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 Psalm 1:3 and Matthew 7:18

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

Share:

Summary

In Matthew, Jesus’ description of a tree bearing good fruit draws on Psalm 1, where the righteous person is compared to a tree planted by streams of water that continually flourishes. Both use the tree as a symbol of vitality based on obeying the Torah.

Passages

Psalm 1:3

Hebrew Bible
1 How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers. 2 Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the Lord’s commands; he meditates on his commands day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts. 4 Not so with the wicked! Instead they are like wind-driven chaff. 5 For this reason the wicked cannot withstand judgment, nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Matthew 7:18

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

References

"... Trees loom large in the minds of many who have given us the biblical text and the parabiblical documents. The Bible begins with the story of Paradise; in central focus is the tree of life. The Psalmists often refer to the righteous as an evergreen tree well planted (as in the famous passage in Psalm 1:3). Isaiah imagined Israel as the trees of a vineyard (Isaiah 5:7). The Righteous Teacher, so important for the Qumranites, envisioned that through him God had planted men who are “trees of life,” like the cypress, elm, and cedar (1QH XVI). Knowing Jesus’ landscape helps us appreciate his metaphorical use of the olive tree, the vineyard (Mark 12, Matt 20 and 21), the good and bad tree (Matthew 7 and 12), the fig tree (Luke 13 and 21), and the vine and its branches (John 15). Clearly, Jesus knew the biblical metaphor of tree; frequently he must have pondered the symbolical meaning of the tree as he sat under one or saw many trees around him or in the distance or looked down on Jerusalem from among the olive trees in the Mount of Olives. Perhaps he knew, since he admired the serpent, that trees, like serpents, are in touch with the source of life; that is, they are chthonic beings ..."
James H. Charlesworth, “Jesus of History and the Topography of the Holy Land,” in Handbook for the Study of the Historical Jesus, ed. Tom Holmén and Stanley E. Porter (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 2213–2242.

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

Your feedback

Psalm 1:3 and Matthew 7:18

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library