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 Isaiah 3:10 and Matthew 7:2

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

Share:

Summary

In Matthew, Jesus follows a Jewish tradition of measure-for-measure, where judgment is returned in the same way it is given. This echoes Isaiah, which contrasts the judgment of the innocent and the unrighteous by saying that each will be judged fairly.

Passages

Isaiah 3:10

Hebrew Bible
8 Jerusalem certainly stumbles, Judah falls, for their words and their actions offend the Lord; they rebel against his royal authority. 9 The look on their faces testifies to their guilt; like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. Woe to them! For they bring disaster on themselves. 10 Tell the innocent it will go well with them, for they will be rewarded for what they have done. 11 Woe to the wicked sinners! For they will get exactly what they deserve. 12 Oppressors treat my people cruelly; creditors rule over them. My people, your leaders mislead you; they give you confusing directions.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Matthew 7:2

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

References

"... The subject of φάγονται must still be Judea, from 3:8. Justin (Dial. 17; 133; 136; 137) saw the Jewish rejecters of Jesus in 3:9–10. To translate רשׁע manuscript G used another favorite that he often drew on when at a loss: ἀνόμῳ. Its twenty instances in G translate 14 different Hebrew words, but it does not appear in the Pentateuch. Origen (Commentary on Matthew 13.30) saw in 3:10-11 a warning for judgement day. He quoted the clause “according to the works of our own hands shall it happen unto us” as a parallel to Matthew 7:2 ..."
Ken M. Penner, Septuagint Commentary Series: Isaiah (Leiden: Brill, 2021), 371.

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

Your feedback

Isaiah 3:10 and Matthew 7:2

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library