And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

and said unto him, Hearest thou what these are saying? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea: did ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou has perfected praise?

And said to him: Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus said to them: Yea, have you never read: Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

and said to him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus says to them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?

and they said to him, 'Hearest thou what these say?' And Jesus saith to them, 'Yes, did ye never read, that, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou didst prepare praise?'

And said to him, Hear you what these say? And Jesus said to them, Yes; have you never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have perfected praise?

"Do you hear," they asked Him, "what these children are saying?" "Yes," He replied; "have you never read, 'Out of the mouths of infants and of babes at the breast Thou hast brought forth the praise which is due'?"

Have you any idea what these are saying? And Jesus said to them, Yes: have you not seen in the Writings, From the lips of children and babies at the breast you have made your praise complete?

And they said to him, "Do you hear what these ones are saying?" But Jesus said to them, "Certainly. Have you never read: For out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have perfected praise?"

and said to him, "Do you hear what these boys are saying?" "Yes," answered Jesus; "but did you never read the words – 'Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings you have called forth perfect praise'?"

And have you never read? The scribes and priests seize on this as an opportunity of calumniating Christ, that he allows himself to be called a King by children; as it is always the custom of wicked people haughtily to despise the mean condition of the disciples of Christ. This malicious design Christ checks by a quotation from David, who makes even infants to be the heralds of the glory of God. Literally the words run, Out of the mouth of infants and sucklings thou hast founded strength, (Psalm 8:2;) by which David means that, though every tongue were silent, God needs no other orators to proclaim his power than mere infants, who are still hanging on their mothers' breasts. In themselves, no doubt, they are silent; but the wonderful providence of God, which shines in them, serves the purpose of splendid and powerful eloquence. For he who considers with himself how the child is formed in the mother's womb, is nourished there for nine months, afterwards comes into the world, and finds nourishment provided as soon as it is born, must not only acknowledge that God is the Creator of the world, but will be altogether carried away into admiration of Him. Thus the sun and moon, though they are dumb creatures, are said to have a loud and distinct voice for singing the praises of God, (Psalm 19:1, 2.) But since the praises of God are heard from the tongue of infants, Christ infers from this, that it is not strange if He cause them to be uttered by children who have already acquired the use of speech.

Out of the mouth of babes - The eighth Psalm, out of which these words are quoted, is applied to Jesus Christ in three other places in the new covenant, 1-Corinthians 15:27; Ephesians 1:22; Hebrews 2:6. Which proves it to be merely a prophetic psalm, relating to the Messiah.
It was a common thing among the Jews for the children to be employed in public acclamations; and thus they were accustomed to hail their celebrated rabbins. This shouting of the children was therefore no strange thing in the land: only they were exasperated, because a person was celebrated against whom they had a rooted hatred. As to the prophecy that foretold this, they regarded it not. Some imagine that babes and sucklings in the prophecy have a much more extensive meaning, and refer also to the first preachers of the Gospel of Christ.

And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast (h) perfected praise?
(h) You have made most perfect. We read in David, "Thou hast established" or "grounded", and if the matter is considered well, the evangelist says here the same thing, for that which is most perfect is stable and sure.

And said unto him, hearest thou what these say?.... Suggesting, that if he did, he ought to reprove them, or else he would be a very vain, as well as a weak man, to take such things to himself, which did not belong to him, and that from such poor, little, silly creatures, so void of knowledge and understanding:
and Jesus said unto them, yea: signifying he did hear, and well approved of what they said, and was ready to vindicate it; and did, by putting the following question to them,
have ye never read; that passage of Scripture in Psalm 8:2
out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise? in the original text it is, "thou hast ordained", or "founded strength"; and which is rendered by the Septuagint, as it is by Matthew here; and glory and strength are mentioned together, as being to be given to God, Psalm 29:1 and so "strength" and "praise" by the Targumist in Isaiah 13:3 by which is meant strong glory, or glory and praise expressed with a strong voice, or in a very vehement manner, as it was by these babes and sucklings; and this owing to God's disposing them hereunto, putting it into their mouths, and strengthening them to declare it in a very strong and powerful manner; so that his strength was made perfect in their weakness, and his praise the more glorious. In the Psalm it is added, "because of thine enemies, that thou might still the enemy, and the avenger": by whom are meant the high priests, the Scribes and Pharisees, the mortal enemies of Christ, who were full of enmity against him, and wanted to revenge themselves on him for spoiling their market at this time; but were stilled by the "Hosannas" of the children, and Christ's defence of them. The Jews themselves seem to be conscious, that these words relate to the Messiah; for they say (l), that
"babes and sucklings, , shall give strength to the king Messiah''
manifestly referring to this passage.
(l) Zohar in Exod. fol. 4. 2.

Hearest thou what these say? Christ's answer to the priests is a rebuke to all who would check religious enthusiasm on the part of children. The quotation is from Psalm 8:2. The praise of the innocent child is the perfection of praise.

Psalm 8:2.