Matthew 10:20

20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

Matthew 10:20 Meaning and Commentary

Matthew 10:20

For it is not ye that speak
Not but that they were to speak the words, and did; but then both the things they spoke, and the very words in which they spoke them, were not of themselves, but were suggested and dictated by the Spirit of God; for as "the preparation of the heart" in them, so "the answer of the tongue" by them, were both "from the Lord": the Spirit, he was the efficient cause, they were only instruments; for not they of themselves spoke; or not so much they,

but the Spirit of your father, which speaketh in you,
or "by you": what they should say was not to be dictated by their own spirit or natural understanding, nor by an angel, but by the Spirit of God; called the "Spirit of" their "father", because he proceeds from him, is of the same nature with him, and is the reason of his being given to them: and this character of him might serve to strengthen their faith in the expectation of him, and in the assistance promised, and to be had by him; since he was the spirit of him, who stood in the relation of a father to them, and bore a paternal affection for them.

Matthew 10:20 In-Context

18 Yes, and you will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the Goyim.
19 But when they deliver you up, don't be anxious how or what you will say, for it will be given you in that hour what you will say.
20 For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
21 "Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death.
22 You will be hated by all men for my name's sake, but he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.