Passage

Matthew 7.16

"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?" (Matthew 7:16, NASB95)

Jesus' discernment-of-false-prophets test, near the close of the Sermon on the Mount. The verse establishes the principle that doctrinal claim must be evaluated against character and effect: visible, sustained "fruit" reveals the true nature of the underlying tree. The verse is cited by orthodox apologists against false teachers and counterfeit Christianity, and (paradoxically) cited by critics against the visible failures of professing Christians. The fruits-test cuts both directions, which is why the verse is also the central anchor of ris3n's defense against the No True Scotsman charge.

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"14. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it. 15. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves."

"16. By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"

"17. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." (Matthew 7:14-18, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"14. How narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it. 15. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves."

"16. By their fruits you will know them. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?"

"17. Even so, every good tree produces good fruit; but the corrupt tree produces evil fruit. 18. A good tree can’t produce evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree produce good fruit." (Matthew 7:14-18, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"14. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. ^{Because: or, How} 15. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."

"16. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"

"17. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." (Matthew 7:14-18, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"14. how strait [is] the gate, and compressed the way that is leading to the life, and few are those finding it! 15. 'But, take heed of the false prophets, who come unto you in sheep's clothing, and inwardly are ravening wolves."

"16. From their fruits ye shall know them; do [men] gather from thorns grapes? or from thistles figs?"

"17. so every good tree doth yield good fruits, but the bad tree doth yield evil fruits. 18. A good tree is not able to yield evil fruits, nor a bad tree to yield good fruits." (Matthew 7:14-18, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Jesus
Audience: the disciples primarily, with the surrounding crowds in earshot (Matthew 5:1-2; 7:28)
Location: a hillside in Galilee, traditionally the Mount of Beatitudes near Capernaum
Time period: early Galilean ministry, c. AD 28

Theological reading

The verse falls in the closing application section of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:13-29), where Jesus shifts from teaching the kingdom ethic to warning against counterfeits of it. Verse 15 names the danger: "false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves." Verse 16 then supplies the diagnostic principle: "by their fruits you will know them." Verses 17 to 20 reinforce the principle by analogy (good tree, good fruit; bad tree, bad fruit) and conclude by repeating verse 16 nearly verbatim. The doubling-by-inclusio marks the test as load-bearing.

The diagnostic logic is observational and patient. Grapes do not come from thornbushes; figs do not come from thistles. Wait long enough and the underlying nature of any teaching shows itself in what it produces. The "fruit" the passage envisions is moral character and the effects of ministry, not merely outward miracle-claim (verses 21 to 23 explicitly deny that prophecy, exorcism, and miracles in Jesus' name are sufficient evidence absent obedience to the Father's will). This is what makes the verse central to discernment of false teaching: the test is not theological precision alone but the lived character of teacher and community.

The verse is the central anchor of ris3n's response to the No True Scotsman charge. The atheist objection runs: when Christians distance themselves from atrocities committed in Christianity's name, they commit the No True Scotsman fallacy by redefining "real Christian" to exclude bad actors. The fruits-test reply is that Jesus himself supplies the criterion: persistent moral fruit is the test of authentic discipleship, not nominal profession. The Sermon-on-the-Mount Jesus commands his hearers to apply this exact test. The Christian who refuses to identify the Crusader, the Inquisitor, or the scandal-engulfed pastor as illustrating the gospel is not retreating to ad-hoc redefinition; they are obeying the Lord's diagnostic command. The objection mistakes a Christological discrimen for a fallacy.

The verse also cuts the other direction. Critics who use the visible failures of Christians to indict Christianity are tacitly applying the same fruits-test Jesus commanded. Where the visible fruit of professing Christian institutions is genuine evil, the New Testament's own diagnostic confirms the critic's complaint: those who bear thornbush fruit are not the vine Christ planted. The verse therefore licenses both internal reform and external indictment, while protecting genuine Christianity from being identified with its counterfeits.

Key words

karpos (Strong's G2590), "fruit"; the diagnostic the verse turns on. Lexicon entry pending.
pseudoprophētēs (Strong's G5578), "false prophet"; the threat verse 15 names. Lexicon entry pending.
Pending lexicon expansion for the discernment-of-spirits vocabulary cluster.

Theological themes

Discernment by observable effect. Doctrinal claim is tested by sustained character and ministry-fruit, not by self-profession.
False prophets as wolves in sheep's clothing. The passage names internal threats to the community, not external opposition.
No-True-Scotsman defense. The verse supplies Jesus' own license for distinguishing nominal from authentic discipleship.
Critical knife cuts both ways. Critics' use of visible Christian failure tacitly invokes the same fruits-test Jesus commanded.
Inclusio framing. Verses 16 and 20 bracket the passage with the same diagnostic command, marking it as load-bearing.

Cross-references

Matthew 7.15-23, the wider false-prophets context.
Matthew 7.21-23, "not everyone who says 'Lord, Lord' will enter," extending the fruits-test to miracle-workers.
Galatians 5.22-23, the fruit of the Spirit, the positive content of true-disciple fruit.
1 John 4.1-3, the doctrinal test of spirits paired with this ethical one.
2 Peter 2.1-3, the false-teacher warning in apostolic correspondence.

Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.