Speech Without Words
Matthew 12:36
But I say to you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.


You could not fasten upon any word or sentence, and say that it was calumny; for in order to constitute slander it is not necessary that the word spoken should be false — half truths are often more calumnious than whole falsehoods. It is not even necessary that a word should be distinctly uttered: a dropped lip, an arched eyebrow, a shrugged shoulder, a significant look, an incredulous expression of countenance; — nay, even an emphatic silence, may do the work; and when the light and trifling thing which has done the mischief has fluttered off, the venom is left behind, to work and rankle, to inflame hearts, and to poison human society at the fountain springs of life.

(F. W. Robertson, M. A.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

WEB: I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.




Slanderous Words
Top of Page
Top of Page