Matthew 23:32
New International Version
Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

New Living Translation
Go ahead and finish what your ancestors started.

English Standard Version
Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.

Berean Standard Bible
Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.

Berean Literal Bible
You, then, fill up the measure of your fathers.

King James Bible
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

New King James Version
Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt.

New American Standard Bible
Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.

NASB 1995
“Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.

NASB 1977
“Fill up then the measure of the guilt of your fathers.

Legacy Standard Bible
Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.

Amplified Bible
Fill up, then, the [allotted] measure of the guilt of your fathers’ sins.

Christian Standard Bible
Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors’ sins!

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ sins!

American Standard Version
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

Contemporary English Version
So keep on doing everything they did.

English Revised Version
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Go ahead, finish what your ancestors started!

Good News Translation
Go on, then, and finish up what your ancestors started!

International Standard Version
Then finish what your ancestors started!

Majority Standard Bible
Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.

NET Bible
Fill up then the measure of your ancestors!

New Heart English Bible
Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.

Webster's Bible Translation
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

Weymouth New Testament
Fill up the measure of your forefathers' guilt.

World English Bible
Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and you fill up the measure of your fathers.

Berean Literal Bible
You, then, fill up the measure of your fathers.

Young's Literal Translation
and ye -- ye fill up the measure of your fathers.

Smith's Literal Translation
And fill ye up yourselves the measure of your fathers.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Complete, then, the measure of your fathers.

New American Bible
now fill up what your ancestors measured out!

New Revised Standard Version
Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
You also fill up the measure of your fathers.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
So fulfill the standard of your forefathers.
NT Translations
Anderson New Testament
Do you also fill up the measure of your fathers.

Godbey New Testament
And you fill up the measure of your fathers.

Haweis New Testament
Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

Mace New Testament
children that can't fail to fill up the measure of your fathers iniquities.

Weymouth New Testament
Fill up the measure of your forefathers' guilt.

Worrell New Testament
and fill ye up the measure of your fathers.

Worsley New Testament
fill up then the measure of your fathers, ye serpents, ye brood of vipers:

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Woes to Scribes and Pharisees
31So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers. 33You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?…

Cross References
Matthew 21:38-41
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and take his inheritance.’ / So they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. / Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?” ...

Luke 11:47-51
Woe to you! For you build tombs for the prophets, but it was your fathers who killed them. / So you are witnesses consenting to the deeds of your fathers: They killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. / Because of this, the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and others they will persecute.’ ...

Luke 13:34-35
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! / Look, your house is left to you desolate. And I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

John 8:44
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies.

Acts 7:51-52
You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did. / Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—

1 Thessalonians 2:15-16
who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men, / hindering us from telling the Gentiles how they may be saved. As a result, they continue to heap up their sins to full capacity; the utmost wrath has come upon them.

Hebrews 11:36-38
Still others endured mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. / They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went around in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, oppressed, and mistreated. / The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and hid in caves and holes in the ground.

2 Chronicles 36:15-16
Again and again the LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to His people through His messengers because He had compassion on them and on His dwelling place. / But they mocked the messengers of God, despising His words and scoffing at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against His people was stirred up beyond remedy.

Nehemiah 9:26
But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

Jeremiah 7:25-26
From the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have sent you all My servants the prophets again and again. / Yet they would not listen to Me or incline their ear, but they stiffened their necks and did more evil than their fathers.

Jeremiah 25:4-7
And the LORD has sent all His servants the prophets to you again and again, but you have not listened or inclined your ear to hear. / The prophets told you, ‘Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and deeds, and you can dwell in the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. / Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ ...

Jeremiah 44:4-6
Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets again and again, saying: ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate.’ / But they did not listen or incline their ears; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods. / Therefore My wrath and anger poured out and burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, so that they have become the desolate ruin they are today.

Ezekiel 2:3-5
“Son of man,” He said to me, “I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me. To this very day they and their fathers have rebelled against Me. / They are obstinate and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you are to say to them, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says.’ / And whether they listen or refuse to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them.

Ezekiel 20:30-31
Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: Will you defile yourselves the way your fathers did, prostituting yourselves with their abominations? / When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you!

Zechariah 1:4-6
Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the LORD. / Where are your fathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever? / But did not My words and My statutes, which I commanded My servants the prophets, overtake your fathers? They repented and said, ‘Just as the LORD of Hosts purposed to do to us according to our ways and deeds, so He has done to us.’”


Treasury of Scripture

Fill you up then the measure of your fathers.

the measure.

Genesis 15:16
But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

Numbers 32:14
And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers' stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the LORD toward Israel.

Zechariah 5:6-11
And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth…

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Fathers Fill Forefathers Full Guilt Measure Sin
Matthew 23
1. Jesus admonishes the people to follow good doctrine, not bad examples
5. His disciples must beware of their ambition.
13. He denounces eight woes against their hypocrisy and blindness,
34. and prophesies of the destruction of Jerusalem.














Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers
Fill up, then
The phrase "fill up" in the Greek is "plērōsate," which implies completing or bringing something to its full measure. In the context of this verse, Jesus is addressing the Pharisees and religious leaders, suggesting that they are continuing the sinful legacy of their ancestors. The use of "then" indicates a continuation or culmination of past actions. Historically, this reflects the ongoing pattern of rebellion and disobedience that characterized Israel's leaders throughout the Old Testament. Jesus is calling out the hypocrisy and spiritual blindness of the Pharisees, who, despite their knowledge of the law, fail to recognize their own sinfulness.

the measure
The term "measure" in Greek is "metron," which refers to a standard or limit. In biblical times, a measure was a unit used to quantify or assess something. Here, it symbolizes the full extent of sin that the religious leaders are reaching. This concept of a "measure" is often used in Scripture to denote the limits of God's patience or the fullness of iniquity before divine judgment is enacted. It serves as a warning that there is a point at which God's forbearance will end, and justice will be served.

of the sin
The word "sin" in Greek is "hamartia," meaning to miss the mark or fall short of God's standards. In the context of this verse, it refers to the collective disobedience and rebellion against God that the religious leaders are perpetuating. Sin, in the biblical sense, is not just individual acts of wrongdoing but a state of being that separates humanity from God. The religious leaders' sin is particularly grievous because it involves leading others astray and misrepresenting God's character and law.

of your fathers
The phrase "your fathers" refers to the ancestors of the Jewish leaders, particularly those who opposed God's prophets and rejected His messages throughout Israel's history. This historical context is crucial, as it highlights a pattern of resistance to God's will that has been passed down through generations. The religious leaders of Jesus' time are being compared to their forefathers, who were often guilty of persecuting the prophets and ignoring God's commands. This connection underscores the seriousness of their actions and the impending judgment they face for continuing in the same rebellious path.

(32) Fill ye up then . . .--The English fails to give the pathetic abruptness of the original: And ye--fill ye up the measure of your fathers. The thought implied is that which we find in Genesis 15:16, and of which the history of the world offers but too many illustrations. Each generation, as it passes, adds something to the ever-accumulating mass of evil. At last the penalty falls, as though the long-suffering of God had been waiting till the appointed limit had been reached, and the measure of iniquity was at last full.

Verse 32. - Fill ye up then; καὶ ὑμεῖς πληρώσατε: do ye also (as well as they) fill up. An imperative, expressive of Divine irony, containing virtually a prophecy. Complete your evil work, finish that which your fathers began (comp. John 13:27). The measure. There is a certain limit to iniquity; when this is reached, punishment falls. The metaphor is derived from a full cup, which a single drop more will make overflow. This added drop would be the death of Christ and the persecution of his followers. Then vengeance must follow (comp. Genesis 15:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:16).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Fill up,
πληρώσατε (plērōsate)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4137: From pleres; to make replete, i.e. to cram, level up, or to furnish, satisfy, execute, finish, verify, etc.

then,
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

the
τὸ (to)
Article - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

measure
μέτρον (metron)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3358: An apparently primary word; a measure, literally or figuratively; by implication, a limited portion.

of
τῶν (tōn)
Article - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

your
ὑμῶν (hymōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

fathers’ [sins].
πατέρων (paterōn)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 3962: Father, (Heavenly) Father, ancestor, elder, senior. Apparently a primary word; a 'father'.


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Matthew 23:31
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