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Mat_7:21-23. Jesus now states in literal terms what He meant to convey through the simile of the fruit. There is much that is arbitrary in the way this passage is dealt with by those who, from their having supposed the ψευδοπροφ . of Mat_7:15 to be Jews, are under the necessity of adopting a different explanation in the present instance. De Wette, going against the context, sees a gradual transition from teachers who teach what is unsound (Mat_7:15-20) to such (teachers and others) as are satisfied with the mere acknowledgment of their belief. That it is still the same false prophets against whom the warning in Mat_7:21-23 is directed, appears from the use of προεφητεύσαμεν in Mat_7:22, and of οἱ ἐργαζ . τ . ἀνομίαν in Mat_7:23, the latter further showing that καρποὶ πονηροί is to be understood as denoting the characteristic mark of such prophets.
οὐ πᾶς ] not, no one (Elsner, Fritzsche), but, not every one, 1Co_15:39. Winer, p. 161 [E. T. 214]. Not all who acknowledge me as their teacher will enter the Messianic kingdom, only those among them, and so on. Many will not enter therein. Therefore it is not the case that the teachers are not referred to till Mat_7:22, according to the idea of gradation which de Wette introduces into that verse: “even those who work in my name,” and so on.
κύριε , κύριε ] In addressing their teachers, the Jews employed the title øÇá or îÇø . Accordingly it came to be used as a title in addressing the Messiah (Joh_13:13 f.), and in the church itself came to be regarded as the summary of belief, inasmuch as it contained the full recognition of the majesty of Jesus’ person (1Co_12:3; Php_2:11). Christ Himself called no man master. It is on this occasion, and while applying to Himself this Messianic title, that He also says for the first time, ὁ πατήρ μου (comp. Mat_3:17). The twice repeated κύριε is meant to convey the idea of earnestness. See Bornemann, Schol. in Luc. p. 53, and in the Stud. u. Krit. 1843, p. 124. Comp. Mat_25:11; Add. ad Esth. iii. 2, 3; LXX. Psa_71:5; Psa_71:16.