Matthew 22:12 (DBY)

Passage

And he says to him, [My] friend, how camest thou in here not having on a wedding garment? But he was speechless.

Nearby Context

Matthew 22:10 And those bondmen went out into the highways, and brought together all as many as they found, both evil and good; and the wedding feast was furnished with guests.

Matthew 22:11 And the king, having gone in to see the guests, beheld there a man not clothed with a wedding garment.

Matthew 22:12 And he says to him, [My] friend, how camest thou in here not having on a wedding garment? But he was speechless.

Matthew 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him feet and hands, and take him away, and cast him out into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 22:14 For many are called ones, but few chosen ones.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "says", "friend", "camest", "thou", "here", "having", "wedding", and "garment". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "says" and "friend", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "And the king having gone in to..." into verse 13's "Then said the king to the servants...", so "says" and "friend" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "says" and "friend" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.