A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
Parallel translations
- WEB A good tree can’t produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit.
- KJV A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
- NKJV A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
- NASB A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
- NLT A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.
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
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree good fruit. Genuine and false alike will be shown by what they consistently produce.
Overview
Jesus heightens the principle: the nature of the tree fixes the kind of fruit it bears, with no contradiction between the two. This exposes the impossibility of a truly good heart producing persistently evil fruit, or a corrupt heart producing real righteousness. It points to the deeper truth that only a heart renewed by God can bear good fruit.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Gal 5:17For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.
- 1 Jn 3:9–10Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
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 7:18 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
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