New Testament · Gospel

Matthew 12:35

Lord of the Sabbath

The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure. Matthew 12:35 · Berean Standard Bible
What It Means

Matthew 12:35, in plain English

A good person brings good things out of the good stored in their heart. An evil person brings evil out of their stored-up evil. Your words are a window into your soul.

Why it's here

Jesus is teaching that your words are not random -- they reveal what you have been storing inside. What comes out of your mouth shows what fills your heart.

Who's speaking

Jesus continues teaching.

Where it sits in the story

Jesus reveals a searching truth: your words are the overflow of what lives inside you. What you say when you are pressured reveals what you have been cultivating in secret.

A Closer Look

The scholarly reading

Jesus extends the principle: the good person (agathos anthropos) brings good from a good treasure (thesaurou), while the evil person (poneros anthropos) brings evil from an evil treasure, establishing words as diagnostic of character.

Language and setting

The 'treasure' (thesauros) metaphor represents the accumulated content of the heart -- habits of thought, values, and character. What one stores determines what one produces.

Voice

Jesus continues His teaching on the heart-speech connection.

Significance

Jesus explains the principle behind His condemnation: people's words reveal their inner treasure. Good hearts produce good words; corrupt hearts produce corrupt words.

In context

Matthew 12:33–37

33Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit.

34You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

35The good man brings good things out of his good store of treasure, and the evil man brings evil things out of his evil store of treasure.

36But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

37For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Read all of Matthew 12 — Grain fields on a Saturday spark a furious confrontation. Jesus claims an authority that makes the Pharisees begin plotting his death.

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