Matthew 12:36

“But I say unto you, etc.] This form of speaking is used, the more strongly to asseverate the truth of what is after said; and the rather, because men are apt to indulge a liberty with their tongues; fancying no great crime is committed, when only words are spoken, and no facts done; that every idle word that a man shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. By an “idle word” is meant, what the Jews call, hlq hjyç, “light conversation”, and ljb rbd, “vain discourse”, as the Hebrew Gospel of Munster reads it here; frothy language, unprofitable talk, which, though it does not directly hurt God or man, yet is of no use to speaker or hearer; and yet even this, in the last…”

“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment--They might say, "It was nothing: we meant no evil; we merely threw out a supposition, as one way of accounting for the miracle we witnessed; if it will not stand, let it go; why make so much of it, and bear down with such severity for it?" Jesus replies, "It was not nothing, and at the great day will not be treated as nothing: Words, as the index of the heart, however idle they may seem, will be taken account of, whether good or bad, in estimating character in the day of judgment."”

“But I say unto you ... - Christ closes this address to his malignant and wicked hearers by a solemn declaration that for these things God would bring them into judgment. Therefore. They who had spoken so malignantly against him, could not escape. Idle word - This literally means a vain, thoughtless, useless word; a word that accomplishes no good. Here it means, evidently, “wicked, injurious, false, malicious, for such” were the words which they had spoken. return to 'Top of Page'”

“Ye may perhaps think, God does not so much regard your words. But I say to you - That not for blasphemous and profane words only, but for every idle word which men shall speak - For want of seriousness or caution; for every discourse which is not conducive to the glory of God, they shall give account in the day of judgment. Matthew 12:37”

“12:36-37 The idle word, in this context, was the accusation that Jesus had demonic inspiration. • What one says will acquit or condemn; one’s words reflect the true condition of the heart.”

“every: Ecc 12:14; Rom 2:16; Eph 6:4-6; Jde 1:14, Jde 1:15; Rev 20:12 idle word: Ρημα \[Strong's G4487\], αργος \[Strong's G692\], i.e., ἀεργον - (work, act, deed) from α, privative, and εργον \[Strong's G2041\], work, a word that produces no good effect, and is not calculated to produce any. "Discourse," says Dr. Doddridge, "tending to innocent mirth, to exhilarate the spirits, is not idle discourse; as the time spent in necessary recreation is not idle time. Matthew 12:37”