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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.

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Compare Proverbs 8:17 and Matthew 7:7

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Jesus’s teaching to ask, seek, and find in Matthew reflects a wisdom tradition in Proverbs, where wisdom promises to be found by those who search for her with effort and sincerity, echoing a tradition found in many Jewish and Hellenistic texts.

Passages

Proverbs 8:17

Hebrew Bible
15 By me, kings reign, and by me, potentates decree righteousness; 16 by me, princes rule, as well as nobles and all righteous judges. 17 I will love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me. 18 Riches and honor are with me, long-lasting wealth and righteousness. 19 My fruit is better than the purest gold, and my harvest is better than choice silver.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Proverbs

Matthew 7:7

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

References

"... To seek God: Jeremiah 29:13-14 (parallels “to find”); Isaiah 65:1 (not seek—find); Isaiah 55:6 (parallels “to find”); Sirach 32:14 Hebrew; 1QS 1:1-2; compare 5.11; about wisdom, Proverbs 1:28; 8:17; 4 Ezra 5:9-10 (seek—not find). Greek sources: Plato Timmaeus 28c (it is not easy to find the heavenly Father, cited in Justin Apology 2.10.6 and in Tertullian Apology 46.9, as opposed to just any Christian craftsman who has found God); Clement of Alexandria Stromata 4.5.1 = ANF 2.410 (a statement of Pythia); Epictetus Dissertation 1.28.20; 4.1.51 (as a call to philosophical inquiry). The widely quoted Plato passage makes it understandable why Matthew 7:7b was able to have a history of interpretation that was largely separate from its context ..."
Ulrich Luz, Matthew 1–7: A Commentary, ed. Helmut Koester, trans. James E. Crouch, rev. ed., Herm (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007), 358.

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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Proverbs 8:17 and Matthew 7:7

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