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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 7:11 and Leviticus Rabbah 34:14

New Testament · Rabbinic

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Summary

In Matthew, Jesus uses a kal va’chomer argument, comparing human parents’ care to God’s greater care. Rabbinic tradition in Leviticus Rabbah uses the same kind of argument, moving from ordinary kindness to its larger place in God’s ordering of the world.

Passages

Matthew 7:11

New Testament
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.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

Leviticus Rabbah 34:14

Rabbinic · Aggadah
I stood to distribute for a mitzva. My divorcee encountered me and said to me: Gain through this woman, who from the day that she left your house, has not seen goodness. When I saw her in tattered clothing and in great distress, I became filled with mercy for her, and I gave her, due to “do not disregard your own flesh.”’ At that moment Rabbi Tanḥuma lifted his face heavenward and said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, if this one, who is flesh and blood and cruel, and was not obligated in her sustenance, he became filled with mercy for her and gave her, we, who are the children of Your children, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and our sustenance is incumbent upon You, all the more so, that You should become filled with mercy for us.’ At that moment, rain fell and the world was relieved.
500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus Rabbah

References

"... The things accredited to those on the right are actions performed to alleviate typical problems of the unfortunate - hunger, thirst, being an alien, lacking clothes, illness, and imprisonment. The actions spoken of are not mandated by law, religious or secular, nor do they ensue from a person's conforming to typical virtues, such as the classical virtues (wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice). They arise rather out of love and compassion. They correspond most closely to what are called in rabbinic tradition the gemiluth chasadim, the 'deeds of lovingkindness,' which the good person does to the unfortunates encountered. Moreover, the deeds listed are certainly not unknown in the OT and/or postbiblical Jewish tradition, as indicated in comment on each. In addition to the specific deeds mentioned, various OT texts and passages within Jewish literature commend the more general virtue of giving to the needy (Deuteronomy 15:7-11; Isaiah 58:7-10; Psalm 37:21; 41:1; Tobit 4:16; Sirach 7:32; 2 Esdras 2:20; Testament of Issachar 3:8; Testament of Zebulon 7:4; Vision of Ezra 7, 31; Leviticus Rabbah 34:9-14; Ruth Rabbah 5:9; and b. Sukkot 49b) and speak against oppressing them (Zechariah 7:9-10) ..."
Arland J. Hultgren, The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary, The Bible in Its World (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), 314.

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 7:11 and Leviticus Rabbah 34:14

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