What Does Matthew 9:3 Mean?

And look, some of the writers said among themselves, This man reviles.

Matthew 9:3 · SDV

Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.

Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.

This verse in the King James

King James wording

King James Version

And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth.

THE KEY

They call forgiveness blasphemy because they believe only God can release guilt.

THE MEANING

A verdict about what honors God can take shape inside you before you speak it; the scribes’ hidden words call Jesus’ declaration an offense. The verse sets that judgment beside forgiveness, revealing how release can look like irreverence when authority is narrowly defined.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A private accusation is not proof of its own truth: Jesus answers the scribes’ hidden judgment by showing his authority to forgive (vv. 4–6).

THE ROOT

βλασφημεῖ

blasphēmei

GROWS FROM

βλασφημ-

Greek lexical stem

Slanderous or injurious speech, especially speech that dishonors God.

“reviles” in this verse is blasphēmei. This Greek word belongs to a family for slanderous or injurious speech; it is not merely a word for profanity. The scribes give their hidden interpretation a name: they treat Jesus’ declaration of forgiveness as speech that dishonors God.

ALSO GROWS

blasphēmia: Slander, injurious or irreverent speech.

βλασφημία

This related noun names the charge the scribes make; Mark 2:7 uses the same word family for their accusation.

blasphēmos: Slanderous, abusive, or blasphemous.

βλάσφημος

This related adjective describes speech or a speaker as defaming, showing that the charge is about perceived dishonor.

THE PATTERN

An inward judgment remains visible and answerable before it is spoken aloud.

You perceive my sitting and my rising, and from afar you separate out my thought.

Psalm 139:2 · SDVThe thought within is already known, even before it becomes speech.

Every way of a man is straight in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts.

Proverbs 21:2 · SDVInner certainty is weighed rather than accepted as its own proof.

Straightway Jesus perceived in his breath that they reasoned this way within themselves, and he said to them, Why do you reason these things in your hearts?

Mark 2:8 · SDVJesus answers the judgment the scribes have kept inside.

THE THREAD

Why does this man speak against God like this? Who can release shortcomings but God alone?

Mark 2:7 · SDV

Mark makes explicit why the scribes use this charge: they believe forgiveness belongs to God alone. The shared Greek family ⁨βλασφημ-⁩ (blasphēm-, “slanderous speech”) links Matthew’s ⁨βλασφημεῖ⁩ (blasphēmei, “speaks blasphemously”) with Mark’s ⁨βλασφημίας⁩ (blasphēmias, “blasphemies”).

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