What does Matthew 11:21 mean, "they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes"?
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Whosoever Will, The Road Not Taken: The same shape shows up in the mouth of Christ, in Greek this time, the contrary-to-fact conditional: if it had been, it would have been. Matthew 11. The cities where He had done most of His works did not repent. And He says: “if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes” (11:21). Sodom, He says, “would have remained until this day” (11:23). The Gospel names the hinge itself: this was after “the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done” repented not (11:20). A repentance that would have come to another city, named against the one that refused. Scripture, King James Version: Matthew 11:20-23, "Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day."; Luke 19:42, "Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.".
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Verified. Every scripture quotation on this page has been checked word-for-word against the King James text. Last reviewed 2026-10-18.
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