Matthew 25 · Verse 35

Matthew 25:35

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Matthew 25:35, King James Version

Matthew 25:35 in other translations

BSBFor I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in,
WEBfor I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in.
ASVfor I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in;
YLTfor I did hunger, and ye gave me to eat; I did thirst, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye received me;
DARBYfor I hungered, and ye gave me to eat; I thirsted, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in;
BBEFor I was in need of food, and you gave it to me: I was in need of drink, and you gave it to me: I was wandering, and you took me in;
WebsterFor I was hungry, and ye gave me food: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

What does Matthew 25:35 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
35. For I was an hungered ... thirsty ... a stranger, &c.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes
Verses 35,36. I was an hungred. The union between Christ and his people is the most tender and endearing of all connexions. It is represented by the closest unions of which we have knowledge, Jn 15:4-6; Eph 5:23-32, 1Cor 6:15. This is a union not physical, but moral; a union of feelings, interests, plans, destiny; or, in other words, he and his people have similar feelings, love the same objects, share the same trials, and inherit the same blessedness, Jn 14:19, Rev 3:5, 21, Rom 8:17. Hence he considers favours shown to his people as shown to himself, and will reward them accordingly, Mt 10:40, 42. They show attachment to him, and love to his cause. By showing kindness to the poor, and needy, and sick, they show that they possess his spirit--for he did it when on earth; they evince attachment to him, for he was poor and needy; and they show that they have the proper spirit to fit them for heaven, 1Jn 3:14,17, Jas 2:1-5, Mk 9:41.

Was a stranger. The word stranger means a foreigner, or traveller; in our language, one unknown to us. To receive such to the rites of hospitality was, in eastern countries, where there were few or no public houses, a great virtue. See Gen 18:1-8, Heb 13:2.

Took me in. Into your house. Received me kindly.

Naked. Poorly clothed. Among the Jews they were called naked who were clad in poor raiment, or they who had on only the tunic or inner garment, without any outer garment. Mt 5:40, Acts 19:16; Mk 14:51,52, Job 22:6, Isa 58:7.

(e) "For I was" Is 58:7, Eze 18:7 (f) "stranger" 1Pet 4:9, 3Jn 1:5

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 35 I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat - Every thing which is done to a follower of Christ, whether it be good or evil, he considers as done to himself, see Mat 25:40; Act 9:4, Act 9:5; Heb 6:10. Of all the fruits of the Spirit, none are mentioned here but those that spring from love, or mercy; because these give men the nearest conformity to God. Jesus had said, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy; and he here shows how this promise shall be fulfilled. The rabbins say: "As often as a poor man presents himself at thy door, the holy blessed God stands at his right hand: if thou give him alms, know that he who stands at his right hand will give thee a reward. But if thou give him not alms, he who stands at his right hand will punish thee." Vaiyikra Rabba, s. 34, fol. 178. A stranger, and ye took me in - Συνηγαγετε με, ye entertained me: Kypke has fully proved that this is the meaning of the original. Literally, συναγειν signifies to gather together. Strangers are sometimes so destitute as to be ready to perish for lack of food and raiment: a supply of these things keeps their souls and bodies together, which were about to be separated through lack of the necessaries of life. The word may also allude to a provision made for a poor family, which were scattered abroad, perhaps begging their bread, and who by the ministry of benevolent people are collected, relieved, and put in a way of getting their bread. O blessed work! to be the instruments of preserving human life, and bringing comfort and peace into the habitations of the wretched! While writing this, (Nov. 13, 1798), I hear the bells loudly ringing in commemoration of the birth-day of E. Colson, Esq., a native of this city, (Bristol), who spent a long life and an immense fortune in relieving the miseries of the distressed. His works still praise him in the gates; his name is revered, and his birth-day held sacred, among the inhabitants. Who has heard the bells ring in commemoration of the birth of any deceased hero or king? Of so much more value, in the sight even of the multitude, is a life of public usefulness than one of worldly glory or secular state. But how high must such a person rank in the sight of God, who, when Christ in his representatives was hungry, gave him food; when thirsty, gave him drink; when naked clothed him; when sick and in prison, visited him! Thou blessed of my Father! come. Thou hast been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, and now thou shalt eternally enjoy the true riches. The Supreme God is represented in the Bhagvat Geeta as addressing mankind, when he had just formed them, thus: "Those who dress their meat but for themselves, eat the bread of sin." Geeta, p. 46.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Matthew 25:31-46

This is a description of the last judgment. It is as an explanation of the former parables. There is a judgment to come, in which every man shall be sentenced to a state of everlasting happiness, or misery. Christ shall come, not only in the glory of his Father, but in his own glory, as Mediator. The wicked and godly here dwell together, in the same cities, churches, families, and are not always to be known the one…

Read the full comment on Matthew 25:31-46 →

Matthew 25:35 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.

ἐπείνασαepeinasaI hungeredG3983
γὰρgarforG1063
καὶkaiandG2532
ἐδώκατέedōkateyou gaveG1325
μοιmoiMeG3165
φαγεῖν,phageinto eat,G5315
ἐδίψησαedipsēsaI thirstedG1372
καὶkaiandG2532
ἐποτίσατέepotisateyou gave to drinkG4222
με,meme,G3165
ξένοςxenosa strangerG3581
ἤμηνēmēnI wasG1510
καὶkaiandG2532
συνηγάγετέsunēgageteyou took inG4863
με,meMe,G3165

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

Cross references for Matthew 25:35

  • 1 John 3:16-19

    Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

  • James 2:15-16

    If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?

  • Deuteronomy 15:7-11

    If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. …

  • Ezekiel 18:7

    And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;

  • Ezekiel 18:16

    Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment,

  • Hebrews 13:16

    But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

  • James 1:27

    Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

  • Hebrews 13:1-3

    Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

  • 1 Peter 4:9-10

    Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

  • Romans 12:13

    Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.

  • Job 31:32

    The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller.

  • Romans 12:20

    Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I was an.
40; 10:40-42; 26:11; De 15:7-11; Job 29:13-16; 31:16-21; Ps 112:5-10
Pr 3:9,10; 11:24,25; 14:21,31; 19:17; 22:9; Ec 11:1,2; Isa 58:7-11
Eze 18:7,16; Da 4:27; Mic 6:8; Mr 14:7; Lu 11:41; 14:12-14
Joh 13:29; Ac 4:32; 9:36-39; 10:31; 11:29; 2Co 8:1-4,7-9; 9:7-14
Eph 4:28; 1Ti 6:17-19; Phm 1:7; Heb 6:10; 13:16; Jas 1:27; 1Pe 4:9,10
1Jo 3:16-19
thirsty.
42; Pr 25:21; Ro 12:20
I was a.
43; Ge 18:2-8; 19:1-3; Ac 16:15; Ro 12:13; 16:23; 1Ti 5:10
Heb 13:1-3; 1Pe 4:9; 3Jo 1:5-8

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

Context

  • Matthew 25:34

    Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

  • Matthew 25:35

    For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

  • Matthew 25:36

    Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Read all of Matthew 25

Matthew 25:35 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Porque tuve hambre, y me disteis de comer; tuve sed, y me disteis de beber; fuí huésped, y me recogisteis;
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		car j’ai eu faim, et vous m’avez donné à manger; j’ai eu soif, et vous m’avez donné à boire; j’étais étranger, et vous m’avez recueilli;
German
Elberfelder 1871		denn mich hungerte, und ihr gabet mir zu essen; mich dürstete, und ihr tränktet mich; ich war Fremdling, und ihr nahmet mich auf;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		esurivi enim, et dedistis mihi manducare: sitivi, et dedistis mihi bibere: hospes eram, et collegistis me: