Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 7:17
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A corrupt tree – The word corrupt here does not signify, as our translation would seem to indicate, that the tree had been good, but had become vitiated; but that it was a tree of a useless character, of a nature that produced nothing beneficial.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. So every good tree] As the thorn can only produce thorns, not grapes; and the thistle, not figs, but prickles; so an unregenerate heart will produce fruits of degeneracy. As we perfectly know that a good tree will not produce bad fruit, and the bad tree will not, cannot produce good fruit, so we know that the profession of godliness, while the life is ungodly, is imposture, hypocrisy, and deceit. A man cannot be a saint and a sinner at the same time. Let us remember, that as the good tree means a good heart, and the good fruit, a holy life, and that every heart is naturally vicious; so there is none but God who can pluck up the vicious tree, create a good heart, plant, cultivate, water, and make it continually fruitful in righteousness and true holiness.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
17. Even so every good tree bringethforth good fruit: but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Ver. 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit,…. As is the tree, so is its fruit; if the tree is good, it will bring forth good fruit. The tree that brings forth good fruit, is good antecedent to the fruit it produces; it is first good, and then puts forth good fruit: it is not the fruit that makes the tree good, but makes it appear to be so; but it is the goodness of the tree that makes the fruit good. As a good man does, and will do good works, but his works do not make him a good man; he is so before he performs good works, or he would never be able to do them; these make him appear to be a good man: so a good preacher, that has an experimental knowledge of the doctrines of the Gospel, will deliver out sound doctrine, who is first made so by the gifts and graces of the Spirit of God; and by searching the Scriptures, and examining his doctrines by them, he will be known and appear to be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and good doctrine; and such a good minister of the Gospel, out of the good treasure of Gospel truths put into his earthen vessel, will bring forth, from time to time, good and excellent truths, to the edification and profit of those that hear: “but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit”; if the tree is corrupt, the fruit will be corrupt; and as is the preacher, so will be his doctrines: if he is a corrupt preacher, or a man of a corrupt mind, destitute of the truth, his preaching will be such as will tend to corrupt both the principles and practices of men; for such evil men and seducers, out of the evil treasure of false doctrines, which they have received into their judgments, will bring forth, either more secretly or openly, evil tenets in their ministry, which prove of bad consequence to the souls of men.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “Even so every good tree,” (houtos pan dendron agathon) “Thus or after this manner every good tree,” sound and healthy tree, or every good man, good or Godly teacher or prophet, one whose heart, mind, and life is right with God, in harmony with His Word, Mat 5:15-16; Eph 2:10.
2) “Bringeth forth good fruit;” (karpous kalous poieo) “Produces ideal fruit,” as a matter of course, continually, repeatedly, season after season, Joh 15:2; Luk 6:45; 1Jn 3:10.
3) “But a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” (to de sapon dendron karpous ponerous poiei) “But the corrupt tree produces fruit that is bad from within,” the degenerate tree, by age, bad soil, or by nature, produces degenerate, unpalatable fruit; A degenerate, or unregenerate man, no matter how pious, can bring forth only bad fruit, Jer 11:19; Pro 15:2; Pro 15:28.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(17, 18) Even so every good tree. . . .The two verses state nearly the same fact, but each presents a different aspect. First it is stated as a matter of practical experience, then the general fact is referred to a necessary law. If the tree is corrupt, i.e., rotten or decayed at the core, it cannot bring forth good fruit. If there is falseness in the teaching, or in the man, it will sooner or later show itself in his life, and then, even though we judge of the doctrine on other ground, we should cease to feel confidence in the guidance of the teacher.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17, 18. Good tree good fruit corrupt tree evil fruit As the corruption of the tree lies back of the evil fruit, so the corruption of the man’s nature lies back of his evil doings. Corruption, depravity, then, lies not, as some teach, merely in the actions, but in the nature back of the actions. Bad actions usually grow out of a bad nature.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Ver. 17. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit ] i.e. All sound doctrine tends to good life, and rotten opinions to wretched practices. As, besides the old heretics, we see in the Papists (their priests especially), of whom the Lord Audely (Chancellor of England in King Henry VIII’s time) said to thirteen Calais men, prisoners for religion whom he discharged: “For God’s sake, sirs, beware how you deal with Popish priests; for I assure you, some of them be knaves all.” a After the 1000th year of Christ, there was nowhere less piety than in those that dwelt nearest to Rome, as Machiavel himself observed, who yet was himself none of the best, as is well known; for he proposeth Caesar Borgia (notwithstanding all his villanies) as the only example for a prince to imitate. The Romish Pharisees, like the devils, are then thought to do well, when they cease to do hurt, saith Joannes Sarisburiensis. In popes (saith Papirius Massonius, a Papish writer, speaking of those popes that lived in the time of the Trent Council) no man today requireth holiness. They are thought to be very good, if not extreme evil; or anything better than the worse use to he. b The see of Rome, saith another, hath not merited lately to be ruled by any better than reprobates. Various popes have been necromancers, atheists, epicures, monsters, as Benno Cardinalis describes Hildebrand, c and Luitprandus reports of John XII, that he ordained priests in a stable among his horses, that he went in to his father’s concubines, that he drank a health to the devil, &c. Benedict XII had this epitaph set over him,
” Hic situs est Nero, laicis more, vipera clero;
Devius a vero, turba repleta mero.
I am not ignorant what is the common putoff of Papists, when urged with these and the like histories; viz. Luitprandi illud non est, sed Anonymi cuiusdam, qui hoc historiae ipsius appenderit: Luitprandus never wrote any such thing, but some other nameless author, that hath pieced it to his history, saith Bellarmine and Baronius. But who this nameless author was, or when he lived, or how it may appear that it was so indeed, they say not a word. So if we cite Benno Cardinalis. Imo potius Lutheranus, on the contray, Luther is more preferred, saith Bellarmine and Florimund. How disdainfully they reject the Fathers when they make against them, I need not here recite. d I would sooner believe one pope than a thousand Augustines, saith a Jesuit. And yet, when they cannot be heard, they are ready straight to cry out, as that heretic Dioscorus did in the Council of Chalcedon, “I am cast out with the Fathers, I defend the doctrine of the Fathers, I transgress them not in any point.” If we produce their own doctors and schoolmen as witnesses of the truth, these men, say they, are catholic authors, but they stand not recti in curia, correct in the council, they must be purged. e So witty are heretics rather to devise a thousand shifts to elude the truth than once to yield and acknowledge it. They will not receive the love of the truth (as the intemperate patient will not be ruled by the physician). And for this cause God delivers them up to strong delusions, vile affections, base and beastly practices; as committing and defending of sodomy, and such like abhorred filth, not once to be named among Christians. But some having put away a good conscience, as concerning faith have made shipwreck, saith the apostle. A good conscience is, as it were, a chest, wherein the doctrine of faith is to be kept safe; which will quickly be lost, if the chest be once broken. And they “that turn from the truth” will prove “abominable, disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate,”Tit 1:14Tit 1:14 ; Tit 1:16 . Matthew Paris, speaking of the court of Rome, saith, Huius foetor usque ad nubes furnum taeterrimum exhalabat. It put out bad stink from the offensive ovens right up to the clouds.
a . Justin Martyr.
b In pontificibus nemo hodie sanctitatem requirit. Optimi putantur, si vel leniter mali, &c.
c Fuisse homicidam, adulterum, necromanticum, schismaticum, haereticum.
d Inde probo hoc illius esse, illud non esse, quia hae pro me sonat, illud contra me. Faust.
e Bellarmine saith to Irenaeus, Tertullian, Eusebius, and Luther. I answer, Omnes manifesti haeretici sunt.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
17. ] See also ch. Mat 13:48 . From these two verses, 17, 18, the Manichans defended their heresy of the two natures, good and bad: but Augustine answers them that such cannot possibly be their meaning, as it is entirely contrary to the whole scope of the passage (see for example Mat 7:13 ), and adds, ‘Mala ergo arbor fructus bonos facere non potest; sed ex mala fieri bona potest, ut bonos fructus ferat.’ Cont. Adimant. c. 26, vol. viii. On the other hand, these verses were his weapon against the shallow Pelagian scheme, which would look at men’s deeds apart from the living Root in man out of which they grew, and suppose that man’s unaided will is capable of good. Trench, Serm. on the Mount, p. 150. See also Orig [90] in Matt. Comm. Series, 116, vol. iii. p. 914.
[90] Origen, b. 185, d. 254
., more than simply : ‘ ye shall thoroughly know them; ’ see 1Co 13:12 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 7:17 . nother illustration from good and bad trees of the same kind. , sound, healthy; , degenerate, through age or bad soil. According to Phryn., was popularly used instead of in a moral sense ( , p. 377). Each tree brings forth fruit answering to its condition.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
17. ] See also ch. Mat 13:48. From these two verses, 17, 18, the Manichans defended their heresy of the two natures, good and bad: but Augustine answers them that such cannot possibly be their meaning, as it is entirely contrary to the whole scope of the passage (see for example Mat 7:13), and adds, Mala ergo arbor fructus bonos facere non potest; sed ex mala fieri bona potest, ut bonos fructus ferat. Cont. Adimant. c. 26, vol. viii. On the other hand, these verses were his weapon against the shallow Pelagian scheme, which would look at mens deeds apart from the living Root in man out of which they grew, and suppose that mans unaided will is capable of good. Trench, Serm. on the Mount, p. 150. See also Orig[90] in Matt. Comm. Series, 116, vol. iii. p. 914.
[90] Origen, b. 185, d. 254
., more than simply : ye shall thoroughly know them; see 1Co 13:12.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
every: Psa 1:3, Psa 92:13, Psa 92:14, Isa 5:3-5, Isa 61:3, Jer 11:19, Jer 17:8, Luk 13:6-9, Gal 5:22-24, Eph 5:9, Phi 1:11, Col 1:10, Jam 3:17, Jam 3:18
but: Mat 12:33-35, Jud 1:12
Reciprocal: Pro 10:16 – the fruit 1Ti 6:5 – men Jam 2:18 – and I will
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7-18
These verses are a direct statement of facts upon which the foregoing comparison was based. The statements are absolute and describe conditions that are normal, not those that may only seem to be. However, an evil tree without exception will be unable to bear good fruit If a tree that is or was naturally good appears to bear evil fruit it is because something has been done to it to interfere with its regular function and virtually turned it into an evil tree. We know that such a change is possible in the life of a man, for a good one may fall from his righteous course of life and become evil and henceforth bear evil fruit in his life.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 7:17. The general law of nature is here laid down positively: As the tree, so is the fruit. The principle holds good in the moral world.
Mat 7:18 repeats the same truth, asserting the impossibility of its being otherwise. But while Mat 7:16 refers to kinds of plants, these verses speak of individual trees.
Every good tree, i.e., of a good nature for bearing fruit.
Good fruit, of a good kind.
The corrupt tree, literally, spoiled, but meaning here of a bad quality; evil fruit, of a bad kind like the tree. Our Lord applies the general law to mens actions and their moral results; these are but manifestations of a moral nature, depraved or sanctified.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Mat 7:17-20. Even so As grapes are not reaped from thorns, or figs from thistles, but the fruit will always be agreeable in its nature and kind to the tree that produces it; so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit Scriptural doctrine, declared by holy men called of God to the work of the ministry, will certainly be more or less instrumental in turning men from the evil of their ways; and every minister of Christ, or even private Christian, who is renewed in the spirit of his mind, and made a tree of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, will bring forth the fruits of righteousness, to the praise and glory of God. For, in this respect, the fruits that men produce will certainly be answerable to the actual state and disposition of their hearts. Nor can it indeed be otherwise in the nature of things. For a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit To do so would be to act contrary to its nature. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit To bring which forth there is no aptitude or tendency in its vicious nature. Every tree that After a fair and competent time of trial; bringeth not forth good fruit But either produces none, or none but what is pernicious or useless; is hewn down How fair and flourishing soever it may seem to be; and cast into the fire To its utter destruction. Such will be the end of hypocritical professors, and all ungodly men, especially ungodly ministers: they shall assuredly be overtaken by the righteous judgment of God.