Verse Lens · Context pointer
Matthew 3:10 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 10. 10And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Places the axe at unfruitful roots as an urgent judgment image.
Read It With
- Matthew 3:1–3:12
Matthew 3:10 places the axe at unfruitful roots as an urgent judgment image; within Matthew 3:1–3:12, it contributes to this controlling movement: John appears in Judea calling for repentance because heaven's kingdom has drawn near, baptizing confessing crowds, confronting Pharisees and Sadducees, and announcing the stronger one who brings Spirit and fire.
Why It Needs Context
Places the axe at unfruitful roots as an urgent judgment image. Its responsible force depends on Matthew 3:1–3:12; it supplies genealogy, sequence, quotation, dialogue, image, response, or transition rather than a complete standalone teaching.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Matthew 3:1–3:12 — John announces repentance and coming judgmentSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Matthew 3:1–3:12, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control without treating one edition as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text file data/sblgnt/text/Matt.txt, Matthew 3:1–3:12
Open the Matthew Greek text file ↗