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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 Jeremiah 22:7 and Matthew 7:19

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

In Matthew, Jesus’ warning that every unfruitful tree will be cut down and thrown into the fire echoes Jeremiah’s description of Jerusalem’s palace being chopped apart and burned. Both use the image of destruction by fire to describe judgment.

Passages

Jeremiah 22:7

Hebrew Bible
5 But, if you do not obey these commands, I solemnly swear that this palace will become a pile of rubble. I, the Lord, affirm it!”’ 6 “For the Lord says concerning the palace of the king of Judah, “‘This place looks like a veritable forest of Gilead to me. It is like the wooded heights of Lebanon in my eyes. But I swear that I will make it like a wilderness whose towns have all been deserted. 7 I will send men against it to destroy it with their axes and hatchets. They will hack up its fine cedar panels and columns and throw them into the fire. 8 “‘People from other nations will pass by this city. They will ask one another, “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this great city?” 9 The answer will come back, “It is because they broke their covenant with the Lord their God and worshiped and served other gods.”
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jeremiah

Matthew 7:19

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

References

"... In the context of the wicked king of Judah, Jeremiah 22:7 contains phrases that are used in Matthew in connection to judgment. Prophesying about the destruction of the palace in Jerusalem, Jeremiah said, “they will cut up your fine cedar beams and throw them into the fire”. The phrase is ἐμβαλοῦσιν εἰς τὸ πῦρ in the LXX, and one can immediately see the connection between this phrase and the ones used by John the Baptist and Jesus in Matthew in reference to judgment (Matthew 3:10; 7:19). The difference is that Matthew used the present passive βάλλεται, while the translators of the LXX chose to use the future active ἐμβαλοῦσιν. The Matthean term gives the reader the sense that judgment is already in process. The presence of this particular phrase demonstrates a shared judgment phraseology between Jeremiah, John the Baptist, and Jesus. Thus, the message of judgment on those who have not repented of their ways permeates the lives of Jeremiah, John, and Jesus ..."
Justus A. Freeman, “Two Sermons: A Presentation of the Thematic Relationship Between the Temple Sermon of Jeremiah 7 and the Baptism Pericope of Matthew 3:7-10,” The American Journal of Biblical Theology 21.50 (2020): 1–17.

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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Jeremiah 22:7 and Matthew 7:19

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