Matthew 25, the twenty-fifth chapter of the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

, continues the

Olivet Discourse The Olivet Discourse or Olivet prophecy is a biblical passage found in the Synoptic Gospels in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. It is also known as the Little Apocalypse because it includes the use of apocalyptic language, and it inc ...

or "Little Apocalypse" spoken by

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

, also described as the Eschatological Discourse, which had started in chapter 24.Carr, A.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges: Matthew 24
accessed 10 October 2019 American theologian Jason Hood, writing in the ''

Journal of Biblical Literature The ''Journal of Biblical Literature'' (''JBL'') is one of three academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academ ...

'', argues that chapter 23, chapter 24, and chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew form the fifth and final

discourse Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. F ...

in the gospel. In his reading, these three chapters together "uniquely infuse Jesus' distinctive teaching on discipleship,

Christology In Christianity, Christology is a branch of Christian theology, theology that concerns Jesus. Different denominations have different opinions on questions such as whether Jesus was human, divine, or both, and as a messiah what his role would b ...

, and judgment with the dramatic tension running throughout Matthew's plot".

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

. Some early

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has c ...

containing the text of this chapter are: * Papyrus 45 (~AD 250; extant verses 41–46) * Papyrus 35 (3rd/4th century; extant verses 12–15, 20–23) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. It is designated by siglum B or 03 in the Gregory-Aland numb ...

(325–350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (; Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), also called the Sinai Bible, is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonica ...

(330–360) *

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis is a bi-lingual Greek and Latin manuscript of the New Testament written in an uncial hand on parchment. It is designated by the siglum D or 05 in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts, and � ...

(~400) *

Codex Washingtonianus Codex Washingtonianus, Codex Washingtonensis, Codex Freerianus, also called the ''Washington Manuscript of the Gospels'', ''The Freer Gospel'' and ''The Freer Codex'', is a Greek uncial manuscript of the four Gospels, written on parchment. It is de ...

(~400) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) is a manuscript of the Greek Bible, written on parchment. It is designated by the siglum C or 04 in the Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland, Gregory-Aland numbering of New ...

(~450) * Codex Purpureus Rossanensis (6th century) *

Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus The Codex Petropolitanus Purpureus ("Tyrian purple, Purple Codex of Saint Petersburg"), designated by N or 022 (in the Biblical manuscript#Gregory-Aland, Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), ε19 (in the Biblical manuscript#Von ...

(6th century; extant verses 7–34) * Codex Sinopensis (6th century; extant verses 1–18) * Papyrus 44 (6th/7th century; extant verses 8–10) It is also found in quotations from

Irenaeus Irenaeus ( or ; ; ) was a Greeks, Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christianity, Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the development of Christian theology by oppos ...

(AD 180) in ''

Adversus Haereses ''Adversus Haereses'' is the commonly used Latin title for a book by the Church Father Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyon in Gaul (now France). It is also often cited as ''Against Heresies'' or ''On the Detection and Overthrow of the So-Called Gnosis''. I ...

''.

Content

This chapter is divided into 46 verses.

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

treats this chapter as "the 'protocol' by which we will be judged at the end of the world": The chapter continues a discourse commenced at Matthew 24:3 where the disciples come to Jesus to speak "privately". The Parable of the Ten Virgins (verses 1–13) and the

Parable of the Talents The Parable of the Talents (also the Parable of the Minas) is one of the parables of Jesus. It appears in two of the Synoptic Gospels, synoptic, Canonical Gospels, canonical gospels of the New Testament: * * Although the basic theme of each ...

(verses 14–30) are both unique to Matthew, Alford, H. (1841-61)
Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary - Alford: Matthew 25
accessed 21 March 2021 but the Parable of the Talents has a corollary in Luke 19:11–27.

Verse 14

:''Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.'' This verse begins a new parable, that of the talents or minas. There is no reference to the " kingdom of heaven" in this verse or in the parable, but the words, which mirror verse 1, are added in the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...

and some other English translations "for the sake of grammatical completeness".

Verses 31–46

The final section (verses 31–46) is sometimes referred to as The Sheep and the Goats but other times referred to as "The Judgment of the Nations". Although often called a "parable", it is not a story as such, but the portrayal of the Son of Man as a shepherd and the people under judgment as sheep or goats can be treated as "parabolic elements". The narrative quotes Jesus teaching that all of the people will be assembled before him and "he will separate them one from another", with some who will "inherit the kingdom" while others who will go to "the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels". Jesus is said to have said that the basis of this separation is whether or not someone: * Gave food to the hungry * Gave drink to the thirsty * Welcomed the stranger * Clothed the naked * Took care of the sick * Took care of those in prison.

Uses

Music

"Matthew 25:21" is a song title inspired by this verse on the album '' The Life of the World to Come'' that was released by the American band

The Mountain Goats The Mountain Goats are a United States band formed in Claremont, California, Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina, Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole me ...

in 2009.

References

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version,

Bible in Basic English The ''Bible In Basic English'' (also known as the ''BBE'') is a translation of the Bible into Basic English. The BBE was translated by Professor S. H. Hooke using the standard 850 Basic English words. 100 words that were helpful to understand ...

)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Matthew chapters