Matthew 7:23

7:23 I never knew you: These people were never converted, even though they did great things in God’s name. They break God’s laws through rejection of the Father’s will as taught by Jesus. Having never known Christ, they never learned to do what he commanded.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 7:23. Τότε, κ.τ.λ., then, etc.) although they had not thought so before.—ὁμολογήσω, I will profess) sc. openly. Great was the authority evinced by this saying: see Mat 7:29.—οὐδέποτε, κ.τ.λ., never, etc.) although you cite My Name.—οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι, κ.τ.λ., that work, etc.) Not even then will their iniquity have been changed.[346]—ἀνομίαν, iniquity) how much soever they may boast of the Law.[347] Unbelief exclusively damns (Infidelitas proprie damnat); and yet in the Judgment the Law is rather cited; see ch. Mat 25:35; Mat 25:42; Rom 2:12, because the reprobate, even then, when they see Christ visibly manifest, will not comprehend the true nature of faith.

[346] He means that our Lord will address them as even then working iniquity with hearts still unconverted.—(I. B.)

[347] There is a play upon the words ἀνομία, the state or conduct of those who are without law, and ὁ νόμος, the Law, on which they self-righteously and delusively relied.—(I. B.)

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 7:23 . τότε . When they make this protestation, the Judge will make a counter protestation ὁμολογήσω αὐτοῖς , I will own to them. Bengel’s comment is: aperte. Magna potestas hujus dicti. But there is a certain apologetic tone in the expression, “I will confess” (“profess,” A.V [49] and R.V [50] ), as if to say: I ought to know men who can say so much for themselves, but I do not. ὅτι , recitative, the exact words directly reported. οὐδέποτε , never: at no point in that remarkable career when so many wonderful things were done in my name. ἀποχωρεῖτε , etc.: an echo of Psa 6:9 , and sentence of doom, like Mat 25:41 .

[49] Authorised Version.

[50] Revised Version.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

You that are given to all kind of wickedness, and seem to make an art of sin.

This is not of ignorance, but because he will cast them away.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

And then will I profess unto them--or, openly proclaim--tearing off the mask.

I never knew you--What they claimed intimacy with Christ, is just what He repudiates, and with a certain scornful dignity. "Our acquaintance was not broken off--there never was any."

depart from me--(Compare Mat 25:41). The connection here gives these words an awful significance. They claimed intimacy with Christ, and in the corresponding passage, Luk 13:26, are represented as having gone out and in with Him on familiar terms. "So much the worse for you," He replies: "I bore with that long enough; but now--begone!"

ye that work iniquity--not "that wrought iniquity"; for they are represented as fresh from the scenes and acts of it as they stand before the Judge. (See on the almost identical, but even more vivid and awful, description of the scene in Luk 13:24-27). That the apostle alludes to these very words in Ti2 2:19 there can hardly be any doubt--"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 23. Will I profess] ομολογησω, I will fully and plainly tell them, I never knew you - I never approved of you; for so the word is used in many places, both in the Old and New Testaments. You held the truth in unrighteousness, while you preached my pure and holy doctrine; and for the sake of my own truth, and through my love to the souls of men, I blessed your preaching; but yourselves I could never esteem, because you were destitute of the spirit of my Gospel, unholy in your hearts, and unrighteous in your conduct. Alas! alas! how many preachers are there who appear prophets in their pulpits; how many writers, and other evangelical workmen, the miracles of whose labour, learning, and doctrine, we admire, who are nothing, and worse than nothing, before God, because they perform not his will, but their own? What an awful consideration, that a man of eminent gifts, whose talents are a source of public utility, should be only as a way-mark or finger-post in the way to eternal bliss, pointing out the road to others, without walking in it himself!

Depart from me] What a terrible word! What a dreadful separation! Depart from ME! from the very Jesus whom you have proclaimed in union with whom alone eternal life is to be found. For, united to Christ, all is heaven; separated from him, all is hell.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(23) Then will I profess unto them.—The words form a remarkable complement to the promise, “Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven” (Mat_10:32). The confession there recognised is more than lip-homage, and implies the loyal service of obedience. And the condemnation is pronounced not on those who have wandered from the truth, but on those who have been “workers of iniquity,” or, as the word more strictly means, “of lawlessness.” The words remind us of those of Psa_15:2-3; Psa_24:3-4, and are, perhaps, a transfer of what David had spoken of his ideal of his earthly kingdom to that of the kingdom of heaven which the Christ had come to found.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. I never knew you] “Never recognised you as my disciples. While my name was on your lips, your hearts were far from me.” Clement of Rome (Ep. ii:4), referring to this passage, says: “let us then not only call Him ‘Lord,’ for that will not save us;” he then quotes the words of Mat_7:21.

iniquity] Literally, lawlessness.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the rain descended, and the floods came,.... Such builders, and such a building, cannot stand against the violent rain of Satan's temptations, the floods of the world's persecutions, the stream and rapid torrent of their own heart's lusts, nor the blowing winds of heresy and false doctrine, and much less the storms of divine wrath and vengeance. They are in a most dangerous condition; they cannot support themselves; they must fall, and great will be their fall; their destruction is inevitable, their ruin is irrecoverable. The Jews make use of some similes, which are pretty much like these of Christ's.

"R. Eliezer ben Azariah used to say (z), he whose wisdom is greater than his works, to what is he like? to a tree, whose branches are many, and its roots few, "and the wind comes", and roots it up, and overturns it; as it is said, Jer 17:6 but he whose works are greater than his wisdom, to what is he like? to a tree, whose branches are few, and its roots many, "against which, if all the winds in the world were to come and blow", they could not move it out of its place: as it is said, Jer 17:8.''

Again (a),

"Elisha ben Abuijah used to say, a man who hath good works, and learns the law much, to what is he like? to a man that "builds with stones below", and afterwards with bricks; and though , "many waters come", and stand at their side, they cannot remove them out of their place; but a man who hath no good works, and learns the law, to what is he like? to a man that "builds with bricks first", and afterwards with stones; and though few waters come, they immediately overturn them.''

The same used to say,

"a man who hath good works, and learns the law much, to what is he like? to mortar spread upon bricks; and though , "the rains descend upon it", they cannot remove it out of its place: a man that hath no good works, and learns the law much, to what is he like? to mortar thrown upon bricks; and though but a small rain descends upon it, it is immediately dissolved, and "falls".''

(z) Pirke Abot, c. 3. sect. 17. & Abot R. Nathan, c. 22. fol. 6. 1, 2. (a) Abot R. Nathan, c. 24. fol. 6. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Ver. 23. And then well I profess unto them, I never knew you] No, not when you professed most love to me, and did me (to see to) greatest service. I knew you well enough for "black sheep," or rather for reprobate goats; I knew you for hirelings and hypocrites, but I never knew you with a special knowledge of love, delight, and complacency. I never acknowledged, approved, and accepted your persons and performances. See Psa 1:6; Rom 11:2. God’s sharp nose doth easily discern, and is offended with the stinking breath of the hypocrite’s rotten lungs, though his words be never so scented and perfumed, though his deeds be never so mantled and masked with shows of holiness. God utterly disowns and disavows all such, for if "any man have not the Spirit of God," saith Paul, the same "is none of his," Rom 8:9; be he whose he will be. And whereas he naturally delights in mercy, yet he will by no means clear the guilty; yea, he will "mock at their destruction, and laugh when their fear cometh." He will "spew them out of his mouth." Ah, he will ease him of his adversaries; and be as well paid thereof, as a man is that hath ridden his stomach of the surfeit or sick matter that clogged it, Pro 1:16. Quod Deus loquitur cum risu, tu legas cum fletu. Aug. Rev 3:16; Isa 1:24.

Depart from me] Oh direful and dreadful sentence! such as shall make their very heartstrings crack (not their ears tingle only), and their hearts fall asunder in their bosoms, like drops of water. {a} Surely if the gentle voice of God in the "cool of the day" ( in aura diei), Gen 3:8, were so terrible to our first parents; and if his sweet voice in the preaching of the gospel of grace be so formidable to the wicked, that Felix trembled, and the stoutest are quailed, the edge of their fury is rebated, their hearts often ache and quake within them; what will they do when the Lion of the tribe of Judah shall roar out upon them this fearful Discedite Depoart, that breathes out nothing but fire and brimstone, stings and horrors, woe and, alas, seas of vengeance, and the worm that never dieth, torments without end, and past imagination? The desperate soldiers (that would not have dreaded to dare the devil to a duel) fell before him to the ground, when, in the state of his humility, he said but, "I am he;" how will the wicked stand before him in his majesty? If Gideon’s torches and trumpets so daunted the proud Midianites, how shall these abide the terror of the last day?

Ye workers of iniquity] Ye that make it your trade and task, that do "wickedly with both hands earnestly," that are wittily wicked, and can act out iniquity; that dig in the devil’s mines, row in his galleys, grind in his mill, and are not wearied; that live by your sins, as the labourer doth by his trade; and esteem it as the means of a happy life. {b} Ye that, although ye cannot be charged with any crying crime, but have Lord, Lord, in your mouths, and a show of holiness in your lives, yet regard iniquity in your hearts; and when you seem most of all highflown, have a leering eye upon some beloved sin, as the eagle hath upon her prey below when she soareth highest. Your very preaching in Christ’s name (if not for his name) is with God a work of iniquity, and shall have the "wages of sin," which is death, when Christ comes to judgment. {c} Then they that would not obey those sweet commands, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Believe in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and all thy household," &c., shall have no other commandment left them to obey, but this horrible "Depart ye;" which imports an utter separation from the beatifical vision and fruition of God; and this is the very hell of hell, &c. Meanwhile, whereto serves the world’s Euge, well done, when they are sure of Christ’s Apage? be off.

{a} Dicetur reprobis, ite; venite, probis. It will be said to the wicked, Go, to the godly Come.

{b} Latini medicinam et argentariam facere dicunt. Beza.

{c} Our works must be works of God, wrought from God for God, in God, according to God, else they are but shining sins. Mr Harris at Paul’s Cross.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Profess unto them - Say unto them; plainly declare.

I never knew you - That is, I never approved of your conduct; never loved you; never regarded you as my friends. See Psa 1:6; 2Ti 2:19; 1Co 8:3. This proves that, with all their pretensions, they had never been true followers of Christ. Jesus will not then say to false prophets and false professors of religion that he had once known them and then rejected them; that they had been once Christians and then had fallen away; that they had been pardoned and then had apostatized but that he had never known them - they had never been true christians. Whatever might have been their pretended joys, their raptures, their hopes, their self-confidence, their visions, their zeal, they had never been regarded by the Saviour as his true friends. I do not know of a more decided proof that Christians do not fall from grace than this text. It settles the question; and proves that whatever else such people had, they never had any true religion. See 1Jo 2:19.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

So as to approve and reward your works. Here he shews that even prophecy and miracles will not save us without good works. (Menochius) --- How much less will faith, unassisted by good works, preserve us from condemnation. (Haydock) --- the gift of miracles is bestowed on men not for their own good, but for the advantage of others. We must not then be surprised if men, who had indeed faith in Christ, but whose lives did not correspond with their faith, should be honoured with these extraordinary gifts, since the Almighty sometimes employs as his instruments in working similar wonders, men destitute both of faith and virtue. Balaam, void of faith and probity, still by the will of God, prophesied for the advantage of others. To Pharao and Nabuchodonosor were revealed future events of the greatest moment; and the wicked Judas himself cast out devils. Therefore St. Paul said, "if I had all faith so as to remove mountains, and if I knew all mysteries, and was possessed of all wisdom, but had not charity, I am nothing." (St. John Chrysostom, Hom. xv.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

23. I never knew you — They belong not to the apostate class; but are either self-deceivers, or juggling deluders of others, of whom Simon Magus was father. Depart from me — You belong to the dark side of the universe. Work iniquity — Though professors of righteousness, they were workers of iniquity. According to the test given in 15-20, their fruits condemned them.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Cf. Luk_13:27. And then will I profess unto them. Openly in the face of all men. (cf. Mat_10:32) I never knew you. Even when you did all these miracles. etc., I had not that personal knowledge of you which is only the result of heart-sympathy. There was never anything in common between you and me. Although this is, perhaps, the only example of this sense of egnwn in the synoptic Gospels, it is common in John. Depart from me. The absence of recognition by Christ, though not represented as the cause, yet will involve departure from his presence. (cf. 2Th_1:9) This clause reproduces verbally the LXX of Psa_6:8, except in St. Matthew"s word used for "depart" (apocwreite), which gives more idea of distance in the removal than the word used in the psalm and in Luke (aposthte). Ye that work. In full purpose and energy, (oi ergazomenoi , cf. Col_3:23) and that till this very moment. Iniquity. The assurance of the psalmist becomes the verdict of the Judge. Observe that at this, the end of his discourse, our Lord speaks not of sin generally (than ), but of lawlessness (than). He has throughout been insisting upon obedience to the Law in its final meaning as essentially necessary for his followers (most recently ver. 12). So that instead of saying, "ye that work sin," he uses the correlative, (1Jn_3:4) for sin is neglect of or opposition to the perfect Law of God in the three spheres that this regards self, the world, God. (cf. Bishop Westcott, on 1Jn_3:4) It is, perhaps, more than a coincidence that in 2Ti_2:19 we have again the collocation of the Lord knowing and of man"s departing, i.e. either from him or from sin; (cf. especially the parallel Luk_13:27) vide Resch, "Agrapha," p. 207.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I never knew you - There never was a time that I approved of you: so that as many souls as they had saved, they were themselves never saved from their sins. Lord, is it my case? Luke xiii, 27.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

work iniquity

sin, lawlessness. (See Scofield "Rom 3:23").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. I never knew you. “I never knew you” must be accepted in its deeper signification of “recognizing the disciples.” Augustine says that for Christ to say, “I never knew you,” is only another way of saying, “You never knew me.” Depart, … ye that work iniquity. In spite of all their professions they had been evil doers. Their religion expended itself in professions and prayers. Hence, in “that day” they are commanded to depart. What it is to so depart we may learn from Matt. 25:41. It is evident from this passage that many are self-deceived.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

23. ὁμολογεῖν. Properly to ‘agree,’ ‘admit’: in late Greek to ‘assert,’ ‘affirm.’

οὐδέποτε ἔγνων. ‘Never recognised you as being my disciples, with my name on your lips your heart was far from me.’ Each false claim is answered by the Judge. As prophets he does not recognise them. He bids the false casters-forth of demons begone as though they themselves were demons,—the workers of δυνάμεις were really workers of ἀνομία. Comp. Clem. Ep. II. loc. cit. above: εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος ἐὰν ἦτε μετʼ ἐμοῦ συνηγμένοι ἐν τῷ κολπῷ μου καὶ μὴ ποιῆτε τὰς ἐντολάς μου ἀποβαλῶ ὑμᾶς καὶ ἐρῶ ὑμῖν· ὑπάγετε ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ, οὐκ οἶδα ὑμᾶς πόθεν ἐστέ, ἐργάται ἀνομίας.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23.] As the words now stand, ὅτι is merely recitative, and cannot be (Meyer) ‘because,’ belonging to ἀποχωρ. Such an arrangement would be unprecedented. Orig., Chrys., , &c., placed ὅτι οὐδ. ἔγν. ὑμ. after ἀποχ., &c., in which case the meaning ‘for, because,’ would be right. See Luk 13:25-27.

ὁμολογήσω is here a remarkable word, as a statement of the simple truth of facts, as opposed to the false colouring and self-deceit of the hypocrites—‘I will tell them the plain truth.’

οὐδέποτε ἔγ. ὑμ., i.e., in the sense in which it is said, Joh 10:14, γινώσκω τὰ ἐμὰ καὶ γινώσκομαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἐμῶν. Neither the preaching Christ, nor doing miracles in His Name, are infallible signs of being His genuine servants, but only the devotion of life to God’s will which this knowledge brings about.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. And then will I confess to them that I never knew you: depart from Me, ye workers of lawlessness.] Cf. Luk 13:27.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Profess [ομολογησω] . The word which is used elsewhere of open confession of Christ before men (Mt 10:32; Rom 10:9); of John's public declaration that he was not the Christ (Joh 1:20); of Herod 's promise to Salome in the presence of his guests (Mt 14:7). Hence, therefore, of Christ 's open, public declaration as Judge of the world. "There is great authority in this saying," remarks Bengel.

24 sqq. I will liken him, etc. The picture is not of two men deliberately selecting foundations, but it contrasts one who carefully chooses and prepares his foundation with one who builds at hap - hazard. This is more strongly brought out by Luke (vi. 48) : "Who digged and went deep, and laid a foundation upon the rock" (Rev.). Kitto (" Pictorial Bible ") says : "At this very day the mode of building in Christ 's own town of Nazareth suggest the source of this image. Dr. Robinson was entertained in the house of a Greek Arab. The house had just been built, and was not yet finished. In order to lay the foundations he had dug down to the solid rock, as is usual throughout the country here, to the depth of thirty feet, and then built up arches." The abrupt style of ver. 25 pictures the sudden coming of the storm which sweeps away the house on the sand :

"Descended the rain, and came the floods, and blew the winds."

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.