264 – What Are the "Idle Words" that Men Shall Give Account of?

264. What Are the "Idle Words" that Men Shall Give Account of?

The passage in Mat_12:36 means unseemly or improper conversation, levity, slander, scoffing, boasting, swearing, mocking at sacred things. The Saviour had been speaking of blasphemy and of the scoffing attitude of the Pharisees, who imputed his miracles to Beelzebub. The "idle words" presumably referred more particularly to their sceptical way of accounting for the miracles, of which they had spoken slightingly.

Source: 555 Difficult Bible Questions Answered