Matthew 7:18

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
A good	ἀγαθὸν agathon	G18	"good" (in any sense · adjective — nominative singular neuter
tree	δένδρον dendron	G1186	a tree · noun — nominative singular neuter
cannot	δύναται dunatai	G1410	to be able or possible · verb — present middle or passive deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
bring forth	ποιεῖν poiein	G4160	to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — present active infinitive
evil	πονηροὺς ponērous	G4190	hurtful · adjective — accusative plural masculine
fruit	καρποὺς karpous	G2590	fruit (as plucked) · noun — accusative plural masculine
neither	οὐδὲ oude	G3761	not however · conjunction — negative
a corrupt	σαπρὸν sapron	G4550	rotten · adjective — nominative singular neuter
tree	δένδρον dendron	G1186	a tree · noun — nominative singular neuter
bring forth	ποιεῖν. poiein	G4160	to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — present active infinitive
good	καλοὺς kalous	G2570	X better · adjective — accusative plural masculine
fruit	καρποὺς karpous	G2590	fruit (as plucked) · noun — accusative plural masculine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot d…
1 John 3:9-10 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 7:15-20

We have here a caution against false prophets, to take heed that we be not deceived and imposed upon by them. Prophets are properly such as foretel things to come; there are some mentioned in the Old Testament, who pretended to that without warrant, and the event disproved their pretensions, as Zedekiah, Kg1 22:11, and another Zedekiah, Jer 29:21. But prophets did also teach the people their duty, so that false prophets here are false teachers. Christ being a Prophet and a Teacher come from God, and designing to send abroad teachers under him, gives warning to all to take heed of counterfeits, who, instead of healing souls with wholesome doctrine, as they pretend, would poison them. They are…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 7:18

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit--Obvious as is the truth here expressed in different forms--that the heart determines and is the only proper interpreter of the actions of our life--no one who knows how the Church of Rome makes a merit of actions, quite apart from the motives that prompt them, and how the same tendency manifests itself from time to time even among Protestant Christians, can think it too obvious to be insisted on by the teachers of divine truth. Here follows a wholesome digression.

John Gill on Matthew 7:18

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,.... A man that is unprincipled with the grace of God, has an experimental acquaintance with the Gospel of Christ, and is guided by the Spirit of God into all truth, as it is in Jesus, cannot knowingly deliver, maintain, and abide by any doctrine that is contrary to the glory of God's grace, and the person of Christ, the work of the Spirit, the fundamental doctrines of the Bible; or what is repugnant to the experiences of God's people, and prejudicial to their souls. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. A corrupt preacher, one destitute of the truth of the Gospel, reprobate concerning the faith, who never had any experience of the doct…

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The Church Fathers

But that none should say, An evil tree brings forth indeed evil fruit, but it brings forth also good, and so it becomes hard to discern, as it has a two-fold produce; on this account He adds, A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit.
— John Chrysostom ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

Here the question will arise How creatures were made good out of it, which were formed without any change at all? How occurs the seed of what is good, nay, very good, in that which is evil, nay, very evil? Surely a good tree does not produce evil fruit, since there is no God who is not good; nor does an evil tree yield good fruit, since there is not Matter except what is very evil.
— Tertullian, Against Hermogenes

We would ask those heretics who affirm that there are two natures directly opposed to each other, if they admit that a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, how it was possible for Moses, a good tree, to sin as he did at the water of contradiction? Or for Peter to deny his Lord in the Passion, saying, I know not the man? Or how, on the other hand, could Moses' father-in-law, an evil tree, inasmuch as he believed not in the God of Israel, give good counsel?
— Jerome ((as quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274)), Catena Aurea by Aquinas

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Botany · Laws of nature in the vegetable kingdom uniform in action — Laws of nature in the vegetable kingdom uniform in action
Commandments · DISCOURSE — DISCOURSE
Fruits · Illustrative: Of good works — Illustrative: Of good works
Religion · TRUE — TRUE
Trees · Illustrative: (Good and fruitful,) of saints — Illustrative: (Good and fruitful,) of saints

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Matthew 7:18

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 7:15-20

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 7:18

John Gill on Matthew 7:18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Matthew 7:18

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Matthew 7:15-20

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Matthew 7:18

John Gill on Matthew 7:18

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Matthew 7:15-20

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Matthew 7:18