Texts in Conversation
Both Matthew 7 and 2 Enoch 44 reflect the common Jewish tradition of “measure for measure,” where one’s judgment of others determines how one will be judged. This idea appears across a wide variety of literary genres, often tied to divine justice at the final judgment
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Matthew 7:2
New Testament
1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive. 3 Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own?
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
2 Enoch 44:3
Secrets of Enoch
Pseudepigrapha
1 The Lord, with His hands, created man in the likeness of His own face, making him both small and great. 2 Whoever reviles a ruler's face or abhors the Lord's face despises Him. Those who vent anger without cause will be cut down by the Lord's wrath, and those who reproachfully spit on another's face will face the Lord's great judgment. 3 Blessed is the man who harbors no malice against others, who aids the injured and condemned, uplifts the downtrodden, and shows charity to the needy. For on the day of great judgment, every weight and measure will be as in the market, hung on scales, and everyone will learn their measure, receiving a reward accordingly.
Date: 30 B.C.E - 70 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Jewish apocalypses frequently depict heavenly treasure as what determines one's fate in the coming day of judgment. Good and bad deeds are sometimes depicted being weighed in a scale. For instance, in 1 Enoch 61:1-5 angels are sent out with ropes to measure the righteous ones. God will place the Elect one on his “throne of glory” where he will sit and “judge all the works of the holy ones in heaven above, weighing in the balance their deeds,” with good deeds presumably being weighed against the debts of sin. Similarly, in 2 Enoch, a text that is notoriously difficult to date, but which some would place before the destruction of the temple, the day of judgment is compared to a marketplace ... Those who help the needy tip the scales in their own favor and earn a reward for the day of judgment ..."
Eubank, Nathan Paul
Wages of Righteousness: The Economy of Heaven in the Gospel According to Matthew
(pp. 36-37) Duke University, 2012
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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