Go to Related Reading
About this book

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 7:12 and Pseudo Jonathan Leviticus 19:18

New Testament · Targum

Share:

Summary

In Matthew 7, Jesus teaches the Golden Rule, that people should treat others as they wish to be treated. The Aramaic translation of Leviticus in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan uses both the positive and negative forms, teaching people to do good and avoid harm.

Passages

Matthew 7:12

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

Pseudo Jonathan Leviticus 19:18

Targum
Thou shalt not hinder the acquittal of thy neighbour in witnessing against him in the judgment: I am the Lord. against your neighbour, nor be silent about thy neighbour's blood, what time in the judgment thou knowest the truth: so speaketh the Lord.] Speak not bland words with your lips, having hatred to your brother in your hearts; but reproving you shall reprove your neighbour; and though it make you ashamed, you shall not contract sin in account of him. Be not revengeful, nor cherish animosity against the children of thy people; but thou shalt love thy neighbour himself, as that though there be (cause of) hatred with thee thou mayest not do (evil) to him: I am the Lord. You shall keep My statutes. Thy cattle shall not be made to gender with various kinds, neither sow thy field with mixed seeds, nor put upon thee a garment of divers materials, (as) wool and linen.
300–1200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Pseudo Jonathan Leviticus

References

"... it seems inherently unlikely that Pseudo-Jonathan, which of all the Pentateuchal Targumim is perhaps the most influenced by a concern to guard and articulate Judaic integrity, would inadvertently convey a saying of Jesus.' More probably, both Pseudo-Jonathan and Luke's Jesus are here independently passing on wisdom of a proverbial nature: both sources convey material from the stock of folk culture. After all, the same Targum twice explains love of another person (whether an Israelite or a stranger) with the maxim "that which is hateful to you, do not do" (Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Leviticus 19:18, 34; compare Luke 6:31; Matthew 7:12). Luke shows that this stock goes back to the first century, and Pseudo-Jonathan shows that it continued to be replenished until the seventh century. The targumic echo is therefore most certainly not immediately the source of Jesus' statement, but it may help us to describe the nature, general type, and origin of Jesus' statement ..."
Bruce Chilton, “From Aramaic Paraphrase to Greek Testament,” in From Prophecy to Testament: The Function of the Old Testament in the New, ed. Craig A. Evans (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2004), 23–43.

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

Tags

Your feedback

Matthew 7:12 and Pseudo Jonathan Leviticus 19:18

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library