Greek word · G1081

γέννημα

gennēma

offspring

Gennēma means 'what is born, offspring', and in the Septuagint also the produce of the ground. Echidna is a venomous snake, a viper. Together they mean 'viper-spawn', 'snake-brood'.

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

γέννημα, -τος, τό

(γεννάω), [in LXX chiefly for תְּבוּאָה ;]

offspring of men or animals: ἐχιδνῶν, Matthew 3:7 12:34 23:33, Luke 3:7 (and elsewhere in Rec. for γένημα, which see).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Matthew 12:34

Range of meaning

Gennēma means 'what is born, offspring', and in the Septuagint also the produce of the ground. Echidna is a venomous snake, a viper. Together they mean 'viper-spawn', 'snake-brood'.

Against the English

BSB, NIV, ESV and NASB: 'brood of vipers'. WEB: 'offspring of vipers'. KJV: 'generation of vipers'. NLT: 'brood of snakes', which drops the venom.

How it drifted

In 1611 English, KJV's 'generation' could still mean 'offspring, progeny'. Today it means people born in the same period, so KJV readers can hear 'you vipers of this era', which loses the insult about ancestry.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Matthew the phrase also occurs on John the Baptist's lips against Pharisees and Sadducees (3:7), where it is set against their claim 'we have Abraham as our father' (3:9). Jesus uses it again in 23:33. Snakes whose poison is in their speech are a stock image: Psalm 140:3 has 'viper's venom is under their lips' (LXX 139:4), and Paul quotes it in Romans 3:13. Greek writers (Herodotus 3.109) report the belief that young vipers kill their parents at birth.

From the study of Matthew 23:33

Range of meaning

Gennēma means 'what is born or produced': offspring of animals or people, and in the Septuagint also crops or produce. Echidna is a viper or other poisonous snake (Acts 28:3, the snake that bites Paul). Together they mean 'viper-brood', 'hatchlings of vipers'.

Against the English

BSB, ESV and NIV have 'brood of vipers'. WEB has 'offspring of vipers'. KJV has 'generation of vipers'. In 1611 'generation' could mean progeny or race, but today it means an age group. Readers then hear 'this evil era', which is a different idea from 'children of snakes'.

How it drifted

In English, 'generation' narrowed from 'offspring, lineage' to 'people born in the same period'. Three verses later (v. 36) Jesus does speak of 'this generation' (genea, G1074, a different word). The KJV's shared English word blurs the two.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same phrase appears in John the Baptist's mouth (Matt 3:7; Luke 3:7) and in Jesus' mouth (Matt 12:34). Prophetic and psalmic speech compares the wicked to snakes and their poison (Ps 58:3–4; 140:3; Isa 59:5, 'they hatch adders' eggs'). Greek natural history reported that viper young are born by chewing through their mother and killing her (Herodotus, Histories 3.109; Pliny, Natural History 10.62). Some scholars think this legend lies behind the insult (see debates).

From the study of Matthew 3:7

Range of meaning

Gennēma is 'what is born or produced': offspring of animals or people, and (elsewhere) produce of the field. Echidna is a venomous snake, a viper. Together the phrase means 'viper-spawn, offspring of snakes'. It is an insult about a person's origin and nature.

Against the English

BSB, NIV and ESV say 'brood of vipers', which is accurate. KJV's 'generation of vipers' used 'generation' in its older sense of 'progeny, offspring'. Today readers hear it as 'age group' or 'this generation of people'. WEB's 'offspring of vipers' is the most literal.

How it drifted

In 1611 English, 'generation' could still mean 'that which is generated, a family line'. That sense has mostly died out, so the KJV phrase now sounds like a remark about the people of an era rather than about their parentage.

Used elsewhere in the period

Acts 28:3 shows an echidna driven out of a pile of brushwood 'by the heat' and fastening on Paul's hand. This is exactly the picture of snakes fleeing fire. Greek natural history (Herodotus 3.109; Pliny, Natural History book 10) passed on the legend that young vipers eat their way out of their mother and kill her, so 'viper's offspring' could suggest a parent-killer. Jesus later uses the same phrase of the Pharisees (Matt 12:34; 23:33), and 23:33 echoes this verse: 'how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?'

Where it appears

Matthew · 3

  1. Matthew 3:7 γεννήματα Brood

    But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his place of baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

    Here: 'Spawn, offspring': this is about parentage and nature. It sets up v.9: they claim Abraham as father, but John says their real lineage is snakes.

  2. Matthew 12:34 γεννήματα Offspring

    You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

    Here: Plural, 'things born of', 'spawn'. It names the hearers by where they come from, which in an honour-based culture is a sharp public insult about their ancestry.

  3. Matthew 23:33 γεννήματα Offspring

    You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape the sentence of hell?

    Here: Offspring, brood, hatchlings. Children, not an age or era. It targets their ancestry, picking up verses 31–32: 'you are sons of those who murdered the prophets… fill up the measure of your fathers.'

Luke · 1

  1. Luke 3:7 γεννήματα Offspring

    Then John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

    Here: "Things born or hatched," i.e. offspring. The insult is about parentage: it names who they take after. That sets up verse 8, where they claim Abraham as their father.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.