“You brood of vipers!”
Matthew 3:7
Figure of speechWell-supportedJohn the Baptist
You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? (Matthew 3:7 BSB)
* Greek: gennemata echidnon, 'offspring of vipers.'
What it sounds like today
A generic insult, like 'you snakes.'
The cultural key
'Brood' means offspring: the barb targets their parentage, cutting at leaders who staked everything on descent from Abraham (see the next verse). Ancient lore also held that vipers hatched by eating through their mother. And the image evokes snakes slithering out of a stubble field ahead of the harvest fire, fleeing judgment without changing.
Recovered meaning
'Your pedigree is poison, and showing up here without repentance is just a snake escaping a burning field.' It sets up John's demand for fruit, not lineage.
Parallels: Luke 3:7