Who is “a son of hell” in Matthew 23:15?

In Matthew 23:13–36, Jesus unleashes a succession of condemnations upon the scribes and Pharisees. These seven “woes” are aimed at the hypocrisy of these men, who were among the most influential Jewish religious leaders of their time. Jesus notes the enthusiasm with which they pursue their cause: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves” (Matthew 23:15, NKJV).

A proselyte is a new convert to a cause—in the context of Matthew 15, a Gentile who is won to Judaism and to faith in Israel’s God. These scribes and Pharisees were supposed to be guardians and guides entrusted with the spiritual well-being of God’s people. But instead, because of their hypocrisy, they were leading people away from God’s kingdom. The Pharisees were winning souls into a system of legalism and self-righteousness, and the Lord’s judgment was upon them. Jesus mentions their extreme zeal, crossing land and sea to make one convert, but He condemns the end result: the convert is twice as much “a son of hell” (NKJV), or twice the “child of hell” (NIV, ESV, NLT), as they.

The word translated as “a son” (huion in Greek) in Matthew 23:15 can refer to a male offspring or descendant, in either a literal or figurative sense. The Greek word translated as “hell” is geenna, often transliterated into English as “Gehenna.” Of Hebrew origin, this term refers to the “Valley of Hinnom,” a place outside Jerusalem associated with idolatry in the Old Testament (see 2 Chronicles 28:3). By New Testament times, this valley was used for burning garbage. Over time, Gehenna came to symbolize the place of God’s wrath and eternal punishment for the wicked.

A son of hell is someone destined for spiritual ruin or condemnation. In the context of Matthew 23:15, Jesus accuses the Pharisees and teachers of the law of making their converts even more deserving of judgment than themselves. By copying their leaders’ hypocritical behavior, the new converts far exceed the insincerity and wickedness of their teachers. Consequently, they face a doubly severe sentence.

Instead of introducing their converts to the true and living God, the Pharisees were condemning their souls through a dead system of legalism. The Bible teaches that justification cannot be achieved through works of the law, but only through faith in Jesus Christ. Attempting to be justified by following the law places one under a curse (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16; 3:10–11). Believers have been released from the old legal system and now serve in the “new way of the Spirit” rather than the “old way of the written code” (Romans 7:6).

Son of hell is comparable to brood of snakes or children of your father the devil, terms Jesus applied to the Pharisees on other occasions (see Matthew 3:7; 12:34; 23:33; John 8:44, NLT). A son of hell is a person who rejects God’s way of salvation and flaunts his own self-righteousness. He rejects faith in Christ and clings to a superficial form of religious pretending that lacks genuine spiritual power (see 2 Timothy 3:5; James 1:26–27). Jesus observes that converts to such a system usually show more zeal than their leaders. The convert might think he is serving God and heading toward heaven, but, instead, he is obeying Satan and heading to hell.

In Matthew 23:15, son of hell refers to both the hypocritical religious leader and his convert. When “the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15:14). By following the misguided teachings and lifestyles of their leaders, the convert becomes “twice as much a son of hell,” meaning he is even further from God, more corrupt, hypocritical, and spiritually lost than his teachers. God meant for the leaders of Israel to serve as His ambassadors to bring others to Him; failing in their responsibility, they guided people into rebellion and spiritual ruin. Jesus uses strong language to stress the seriousness of misleading others in matters of faith.