For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
37. by thy words ] i. e. thy words shall be the ground of thy acquittal or condemnation. Character shews itself by words. We often say of a friend, “We know what he will say when he hears this or that.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
By thy words thou shalt be justified … – That is, words are the indication of the true principles of the heart; by words the heart shall be known, as the tree is by its fruit. If they are true, proper, chaste, instructive, pious, they will prove that the heart is right. If false, envious, malignant, and impious, they will prove that the heart is wrong, and will therefore be among the causes of condemnation. It is not meant that words will be the only thing that will condemn man, but that they will be an important part of the things for which he shall be condemned. See Jam 3:3-12.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 37. By thy words thou shalt be justified] That is, the whole tenor of thy conversation will be an evidence for or against thee, in the great day. How many are there who count words for nothing! and yet eternity often depends on them. Lord, put a watch before the door of my lips! is a prayer proper for all men.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For by thy words thou shalt be justified,…. Theophylact seems to take these words to be a passage of Scripture cited by Christ, in proof of what he had said, but does not point to any; nor is any such Scripture to be found. They are rather proverbial expressions, in common use among the Jews; or refer to the usual methods of proceeding in courts of judicature, upon the acknowledgments and confessions of persons.
“Says Resh Lakish e, such an one and such an one, they justify; and such an one and such an one, they condemn. R. Eliezer replies, , “by their words such an one and such an one are justified”.”
The gloss upon it is,
“upon hearing the difference there is between them, and between their words, they are justified.”
Our Lord’s meaning is, that not only works and actions, but words of all sorts, will come into account in the day of judgment, and will be evidences for, or against a man, to acquit or condemn him:
and by thy words thou shalt be condemned: according to these, the sentence of justification, or of condemnation, will be pronounced; as these will appear to be evidences for, or against a man’s being in a state of grace and righteousness: thus for instance, a man that has spoken for Christ, and has freely confessed that all his hope of justification before God, and acceptance with him, is solely upon the account of the righteousness of Christ imputed; such a man will be declared a justified man according to the tenor of his own words: on the other hand, a man that has spoken hard speeches against Christ, and his righteousness; declaring he has no dependence on it, expects no justification by it; he will be convinced of these ungodly sayings, and out of his own mouth will be condemned. Some have thought, that Christ here strikes at a notion which obtained among the Jews, that little or no account would be taken of a man’s words in the day of judgment; provided his life and actions were good, and regular; but whatever were the sentiments of the Pharisees, or of any of Christ’s present hearers, it is certain, that it is the opinion of Jewish writers, that words, as well as actions, will be accounted for hereafter: they say f,
“When a man dies, he lifts up his eyes and sees two come to him, and write before him all that he has done in this world, , “and all that has proceeded out of his mouth”, , “and he gives an account for all”; and a little after, , “all the words” of a man in this world, are prepared before him, and not one of them lost; and in the hour he goes to his grave, they are all set before him.”
e T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 30. 1. f Zohar in Num. fol. 53. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “For by thy word’s thou shalt be justified,” (ek gar ton logon sou dikaiothese) “Because by your words that you have spoken, you will be justified or acquitted;” Words constitute man’s confession and profession, or rejection, and a basis of condemnation, Rom 10:10; For words express belief, or unbelief of the heart, Jas 3:2; Luk 19:22; Luk 18:9-14; 1Ti 5:13.
2) “And by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” (kai ek ton logon sou katadikasthese) “And by means of your words (you have spoken), you will be condemned;” This is why one should be careful where and with whom he walks, stands, and sits, because men communicate good and evil to bless or to curse those about them, Psa 1:1-6; Rom 14:7.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
37. By thy words thou shalt be justified This was a common proverb, which he applied to the present subject; for I have no doubt that this was a saying which the people had frequently in their mouths, that “every man is condemned or acquitted by his own acknowledgment.” But Christ turns it to a meaning somewhat different, that a wicked speech, being the indication of concealed malice, is enough to condemn a man. The attempt which the Papists make to torture this passage, so as to set aside the righteousness of faith, is childish. A man is justified by his words, not because his speech is the ground of his justification, (for we obtain by faith the favor of God, so that he reckons us to be righteous persons;) but because pure speech (142) absolves us in such a manner, that we are not condemned as wicked persons by our tongue. Is it not absurd to infer from this, that men deserve a single drop of righteousness in the sight of God? On the contrary, this passage upholds our doctrine; for, although Christ does not here treat of the ground of our justification, yet the contrast between the two words points out the meaning of the word justify. The Papists reckon it absurd in us to say, that a man is justified by faith, because they explain the word justified to mean, that he becomes, and is, actually righteous; while we understand it to mean, that he is accounted righteous, and is acquitted before the tribunal of God, as is evident from numerous passages of Scripture. And is not the same thing confirmed by Christ, when he draws a contrast between justified and condemned?
(142) “ La parole pure, droite, et honneste;” — “pure, upright, and becoming speech.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(37) By thy words thou shalt be justified.Stripped of the after-thoughts which have gathered round it in the later controversies of theologians, the word justified means, as its position here shows, the opposite of condemned, the being acquitted either on a special charge or on a general trial of character. In this sense we are able to understand (without entering into the labyrinth of logomachies in which commentators on the Epistles have too often entangled themselves) how it is that men are said to be justified by faith (Rom. 3:28 et al.), justified by works (Jas. 2:24), justifiedas hereby words. All threefaith, works, wordsare alike elements of a mans character, making or showing what he is. Faith, implying trust and therefore love, justifies as the root element of character; words, as its most spontaneous manifestation; works, as its more permanent results. Of the words and the works men can in some measure judge, and they are the tests by which a man should judge himself. The faith which lies deeper in the life is known only to God, and it is therefore by faith rather than by works that a man is justified before God, though the faith is no true faith unless it moulds the character and therefore enables the man to pass the other tests also.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
37. For by thy words thou shalt be justified This explains the preceding verse. By our words, however unimportant, we shall be justified or condemned, according as they are good or evil.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
For in the end our words will be what justify and condemn us. Not the careful words we prepare in order to justify ourselves (compare Luk 18:11-12 where the Pharisee thought that he was putting up a good case, and God was cringing), or to put on our tombstones. But the words that come out in the dark and secret places, and in the unguarded moment. The word that we speak when taken unawares. The word that really reveals what is truly in our hearts. The word spoken ‘off the record’. For a careful sifting of a man’s words will always in the end show what he is. Thus we will be either accounted as in the right, or will be condemned on the basis of all that we have said.
‘By your words you will be justified.’ This is not conflicting with Paul. No one was more dogmatic than Paul that a man was known by his fruits. ‘How shall we who are dead to sin, live any longer in it?’ (Rom 6:2). Before the all searching eye of a righteous and holy God we must be justified through the blood of Christ (Rom 3:24), which has resulted in cleansing and forgiveness, but before the tribunal of God which is open to all creation that will be evidenced by what our words have been. For faith without works is dead. The Bride will be clothed with the righteousnesses of God’s people (Rev 19:8), otherwise she is not the true Bride.
The Response of The Scribes and Pharisees Is To Seek A Sign From Heaven.
The Scribes and Pharisees now came seeking a sign from Heaven. Like the towns of Galilee in Mat 11:20-24 they have failed to take note of His mighty works, and will be equally exposed by the Gentile nations at the Day of Judgment. The addition here of the Scribes may suggest an official enquiry, or at least a calling in of reinforcements. They had come to test Him. He was making these great claims and now they wanted proof. It seems almost incredible that with all Jesus’ healings and casting out of evil spirits they should ask about signs, but they may well not have personally observed too many of them, and even when they had it had been with prejudiced eyes. Mainly they were going from hearsay. But even had it been otherwise they would have wanted special signs. For that was what Moses had given. That was what Elijah had given. That was what, in their view, the Messiah would give. What they wanted Him to do was something spectacular like the burning up from Heaven of Elijah’s sacrifice (1Ki 18:38). The Jews had a firm belief that when God began His final work such signs would be given. They loved the spectacular (compare 1Co 1:22).
But Jesus never performed signs for His own benefit or in order to justify Himself. Even His healings were performed out of compassion, not as evidences of Who He was, which was why He commanded silence about them. He had been faced during His temptations with the idea of winning men through the spectacular and had recognised that it was displeasing to God (Mat 4:5-7). He and His Father wanted men to respond to Him because they recognised the truth of His words and as evidence of what was in their hearts. Those who really desired to do His will would know whether the teaching were true or not (Joh 7:17)
Jesus replies by giving them two signs. The first is in the form of a promise. It was similar to Isaiah’s sign in Isa 7:14 and to the sign given to Moses in Exo 3:12, a sign that would become a reality in he future. It was that just as Jonah had spent three days in the body of a large fish, miraculously coming from certain death by a miracle, so would He as the Son of Man spend three days in the body of the earth, coming out of His grave after being buried. This would be a unique sign indeed, for the Son of Man was not expected to go into the grave, but to enter straight into the presence of God on the clouds of Heaven to receive His kingship (Dan 7:13-14). The second, although only secondary, was that if they thought about it they would realise that His preaching had had a greater impact than that of both Jonah and Solomon. Jonah was partly chosen as an example (as well as the reason above) because, of all the prophets, his success as a preacher had been most publicly portrayed, Solomon was chosen because he was a great wise man, renowned for his wisdom, and a son of David. He was chosen because a greater son of David was now being revealed as here, and possibly also because Jesus’ miracles were being compared to the legendary works of Solomon.
Analysis.
a
b But he answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will no sign be given to it apart from the sign of Jonah the prophet” (Mat 12:39).
c “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the large fish, so will the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mat 12:40).
b “The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, a greater than Jonah is here” (Mat 12:41).
a “ The queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here” (Mat 12:42).
Note that in ‘a’ some of the Scribes and Pharisees come to Jesus as the Teacher asking for a sign, and in the parallel Jesus provides a sign in that He is a greater Teacher than the wise Solomon. In ‘b’ that ‘evil and adulterous generation’ seek a sign and will only be given one in the prophet Jonah and in the parallel ‘this generation’ receive one in the prophet Jonah in the prophet Jonah and his success. Centrally in ‘c’ is that what will happen to the Son of Man, who is portrayed as coming in triumph on clouds to the throne of God (Dan 7:13), is that like Jonah He will spend three days and nights entombed. Thus what is to happen to Jesus will itself confirm this sign to all who will receive it.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Ver. 37. For by thy words thou shalt be justified ] Our Saviour insists upon this subject because by words they had sinned against the Holy Ghost. A man’s most and worst sins be his words. St Paul, making the anatomy of a natural man, stands more on the organ of speech than all the other members, Rom 3:4 ; St James saith, “that the tongue is” not a city or country, but “a world of iniquity,” Jas 3:6 . It can run all the world over, and bite at everybody, when the devil fires it especially. Peraldus (tom. i. 264) reckons up twenty-four different sins of the tongue: he might have made them more. God hath set a double hedge before it, of teeth and lips, to keep it up; he hath also placed it between the head and the heart that it might take counsel of both. Children he will not suffer to speak till they have understanding and wit; and those that are deaf are also dumb, because they cannot hear instruction, nor learn wisdom, that they may speak advisedly.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
37. ] The being the , is a specimen of what is within; is the outward utterance of the man , and on this ground will form a subject of strict enquiry in the great day, being a considerable and weighty part of our works.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 12:37 . . . Judgment by words here taught; in Mat 25:31-46 judgment by the presence or absence of kind deeds. No contradiction, for words are viewed as the index of a good or bad heart: bad positively, like that of the Pharisees, who spoke wickedly; bad negatively, like that of the thoughtless, who speak senselessly. On the teaching of this passage cf. Jas 3 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
words. Greek plural of logos. Not the same as in Mat 12:36. See note on Mar 9:32. “Words” are reckoned as “deeds” (2Co 5:10). See App-121.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
37.] The being the , is a specimen of what is within; is the outward utterance of the man, and on this ground will form a subject of strict enquiry in the great day, being a considerable and weighty part of our works.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 12:37. [580], …, by, etc.) Words exhibit the righteousness or unrighteousness, which is in the heart.
[580] , in the day of judgment) Oh! what a great day!-V. g.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
For by: Pro 13:3
justified: Jam 2:21-25
Reciprocal: Job 6:26 – reprove Job 9:20 – mine Job 15:3 – he reason Job 15:6 – own mouth Job 35:2 – Thinkest Job 37:20 – Shall it Psa 59:12 – For the Isa 3:8 – because Luk 19:22 – Out Jam 3:2 – a perfect
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
JUDGED BY WORDS
By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Mat 12:37
Consider our responsibility for the gift of speech. It is to God that we have to answer for our speech, and every misuse of this gift is an offence against Him.
I. Words of beauty.A man ought to see to it that he does nothing with his tongue which will break the harmony of this worlds prayers or insult the God of beauty, to Whom the homage of creation is unceasingly offered. Think of that magnificent hymn, the Benedicite, in which we call upon all Gods works to praise Him with endless praise. And yet where does the discord come in, in this the hymn of Creation? Is it not from man, who ought to be the very leader of the choir? Surely when there are so many spasmodic efforts being made to add to the beauty of the world it is somewhat ironical that there should be so very little care for beauty in language. No one can walk many yards in one of the crowded thoroughfares of a city, or even in a country village, for all that, without hearing words apparently chosen simply because they are vile and ugly.
II. Words of truth.Our words are uttered not only in the presence of the God of beauty, they are uttered in the hearing of the God of truth. We ought to think most earnestly about this division of the subject, because there must be a deep-seated tendency in human nature to abuse this gift of language, to use it in the service of untruthfulness. We are startled from time to time by revelations of gigantic frauds and wholesale impostures built up by lies. Coming nearer home, are we not obliged to make a wide distinction between things which we hear and things which we see? Why are not we more aggressive? Why do not we take up weapons for Christ? This religious shyness is so very indigenous to the English people. In our hatred of hypocrisy we have gone to the other extreme. The man who makes no secret of his principles is the man who in the end suffers the least persecution and is not tempted really so much to deny his Lord.
III. Words of comfort.Our words are uttered also in the face of Him Who is called the God of all comfort. How much can be done by words to help and cheer and advise. How much can be done to pull down, damage, and destroy. As we think of our ordinary conversation, what are we to think of these idle, those do-nothing words? Do they help the wayfarer into the way of life? Wit and humour and merriment and brightness have all their part, and a very great part they have in contributing to the fulness of life and making its burden easier; but how very rare wit is, and how dismal are some of the attempts at humour! Any fool can make a joke out of Scripture. Nothing is easier, and few things are more wrong. Frivolous conversation, as it has no solid background of support, speedily lapses into the mere abuse of speech.
Surely we ought to do something for the recognition of a greater sense of responsibility as regards our words.
Canon Newbolt.
Illustration
We scatter seeds with careless hand,
And dream we neer shall see them more;
But for a thousand years,
Their fruit appears
In seeds that mar the land,
Or healthful store.
The deeds we do, the words we say,
Into thin air they seem to fleet,
We count them ever past,
But they shall last
In the dread Judgment they
And we shall meet.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
2:37
See the comments at Mat 11:19 on the word justified, to learn in what sense a man may be justified by his words. It should be noted that the text does not say a man will be justified by his words only.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 12:37. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, declared righteous, acquitted, not made righteous. The word never has the latter sense in the New Testament. The index of character will be the words, not hypocritical ones, although even these speedily reveal their true character, but those coming from the heart (Mat 12:34-35). By here points to the true source.This general principle, tar exceeding the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, concludes this discourse. Its awful statements challenge every one: Are you with Christ or against Him; do your words, coming from the heart, confess or deny Him.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Observe here, The argument which our Saviour uses to move us to watchfulness over our words: by our words we shall be justified; not meritoriously, but declaratively: good words declare goodness in ourselves, and we shall be declared good to others by our words, if our words and actions do correspond and agree with one another.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue; that is, according to the right or wrong using of the tongue, we may judge and gather whether men are dead or alive as to God; and bound for heaven or hell.
Doubtless justification or condemnation will pass upon men at the day of judgment, according to the state of the person, and frame of the heart; now our words will justify or condemn us in that day, as evidences of the state and frame of the soul. We used to say, such witnesses hanged a man; that is, the evidence they gave cast and condemned him.
O think of this seriously: if words evidence the state of thy soul, what a hellish state must thy soul be in, who hast inured thyself to the language of hell, to oaths and curses; sins whereby the devil cheats men more than by any sins whatsoever! They are damned for them, yet get nothing by them, neither profit nor pleasure.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Verse 37
By thy words; that is, as well as by actions. The meaning is that, though men express their feelings of anger and injustice only by words, they are guilty.