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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 Testament of Zebulun 5:3 and Matthew 7:2

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · New Testament

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Summary

In Matthew, Jesus’ teaching that people will be judged the same way they judge others echoes the Testament of Zebulun, which teaches to not judge unfairly. Both reflect a Jewish interpretive tradition of the Torah that stresses fairness and consistency.

Passages

Testament of Zebulun 5:3

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
1 Now, my children, I urge you to keep the commands of the Lord, to show mercy to your neighbors, and to have compassion on all, not only on people but also on animals. 2 For all this the Lord blessed me, and when all my brothers were sick, I came through without illness, for the Lord knows the intentions of each person. 3 So have compassion in your hearts, my children, because whatever a person does to his neighbor, the Lord will do the same to him. 4 The sons of my brothers grew sick and were dying because of Joseph, since they showed no mercy in their hearts; but my sons were kept free of sickness, as you know. 5 When I was in the land of Canaan, on the seacoast, I caught fish for my father Jacob; and when many men drowned in the sea, I came through unharmed.
100 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Testament of Zebulun

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

"... While Matthew 5:43–48 is in line with the original context of the love command in Leviticus 19:17–18 as it is developed in the Testaments of the 12 Patriarchs with regard to the figure of Joseph, Matthew 19:16–22 follows a second option of application, namely, charitable love, as it appears in the Testaments of the 12 Patriarchs, namely, in the Testament(s) of Issachar (and Zebulon). (See especially Testament of Issachar 5.2 and Testament of Zebulon 5.1–8.3) This analogy presents exemplary evidence that Matthew is firmly rooted in early Jewish Torah paraenesis ..."
Matthias Konradt, “The Love Command in Matthew, James, and the Didache,” in Matthew, James, and Didache: Three Related Documents in Their Jewish and Christian Settings, ed. Huub van de Sandt and Jürgen Zangenberg, SymS 45 (Atlanta: SBL, 2008), 271–288.

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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Testament of Zebulun 5:3 and Matthew 7:2

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