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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 Matthew 7:6 and Didache 9:5

New Testament · Early Christian

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Summary

The Didache teaches exclusive participation in the Eucharist, saying that only the baptized may share in it, using language drawn from Matthew 7 about not giving what is holy to dogs, demonstrating its dependency on traditions connected to Matthew.

Passages

Matthew 7:6

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

Didache 9:5

Early Christian
3 Concerning the broken Bread, say: 'We thank You, our Father, for the life and knowledge that You revealed to us through Jesus Your Son. May You be glorified forever.' 4 'Just as this broken bread was scattered over the hills and then gathered together and became one, so let Your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom. Yours is the glory and power through Jesus Christ forever.' 5 Only those who have been baptized in the Lord's Name may eat or drink from your Eucharist. For the Lord also said, 'Do not give what is holy to dogs.'
90–120 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Didache

References

"... a requirement of secrecy is a common feature of ritual initiations or temple ordinances. Indeed, Didache 9:5 associates this saying in Matthew 7:6 with a requirement of cultic exclusivity, specifically the prohibition not to let anyone “eat or drink of the Eucharist with you except for those baptized in the name of the Lord” (see Didache 14:1–2, also connecting the gift at the altar in Matthew 5:23–5 with the observance of the Eucharist). Accordingly, Betz concludes that “the ‘holy’ could be a ritual.” In any event, when the body of sacred knowledge is given by the Sermon on the Mount to its recipients, its elements become or produce a string of precious pearls of great price, “your pearls,” which are revelations that one would sell all that one has in order to obtain (see Matthew 13:45–6). Once that knowledge is found, one keeps it hidden to protect it (see Matthew 13:44). The violation of this obligation of secrecy carries or implies harsh penalties and consequences. If it is violated, the pearls will be trampled, and the one who has disclosed the holy thing will be torn to pieces ..."
John W. Welch, The Sermon on the Mount in the Light of the Temple, SOTSMS (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2009), 169.

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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Matthew 7:6 and Didache 9:5

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