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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 Deuteronomy 30:15 and Matthew 7:13

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

In Matthew 7, Jesus teaches about the Two Ways, one leading to death and the other to life, based on Deuteronomy where this choice describes covenant obedience. In Jewish tradition, this interpretation of Deuteronomy becomes an eschatological choice.

Passages

Deuteronomy 30:15

Hebrew Bible
11 “This commandment I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it too remote. 12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say, ‘Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ 13 And it is not across the sea, as though one must say, ‘Who will cross over to the other side of the sea and get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ 14 For the thing is very near you—it is in your mouth and in your mind so that you can do it. 15 “Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. 16 What I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to possess.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Matthew 7:13

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. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it!
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... In Matthew 7:13–14, Jesus mentions in two perfectly balanced lines two ways leading to two opposite destinations: one to destruction [εἰς τὴν ἀπώλειαν] and the other to life [εἰς τὴν ζωήν]. The theme of two ways is set in Jewish moral tradition, as is apparent in passages from the First Testament, for example, in Psalm 1:6, Psalm 119:29–32 and Proverbs 28:6, 18. Jewish texts, especially those with eschatological orientations (Keener 1999:250), also refer to two ways. The Second Book of Enoch, a pseudepigraphic text in the apocalyptic genre dating from the first century AD, tells that God showed Adam ‘the two ways, the light and the darkness, and God told him: “this is good and that is bad”’ (2 Enoch 30:15). The Berakot, a Babylonian tractate of the Mishnah and Talmud, composed by the end of the Mishnaic period (c. 200 AD), also refers to two ways: ‘There are two ways before me, one leading to Paradise and the other to Gehinnom’ (b. Berakhot 28b). The Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael, which reflects Scriptural exegesis in Judaism, interprets Exodus 14:28 by stating that God put before Adam ‘two ways, the way of life and the way of death’ (Mekhilta on Exodus 14:28). In line with these traditions, Jesus in Matthew 7:13–14 exhorts his listeners to enter through the small gate and to follow the narrow road in order to reach eschatological life, in contrast to the wide gate and broad road that leads to eschatological destruction ..."
Francois P. Viljoen, “Life in the Synoptic Gospels,” in Biblical Theology of Life in the New Testament, ed. Francois P. Viljoen and Albert J. Coetsee, Reformed Theology in Africa Series 6 (Cape Town: AOSIS, 2021), 1–29.

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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Deuteronomy 30:15 and Matthew 7:13

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