For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
Parallel translations
- WEB For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
- BSB For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
- NKJV For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
- NASB For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
- NLT For before John came, all the prophets and the law of Moses looked forward to this present time.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
All the prophets and the law pointed forward until John. John stands as the hinge between promise and fulfillment.
Overview
Jesus says the entire Old Testament had a forward-looking, prophetic character, anticipating the Messiah until John appeared. John marks the close of the age of expectation and the dawn of fulfillment in Christ. The verse affirms the unity of Scripture, all of it converging on Jesus.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Matt 5:17–18Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
- Rom 3:21But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
- Luke 24:44And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
- Acts 13:27For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.
- Acts 3:22–24For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
- Mal 4:6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
- Luke 24:27And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
- John 5:46–47For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 11:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.