Matthew 12

Matthew 12
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Gospel of Matthew 12:24-26 on Papyrus 21, from 3rd century.
Book	Gospel of Matthew
Bible part	New Testament
Order in the Bible part	1
Category	Gospel

Matthew 12 is the twelfth chapter in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. It continues the narrative about Jesus' ministry in Galilee.

This chapter can be grouped (with cross references to the other parts of the Bible):

Matthew states that Jesus' withdrawal from the cities of Galilee and his request that the crowds do not make him known is a fulfillment of the first Servant Song of the prophet Isaiah. The verses quoted from Isaiah are from the Septuagint version. One difference from the Hebrew version is found in verse 21 (Isaiah 42:4).

In translation from the Hebrew version, this reads:

In the Septuagint and in Matthew's Gospel this reads:

Theologian Albert Barnes describes an "idle word" (Matthew 12:36) as literally "a vain, thoughtless, useless word; a word that accomplishes no good", but states that in the context the meaning is "wicked, injurious, false [or] malicious" words. The Greek reveals a contrast between ρημα αργον, rhēma argon, idle words or sounds, and the consequential need to ἀποδώσουσιν περὶ αὐτοῦ λόγον, apodōsousin peri autou logon, to provide a reasoned account on the day of judgment.