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?

Pseudo Jonathan Numbers 12:17

Targum

I entreat thee that Miriam, our sister, may not be defiled with leprosy in the tent, as the dead, for it is with her as with the infant which, having well fulfilled the time of the womb, perishes at the birth: so Miriam was with us in the land of Mizraim, seeing us in our captivity, our dispersion, our servitude; but now, when the time hath come for our going forth to possess the land of Israel behold she is kept back from us. I entreat thee, my lord, to pray for her, that her righteousness may not come to nought among the congregation. And Mosheh did pray, and seek mercy before the Lord, saying: I pray through the compassions of the merciful God, O Eloha, who hast power over the life of all flesh, heal her, I beseech thee. And the Lord said to Mosheh, If her father had corrected her, would she not have been disgraced, and secluded seven days? But to‑day, when I correct her, much more right is it that she should be dishonoured fourteen days: yet shall it suffice to seclude her seven days without the camp; and for thy righteousness will I make the Cloud of My Glory, the tabernacle, the ark, and all Israel, tarry until the time that she is healed, and then re‑admitted. And Miriam was kept apart without the camp for seven days, and the people went not forward until the time that Miriam was healed.

 Notes and References

"... The moral concept of “measure for measure” is well known in Judaism, being broadly evidenced by the Targums and by rabbinic literature. Targum Isaiah 27:8 contains the addition, “With the measure you were measuring with they will measure you.” In Matthew 7:2 and Mark 4:24, Jesus utters a similar saying, “In the measure you measure it shall be measured you.” In both locations, the maxim is stated as an ethical concept that explains a judgment. In Targum Isaiah, the judgment applies to a future king who will be oppressing Israel and signals Israel’s rescue by God and the king’s defeat. In both Matthew and Mark, the phrase is cast in the plural and refers to Jesus’ listeners as he urges them ..."

Flesher, Paul V. M. & Chilton, Bruce The Targums: A Critical Introduction (p. 396) Brill, 2011

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