Tool Beta
Is It Actually in the Bible?
Phrases people quote as Scripture. The real verse, or the honest answer that there is not one.
"The people were astonished at his doctrine" (Matthew 7:28) sounds like the crowd was reacting to a specific theological system Jesus laid out.
'Doctrine' in the KJV simply means 'teaching' in general, not a formal system of theology.
Matthew 7:28, in every translation this tool compares.
At the close of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:28 says "the people were astonished at his doctrine." The Greek word (didache) just means "teaching" or "instruction": it covers both the content of what Jesus said and his manner of saying it, and it's the same word used for ordinary rabbinic teaching throughout the Gospels.
Modern "doctrine" has narrowed to mean an official, codified theological position: "the doctrine of the Trinity," "church doctrine." That narrower, more technical sense makes Matthew 7:28 sound like the crowd was evaluating a systematic theology lecture, when the text just means they were stunned by the way Jesus taught.
