Matthew 12:35

is found in Luke's version of the Sermon (Luke 6:45). They might have been remarks made to the disciples about the Pharisees, as in Matthew 16:6, though in their present form direct address is implied (vide Matthew 12:34). Their essential import is that the nature or heart of a man determines his speech and action. Given the tree, the fruit follows.

Matthew 12:35. ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἀ.: good in the sense of benignant, gracious, kindly, the extreme moral opposite of the malignant viper-nature. θησαυροῦ : in Matthew 12:34 the heart is conceived as a fountain, of which speech is the overflow, here as a treasure whose stores of thought and feeling the mouth freely distributes. ἐκβάλλει suggests speech characterised by energy, passion. There was no lack of emphasis in Pharisaic comments on Jesus. They hissed out their malevolent words at Him, being not heartless but bad-hearted. But cf. texts referred to on margin.

Matthew 12:36. πᾶν ρ. ἀργὸν : speech being the outcome of the heart, no word is insignificant, not even that which is ἀργόν, ineffectual (α. ἔργον), insipid, “idle”. It is an index of thoughtlessness if not of malice. This verse contains an important warning, whether spoken at this time or not.