Matthew 23 · Verse 30

Matthew 23:30

And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

Matthew 23:30, King James Version

Matthew 23:30 in other translations

BSB	And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
WEB	and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
ASV	and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
YLT	and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
DARBY	and ye say, If we had been in the days of our fathers we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
BBE	If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in the blood of the prophets.
Webster	And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

What does Matthew 23:30 mean?

Barnes' Notes

Verse 30. And say, etc. This they professed to say by rebuilding their tombs. They also, probably, publicly expressed their disapprobation of the conduct of their fathers. All this, in building and ornamenting tombs, was a profession of extraordinary piety. Our Lord showed them it was a mere pretence.

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 30 We would not have been partakers - They imagined themselves much better than their ancestors; but our Lord, who knew what they would do, uncovers their hearts, and shows them that they are about to be more abundantly vile than all who had ever preceded them.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Matthew 23:13-33

The scribes and Pharisees were enemies to the gospel of Christ, and therefore to the salvation of the souls of men. It is bad to keep away from Christ ourselves, but worse also to keep others from him. Yet it is no new thing for the show and form of godliness to be made a cloak to the greatest enormities. But dissembled piety will be reckoned double iniquity. They were very busy to turn souls to be of their party…

Read the full comment on Matthew 23:13-33 →

Matthew 23:30 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

καὶkaiandG2532

λέγετε·legeteyou say;G3004

εἰeiIfG1487

ἤμεθαēmethawe wereG1510

ἐνeninG1722

ταῖςtaistheG3588

ἡμέραιςhēmeraisdaysG2250

τῶνtōnof theG3588

πατέρωνpaterōnfathersG3962

ἡμῶν,hēmōnof us,G3165

οὐκouknotG3756

ἂνanthen wouldG302

ἤμεθαēmethawe were ourselves beingG1510

αὐτῶνautōnwith themG846

κοινωνοὶkoinōnoipartakersG2844

ἐνeninG1722

τῷtōtheG3588

αἵματιaimatibloodG129

τῶνtōnof theG3588

προφητῶν,prophētōnprophets,G4396

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Matthew 23:30

Matthew 23:34-35
Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Jeremiah 2:30
In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion.
Matthew 21:35-36
And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
2 Chronicles 36:15
And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

the blood.
34,35; 21:35,36; 2Ch 36:15; Jer 2:30

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Matthew 23:29
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
Matthew 23:30
And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Matthew 23:31
Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

Read all of Matthew 23

Matthew 23:30 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Y decís: Si fuéramos en los días de nuestros padres, no hubiéramos sido sus compañeros en la sangre de los profetas.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	et vous dites: Si nous avions été dans les jours de nos pères, nous n’aurions pas pris part avec eux au sang des prophètes;
German Elberfelder 1871	und saget: Wären wir in den Tagen unserer Väter gewesen, so würden wir nicht ihre Teilhaber an dem Blute der Propheten gewesen sein.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	et dicitis: Si fuissemus in diebus patrum nostrorum, non essemus socii eorum in sanguine prophetarum!