Texts in Conversation
Matthew 7:2 warns that the standard one uses to judge others will be used in return, a saying that echoes a recurring principle found throughout Jewish tradition and literature, including the Aramaic Targums, often referred to as “measure for measure.”
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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
Neofiti Numbers 12:16
Targum
14 And the Lord said to Moses, 'Had indeed her father rebuked her severely, it would be just that she be humbled before him for seven days. Let her be shut up outside the camp for seven days, and after this she will be healed.' 15 And Miriam was shut up outside the camp for seven days; and the people did not journey until such time as Miriam was healed. 16 Although Miriam the prophetess was sentenced to become leprous, there is much teaching in this for the sages and for those who keep the law, that for a small precent which a man does, he receives for it a great reward. Because Miriam stood on the bank of the river to know what would ultimately become of Moses, Israel became sixty myriads - which is a total of eighty legions. And the clouds of the glory and the well did not move nor journey from their places until such time as the prophetess Miriam was healed of her leprosy. After this the people moved from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.
Date: 300-1000 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
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Notes and References
"... The moral concept of “measure for measure” is well known in Judaism, being broadly evidenced by the Targums and by rabbinic literature. Targum Isaiah 27:8 contains the addition, “With the measure you were measuring with they will measure you.” In Matthew 7:2 and Mark 4:24, Jesus utters a similar saying, “In the measure you measure it shall be measured you.” In both locations, the maxim is stated as an ethical concept that explains a judgment. In Targum Isaiah, the judgment applies to a future king who will be oppressing Israel and signals Israel’s rescue by God and the king’s defeat. In both Matthew and Mark, the phrase is cast in the plural and refers to Jesus’ listeners as he urges them ..."
* 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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