---
title: Matthew 11:23
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-11-23/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-11-23.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Matthew 11:23
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Matthew 11:23

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "And you, Capernaum, will you perhaps be exalted to heaven? Down to the Grave you will come; because if the powerful works that took place in you had taken place in Sodom, it would have remained until this very day."

## JW Usage

Read as a warning about accountability — Capernaum saw more evidence than Sodom and answered for it. The Watchtower uses "the Grave" here in line with its teaching that hades is the common grave of mankind rather than a place of conscious punishment, and would note that Jesus' language is figurative.

## Protestant Usage

Set aside the question of what "the Grave" means; it is not what makes this verse useful. The logic of Jesus' rebuke is what matters: Capernaum is more culpable than Sodom because of the powerful works done there. Evidence creates responsibility. Jesus assumes throughout that his miracles were public, checkable, and sufficient to compel a verdict — which is why refusing him after seeing them is culpable in a way it would not otherwise be. That is the same standard Peter appeals to at Acts 2:22 and the writer of Hebrews at 2:4. Signs are not decoration; they are the ground on which people are held accountable for their response. Which makes the credential question a fair one to put to any later claim of divine authority. If God's pattern is to attest his messengers with works that create real responsibility in those who see them, what attested the messengers a movement asks you to follow? Compare Acts 2:22, John 15:24, Hebrews 2:4.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [What Credential Did Russell Carry?](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/founder-miracle-credentials.md) — Apostolic attestation by signs and wonders — the missing piece of the Watchtower's authority claim [Authority]