Verse 32 expands and intensifies the saying of Jesus in verse 31.

Word is used in the sense of something said: “Anyone who says something against” (Good News Translation).

For a discussion of Son of man, see 8.20. Some translators will have felt that in 8.20 they had to use the first person, but that would not be true here.

For will be forgiven, see comments at verse 31. Will be forgiven, as in verse 31, could give the impression that forgiveness in this situation is automatic. Therefore Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch employ “can be forgiven,” which implies possibility but not necessity. The verse may need to be translated “God will forgive people who say evil things against the Son of Man, but he will not forgive those people who say evil things against the Holy Spirit. He will not forgive them now or ever.” Here again God’s unwillingness to forgive has its basis in the refusal of repentance on the part of the people who speak evil things against God’s Spirit. The true nature and person of the Son of Man was “hidden,” but the work of God’s Spirit was “open” and therefore evident to all. It was genuinely possible, therefore, for the Pharisees to misunderstand who Jesus (the Son of man) was, but there were no legitimate grounds for them to deny the work of God’s Spirit manifest in his healing ministry.

For comments on Holy Spirit, see verse 31 and also 1.18.

Speaks against is clear enough, but it can easily be rendered by the term used for “blasphemy” in verse 31.

Either in this age or in the age to come: the Jewish teachers of Jesus’ day often spoke of the two ages: the first age is the present, evil age, while the second age is the future, glorious age of salvation. Thus either in this age or in the age to come is an inclusive statement, and so the basis for Good News Translation‘s “now or ever.” New Jerusalem Bible has “either in this world or in the next,” while both Barclay and Phillips have “in this world or in the world to come.” Some translators have attempted to reflect the Jewish understanding of either in this age or in the age to come by saying “either in this time we live in or in the time to come when God will reign gloriously” or “not now nor in the future when God’s reign is established.” This may be unnecessarily long and awkward, however. “Not now or ever” conveys the finality of Jesus’ words just as well.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .