 15:18 – General Mat 23:28 – but Mar 7:15 – but Mar 7:20 – General Joh 6:44 – man Joh 20:15 – if Act 2:40 – untoward Act 28:3 – came Rom 3:13 – with their Rom 8:7 – neither Eph 4:29 – no Eph 5:4 – filthiness Col 4:6 – your 2Pe 2:14 – that cannot Rev 13:6 – he opened Rev 14:5 – in
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2:34
Generation of vipers is defined by Thayer, “Offspring of vipers,” and the same author explains his definition thus: “Addressed to cunning, malignant, wicked men.” On the principle that a corrupt tree cannot produce good fruit, these wicked Pharisees are unable to bring forth good fruit in the way of righteous words or deeds. It is under that rule of reasoning that Jesus accuses them of having an evil heart, because the words of their mouth were evil against the Holy Spirit.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 12:34. Ye brood of vipers. Comp. chap. Mat 3:7. The meek and lowly Saviour utters these words. The Pharisees were referred to, as the corrupt tree (Mat 12:33), a poisonous plant; now as poisoning animals. There is probably an allusion to the seed of the serpent (Gen 3:15), which is in constant antagonism to the seed of the woman.
How can ye, etc.? A moral impossibility, for out of the abundance, etc. They had only spoken against Him; but this proves their evil character.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Note here, 1. The fervency and zeal of our Saviour’s spirit in the compellation given to the Pharisees: he calls them a generation of vipers: intimating that they were a venomous and dangerous sort of men.
Learn hence, That it is not always railing and indiscreet zeal to call wicked men by such names as their sin deserves.
Observe farther, From our Saviour’s saying, that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh; that the heart is the fountain both of words and actions: according as the heart is, so is the current of men’s words and actions, either good or evil.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
12:34 {7} O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
(7) Hypocrites at length betray themselves even by their own mouth.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Everywhere else in Matthew where the "brood of vipers" figure occurs it refers to the Pharisees and other religious leaders (Mat 3:7; Mat 23:33). That is undoubtedly whom Jesus addressed here too. The figure pictures deadly antagonists. Jesus’ point was that a person’s character determines what he or she says and does. The mouth usually reveals what is in the heart. The Pharisees’ extreme slander of Jesus revealed their rejection of Him. They needed a change of attitude toward Him, not just a change in their speech about Him.
It is going beyond what Jesus said to interpret this statement as meaning that no true believer will ever say or do what is contrary to the nature of a believer to say or do. All good people say and do some things that are good and some things that are bad. Likewise all bad people say and do some things that are good and some things that are bad. We are not exactly like the trees in this illustration.