Matthew 12:37

For by ( ἐκ)—referring to, as it were, the source of the verdict—thy words ( τῶν λόγοι σου); thy, individualizing. Ob-nerve the change from ῥῆμα (Matthew 12:36), which might in itself refer to the utterance of a madman, or to a parrot-like quotation.

But by here using λόγοι our Lord shows that he is thinking of utterances of the reason. sentences spoken with a knowledge of their meaning, and forming parts of what are virtually, though not literally, discourses.

A ῥῆμα may be the merely mechanical utterance of the lips, λόγοι imply consciousness. The presence of λόγον in the preceding clause is probably entirely accidental. Thou shalt be justified (Matthew 11:19, note)—'Quid enim aliud sermones sancti quam tides sonans" (Calovius, in Meyer)—and by thy words thou shalt be condemned (Matthew 12:7, note).