Matthew 22
The chapter in full, then what it says, what the Greek or Hebrew decides, and where readers have disagreed.
Matthew 22 WEB
- 1 Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying,
- 2 "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a wedding feast for his son,
- 3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.
- 4 Again he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding feast!"'
- 5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise;
- 6 and the rest grabbed his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
- 7 When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
- 8 "Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren't worthy.
- 9 Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the wedding feast.'
- 10 Those servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests.
- 11 "But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn't have on wedding clothing,
- 12 and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?' He was speechless.
- 13 Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.'
- 14 For many are called, but few chosen."
- 15 Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might entrap him in his talk.
- 16 They sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are honest, and teach the way of God in truth, no matter whom you teach; for you aren't partial to anyone.
- 17 Tell us therefore, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?"
- 18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, "Why do you test me, you hypocrites?
- 19 Show me the tax money." They brought to him a denarius.
- 20 He asked them, "Whose is this image and inscription?"
- 21 They said to him, "Caesar's." Then he said to them, "Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
- 22 When they heard it, they marveled, and left him and went away.
- 23 On that day Sadducees (those who say that there is no resurrection) came to him. They asked him,
- 24 saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.'
- 25 Now there were with us seven brothers. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother.
- 26 In the same way, the second also, and the third, to the seventh.
- 27 After them all, the woman died.
- 28 In the resurrection therefore, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had her."
- 29 But Jesus answered them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.
- 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like God's angels in heaven.
- 31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, haven't you read that which was spoken to you by God, saying,
- 32 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."
- 33 When the multitudes heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
- 34 But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, gathered themselves together.
- 35 One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him.
- 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?"
- 37 Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
- 38 This is the first and great commandment.
- 39 A second likewise is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
- 40 The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
- 41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,
- 42 saying, "What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?" They said to him, "Of David."
- 43 He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,
- 44 'The Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet'?
- 45 "If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?"
- 46 No one was able to answer him a word, neither did any man dare ask him any more questions from that day forward.
What is happening
Matthew 22 falls in the last week before the crucifixion, in the temple courts in Jerusalem, where Jesus has just told the parable of the wicked tenants and now tells a second parable before a series of hostile questioners take their turns. The chapter has two distinct movements: a parable of judgment and invitation (22:1–14), and three rounds of interrogation by rival factions — Pharisees with Herodians, Sadducees, and Pharisees again — each trying to trap him, each failing, until Jesus turns and asks them the question no one can answer (22:15–46).
The parable of the wedding feast (22:1–14)
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a wedding feast for his son" (22:2). A king sends servants to summon the invited guests, but "they would not come" (22:3). A second summons follows, urgent and generous — "all things are ready" (22:4) — and is met with indifference and worse: some "made light of it" and walked off to farm and business (22:5), others seized the servants, "treated them shamefully, and killed them" (22:6). The king's response is severe: he destroys the murderers and burns their city (22:7) — language that would have struck Matthew's first readers as an unmistakable echo of Jerusalem's own coming fate.
The invitation does not stop. "Those who were invited weren't worthy" (22:8), so the servants are sent to "the intersections of the highways" to gather anyone found, "both bad and good" (22:9–10). The feast fills. But filling the hall is not the end of the story: the king enters and finds a guest "not wearing wedding clothing" (22:11). Addressed as "Friend" — Ἑταῖρε, a term of address to someone out of place rather than intimacy — he is speechless when asked how he got in improperly dressed (22:12), and is bound and cast into "the outer darkness," where there is "weeping and grinding of teeth" (22:13). The parable closes on the line that governs the whole thing: "For many are called, but few chosen" (22:14) — κλητοὶ (called) contrasted with ἐκλεκτοί (chosen). Being summoned to the feast and belonging at it are not the same event.
The three traps (22:15–40)
The Pharisees and Herodians — an unlikely alliance of religious purists and political collaborators, united only in wanting Jesus gone — ask about the poll tax: "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?" (22:17), a question rigged so that either answer discredits him, either as a Roman collaborator or a seditionist. Jesus asks for a denarius, points to Caesar's "image and inscription" (22:20), and answers: "Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (22:21). This is not a tidy separation of religion from politics, as it is often used today; it is a claim that Caesar's coin belongs, provisionally, to Caesar's economy, while the whole of a person — made and claimed by God — belongs to God. The text does not specify where the line falls; it simply refuses to let Caesar's claim eclipse God's. "They marveled, and left him" (22:22).
The Sadducees, who denied bodily resurrection, then pose a case built on the levirate-marriage custom: seven brothers, one widow in succession, "In the resurrection therefore, whose wife will she be?" (22:28). Jesus answers on two fronts. First, the resurrected life is not a mere extension of earthly categories: "in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like God's angels in heaven" (22:30) — not that the resurrected become angels, but that marriage as an institution belongs to this age, not the next. Second, he grounds the resurrection itself in how God names himself: "'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living" (22:31–32). The patriarchs are addressed in the present tense, long after their deaths — proof, in Jesus' argument, that they are not simply gone. "You are mistaken," he tells the Sadducees, "not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God" (22:29) — a double failure, of exegesis and of imagination about what God can do.
A lawyer then asks which is the greatest commandment. Jesus answers with two: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" as "the first and great commandment," and a second, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (22:37–39), concluding, "The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments" (22:40). κρέμαται — "depend," or literally "hang" — is deliberate: everything else in the law hangs from these as from a hook, not as an alternative to the rest of the law but as its center of gravity.
Jesus' question (22:41–46)
Having answered every trap, Jesus asks his own: "What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is he?" They answer, correctly as far as it goes, "Of David" (22:42). He presses further: David himself, "in the Spirit," calls this descendant "Lord" — "how is he his son?" (22:43–45). The puzzle is left standing, unresolved by the text itself, because its resolution is the very claim the Gospel exists to make: the Christ is David's son by lineage and David's Lord by nature. No one in the courtyard can answer, and "no one was able to answer him a word" (22:46) — the last word in a chapter otherwise composed entirely of other people's questions.
Where readers have disagreed
The wedding garment (22:11–13) has drawn the most debate. Some read it as an image of imputed righteousness — a garment given, not achieved, so that showing up without it means having refused what was offered along with the invitation. Others stress the moral seriousness of the image: inclusion in the kingdom is not indifferent to how one comes. The text itself does not resolve which "gift" the garment represents; it insists only that arriving is not sufficient — presence at the feast without the proper clothing still ends in judgment.
The burning of the city (22:7) is often read, given Matthew's date and audience, as pointing toward Jerusalem's destruction in AD 70, making the parable also a comment on the immediate historical moment, not only a timeless allegory.
What it asks of a reader
The chapter refuses easy alternatives. It will not let "many are called" collapse into "all are saved," nor let arrival at the feast substitute for readiness to be there. It will not let Caesar's demands become the whole of one's obligation, nor let love of God be separated from love of neighbor — the law "hangs" on both together, not either alone. And it will not let anyone, then or now, treat Jesus as merely a teacher to be outmaneuvered in argument; the chapter's last silence belongs to those who tried.
The verses this turns on
Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying,discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς πάλιν εἶπεν ἐν παραβολαῖς αὐτοῖς λέγων
- Καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ἀποκριθεὶς ἀποκρίνομαι verb · aorist passive deponent participle, nominative singular masculine G611
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- Ἰησοῦς Ἰησοῦς noun · nominative singular masculine G2424
- πάλιν πάλιν adverb G3825
- εἶπεν λέγω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G3004
- ἐν ἐν preposition G1722
- παραβολαῖς παραβολή noun · dative plural feminine G3850
- αὐτοῖς αὐτός personal pronoun · dative plural masculine G846
- λέγων λέγω verb · present active participle, nominative singular masculine G3004
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Matthew 20:1 "For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
- Matthew 12:43 "When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places seeking rest, and doesn't find it.
- Luke 8:10 He said, "To you it is given to know the mysteries of God's Kingdom, but to the rest it is given in parables, that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.'
- Matthew 21:28 But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, 'Son, go work today in my vineyard.'
- Luke 14:16 But he said to him, "A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people.
"The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a wedding feast for his son,discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
Ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ βασιλεῖ, ὅστις ἐποίησεν γάμους τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ.
- Ὡμοιώθη ὁμοιόω verb · aorist passive indicative, 3rd person singular G3666
- ἡ ὁ article · nominative singular feminine G3588
- βασιλεία βασιλεία noun · nominative singular feminine G932
- τῶν ὁ article · genitive plural masculine G3588
- οὐρανῶν οὐρανός noun · genitive plural masculine G3772
- ἀνθρώπῳ ἄνθρωπος noun · dative singular masculine G444
- βασιλεῖ, βασιλεύς noun · dative singular masculine G935
- ὅστις ὅστις relative pronoun · nominative singular masculine G3748
- ἐποίησεν ποιέω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G4160
- γάμους γάμος noun · accusative plural masculine G1062
- τῷ ὁ article · dative singular masculine G3588
- υἱῷ υἱός noun · dative singular masculine G5207
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Revelation 19:7 Let's rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let's give the glory to him. For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready."
- Matthew 13:24 He set another parable before them, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field,
- Ephesians 5:24 But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything.
- 2 Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you in marriage to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
- Psalm 45:10 Listen, daughter, consider, and turn your ear. Forget your own people, and also your father's house.
and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ καλέσαι τοὺς κεκλημένους εἰς τοὺς γάμους, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελον ἐλθεῖν.
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ἀπέστειλεν ἀποστέλλω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G649
- τοὺς ὁ article · accusative plural masculine G3588
- δούλους δοῦλος (II) noun · accusative plural masculine G1401
- αὐτοῦ αὐτός personal pronoun · genitive singular masculine G846
- καλέσαι καλέω verb · aorist active infinitive G2564
- τοὺς ὁ article · accusative plural masculine G3588
- κεκλημένους καλέω verb · perfect passive participle, accusative plural masculine G2564
- εἰς εἰς preposition G1519
- τοὺς ὁ article · accusative plural masculine G3588
- γάμους, γάμος noun · accusative plural masculine G1062
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" He who hears, let him say, "Come!" He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.
- Luke 14:15 When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, "Blessed is he who will feast in God's Kingdom!"
- John 5:40 Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life.
- Hosea 11:7 My people are determined to turn from me. Though they call to the Most High, he certainly won't exalt them.
- Matthew 3:2 "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!"
Again he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "Behold, I have prepared my dinner. My cattle and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding feast!"'discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
πάλιν ἀπέστειλεν ἄλλους δούλους λέγων Εἴπατε τοῖς κεκλημένοις Ἰδοὺ τὸ ἄριστόν μου ἡτοίμακα, οἱ ταῦροί μου καὶ τὰ σιτιστὰ τεθυμένα, καὶ πάντα ἕτοιμα· δεῦτε εἰς τοὺς γάμους.
- πάλιν πάλιν adverb G3825
- ἀπέστειλεν ἀποστέλλω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G649
- ἄλλους ἄλλος adjective · accusative plural masculine G243
- δούλους δοῦλος (II) noun · accusative plural masculine G1401
- λέγων λέγω verb · present active participle, nominative singular masculine G3004
- Εἴπατε λέγω verb · aorist active imperative, 2nd person plural G3004
- τοῖς ὁ article · dative plural masculine G3588
- κεκλημένοις καλέω verb · perfect passive participle, dative plural masculine G2564
- Ἰδοὺ ὁράω verb · aorist middle imperative, 2nd person singular G3708
- τὸ ὁ article · accusative singular neuter G3588
- ἄριστόν ἄριστον noun · accusative singular neuter G712
- μου ἐγώ personal pronoun G1473
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Acts 13:46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, "It was necessary that God's word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you thrust it from yourselves, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
- John 6:50 This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that anyone may eat of it and not die.
- Matthew 21:36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they treated them the same way.
- Psalm 86:5 For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, abundant in loving kindness to all those who call on you.
- Romans 8:32 He who didn't spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things?
But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise;discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
οἱ δὲ ἀμελήσαντες ἀπῆλθον, ὃς μὲν εἰς τὸν ἴδιον ἀγρόν, ὃς δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἐμπορίαν αὐτοῦ·
- οἱ ὁ article · nominative plural masculine G3588
- δὲ δέ conjunction G1161
- ἀμελήσαντες ἀμελέω verb · aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine G272
- ἀπῆλθον, ἀπέρχομαι verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural G565
- ὃς ὅς relative pronoun · nominative singular masculine G3739
- μὲν μέν particle G3303
- εἰς εἰς preposition G1519
- τὸν ὁ article · accusative singular masculine G3588
- ἴδιον ἴδιος adjective · accusative singular masculine G2398
- ἀγρόν, ἀγρός noun · accusative singular masculine G68
- ὃς ὅς relative pronoun · nominative singular masculine G3739
- δὲ δέ conjunction G1161
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Hebrews 2:3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation—which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard,
- Luke 14:18 They all as one began to make excuses. "The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.'
- 1 John 2:15 Don't love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father's love isn't in him.
- 2 Timothy 3:4 traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
- Genesis 25:34 Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew. He ate and drank, rose up, and went his way. So Esau despised his birthright.
and the rest grabbed his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ κρατήσαντες τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ ὕβρισαν καὶ ἀπέκτειναν.
- οἱ ὁ article · nominative plural masculine G3588
- δὲ δέ conjunction G1161
- λοιποὶ λοιπός adjective · nominative plural masculine G3062
- κρατήσαντες κρατέω verb · aorist active participle, nominative plural masculine G2902
- τοὺς ὁ article · accusative plural masculine G3588
- δούλους δοῦλος (II) noun · accusative plural masculine G1401
- αὐτοῦ αὐτός personal pronoun · genitive singular masculine G846
- ὕβρισαν ὑβρίζω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural G5195
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- ἀπέκτειναν. ἀποκτείνω verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural G615
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- John 15:19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, since I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
- Acts 4:1 As they spoke to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came to them,
- Matthew 21:35 The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another.
- Matthew 10:12 As you enter into the household, greet it.
- Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ὠργίσθη, καὶ πέμψας τὰ στρατεύματα αὐτοῦ ἀπώλεσεν τοὺς φονεῖς ἐκείνους καὶ τὴν πόλιν αὐτῶν ἐνέπρησεν.
- ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- δὲ δέ conjunction G1161
- βασιλεὺς βασιλεύς noun · nominative singular masculine G935
- ὠργίσθη, ὀργίζω verb · aorist passive indicative, 3rd person singular G3710
- καὶ καί conjunction G2532
- πέμψας πέμπω verb · aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine G3992
- τὰ ὁ article · accusative plural neuter G3588
- στρατεύματα στράτευμα noun · accusative plural neuter G4753
- αὐτοῦ αὐτός personal pronoun · genitive singular masculine G846
- ἀπώλεσεν ἀπόλλυμι verb · aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular G622
- τοὺς ὁ article · accusative plural masculine G3588
- φονεῖς φονεύς noun · accusative plural masculine G5406
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Luke 19:27 But bring those enemies of mine who didn't want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.'"
- 1 Peter 4:17 For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. If it begins first with us, what will happen to those who don't obey the Good News of God?
- Joel 2:25 I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the great locust, the grasshopper, and the caterpillar, my great army, which I sent among you.
- Luke 21:24 They will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
- Daniel 9:26 After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One will be cut off, and will have nothing. The people of the prince who come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end will be with a flood, and war will be even to the end. Desolations are determined.
"Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren't worthy.discussed above
Greek Nestle 1904
τότε λέγει τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ Ὁ μὲν γάμος ἕτοιμός ἐστιν, οἱ δὲ κεκλημένοι οὐκ ἦσαν ἄξιοι·
- τότε τότε adverb G5119
- λέγει λέγω verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G3004
- τοῖς ὁ article · dative plural masculine G3588
- δούλοις δοῦλος (II) noun · dative plural masculine G1401
- αὐτοῦ αὐτός personal pronoun · genitive singular masculine G846
- Ὁ ὁ article · nominative singular masculine G3588
- μὲν μέν particle G3303
- γάμος γάμος noun · nominative singular masculine G1062
- ἕτοιμός ἕτοιμος adjective · nominative singular masculine G2092
- ἐστιν, εἰμί verb · present active indicative, 3rd person singular G1510
- οἱ ὁ article · nominative plural masculine G3588
- δὲ δέ conjunction G1161
Punctuation is editorial — the manuscripts carry none.
See also 5
- Acts 13:46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, "It was necessary that God's word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you thrust it from yourselves, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
- Revelation 3:4 Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that didn't defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:5 This is an obvious sign of the righteous judgment of God, to the end that you may be counted worthy of God's Kingdom, for which you also suffer.
- Luke 20:35 But those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.
- Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.
From the interpretive tradition
When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.
The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked.