ContradictionsReading order 123Bible context 1 min read
Is anyone justified?
Matthew allows a favorable judgment based on speech, while the psalm denies that any living person will be justified in God's sight.
- Textual conflict
- Interpretive tension
- The passages pull in different directions, but the conflict depends on how their wording, scope, or narrative context is read.
- Importance
- Foundational
- A central claim about origins, salvation, divine justice, or religious authority.
The psalm excludes justification for living people while Matthew allows vindication by words, with meaningful uncertainty over the judgments compared.
An editorial assessment of the quoted passages. Importance describes the stakes; it does not increase certainty. Reading order weighs both.
A person can be justified by their words
For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Matthew 12:37
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Matthew 12
No living person will be justified before God
And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.
Psalms 143:2
Translation / edition: King James Version (KJV)
Read the full chapter:Psalms 143