Matthew 12:33 is the 33rd verse in the twelfth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Content In the original Greek according to Westcott-Hort, this verse is: Ἢ ποιήσατε τὸ δένδρον καλόν, καὶ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ καλόν, ἢ ποιήσατε τὸ δένδρον σαπρόν, καὶ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ σαπρόν· ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ καρποῦ τὸ δένδρον γινώσκεται. In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads: Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. The New International Version translates the passage as: "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. Analysis This is Christ's fifth argument against the Scribes, where most people understand that the tree is Christ. To "make" is to assert. So that either the Scribes and Pharisees must approve and praise Christ, together with His works, which seem to be laudable; or condemn Him along with His works as a bad tree. So Jesus seems to be saying, "if you praise my works, you should likewise to praise their author." Other authors have understood the tree to be the Pharisees. So that Christ appears to be saying, "if you wish to be accounted good, do good works, namely, praise good men and good things. But if you do evil, when you condemn Me and My Divine works, you should confess yourselves to be calumniators, for a calumniator is known by his calumnies, as a tree is known by its fruit. Commentary from the Church Fathers Chrysostom: " After his former answers He here again refutes them in another manner. This He does not in order to do away their charges against Himself, but desiring to amend them, saying, Either make the tree good and his fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt. As much as to say, None of you has said that it is an evil thing for a man to be delivered from dæmons. But because they did not speak evil of the works, but said that it was the Devil that wrought them, He shows that this charge is contrary to the common sense of things, and human conceptions. And to invent such charges can only proceed from