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Matthew

About this book
Chapter 7

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? 5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.⁠ 6 Do not give what is holy to dogs⁠ or throw your pearls before pigs;⁠ otherwise they will trample them under their feet and turn around and tear you to pieces.⁠ 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;⁠ knock and the door will be opened for you.⁠ 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.⁠ 9 Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!⁠ 12 In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you,⁠ for this fulfills the law and the prophets.⁠ 13 “Enter through the narrow gate because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.⁠ 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it! 15 “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves.⁠ 16 You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they?⁠ 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree to bear good fruit.⁠ 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.⁠ 20 So then, you will recognize them by their fruit. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’⁠ will enter into the kingdom of heaven—only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.⁠ 22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many powerful deeds in your name?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’⁠ 24 “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock.⁠ 25 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because its foundation had been laid on rock. 26 Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed—it was utterly destroyed!” 28 When Jesus finished saying these things,⁠ the crowds were amazed by his teaching,⁠ 29 because he taught them like one who had authority, not like their experts in the law.

Texts in conversation

Compare Matthew 7:1 and Pirkei Avot 2:4

New Testament · Rabbinic

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Summary

In Matthew 7, Jesus tells people not to judge others while ignoring their own faults. Rabbinic tradition in Pirkei Avot similarly calls for understanding another person's situation before judging, making restraint part of fair judgment.

Passages

Matthew 7:1

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? 5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

Pirkei Avot 2:4

Rabbinic · Mishnah
4 He used to say: do His will as though it were your will, so that He will do your will as though it were His. Set aside your will in the face of His will, so that He may set aside the will of others for the sake of your will. Hillel said: do not separate yourself from the community. Do not trust in yourself until the day of your death. Do not judge your fellow man until you have reached his place. Do not say something that cannot be understood, trusting that in the end it will be understood. Do not say, "When I have free time I will study," for perhaps you will never have free time.
190–230 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Pirkei Avot

References

"... In practical application, these foundational principles required that Hillel emphasize leniency in judgment (Mishnah Avot 2:5). He taught a view of divine judgment that within the Academy came to be called “measure for measure” (Mishnah Avot 2:7; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 53a; compare Matthew 7:2). In his understanding, if a man exhibited prejudice or was unnecessarily harsh in passing judgment, God would dispense the same measure of judgment back to him. Instead, he taught, “Judge not your fellow man until you have come into his place” and “Judge your fellow man toward the side of the scale of merit [i.e., when in doubt, give the benefit of the doubt to the accused]” (Mishnah Avot 2:5; Derekh Eretz Zuta 3; compare Matthew 7:1; Romans 14:10). Our modern “presumption of innocence” legal principle is an outgrowth of this approach to jurisprudence. Further, Hillel set an example of seeking out the poor, sinners, and gentiles, making the way to God as accessible to them as to the righteous (Mishnah Avot 1:12, 2:5; Avot d’Rabbi Natan A 3, B 4, 126; Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 16b; Shabbat 31a; Soferim 16:9). He said, “Be among the disciples of Aaron ... loving [all] mankind and bringing them near to the Torah” (Mishnah Avot 1:12). He is thus seen as generally more lenient than his more stringent peer Shammai ..."
Michael D. Palmer, “G'meelut Chasadim (Deeds of Kindness),” in The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Religion and Social Justice, ed. Michael D. Palmer and Stanley M. Burgess, Wiley-Blackwell Companions to Religion (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012), 292–305.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Matthew 7:1 and Pirkei Avot 2:4

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