Luke 6:37–42

Context

In Luke 6, after choosing the Twelve, Jesus comes down to a level place and teaches his disciples and the crowds (Luke 6:17–49). This teaching is commonly called the "Sermon on the Plain," and its content overlaps considerably with the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. The immediately preceding verses teach love of enemies and conclude with "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful" (Luke 6:36; see Luke 6:27–36). Verses 37–42 apply this mercy to the way one treats one's neighbor. The passage strings together several short parables (the blind guide, the disciple and the teacher, and the mote and the beam), and similar sayings are scattered through Matthew 7:1–5, 15:14, and 10:24–25.

Interpretation

• As an ethic of mercy: Many commentators regard verses 37–38 as an elaboration of the "mercy" of verse 36. The passage forbids judging (Greek krinō, "to judge" or "to pass judgment") and condemning, and in their place calls for forgiving and giving. The phrase "good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over" in verse 38 is understood to picture grain packed firmly into a measure and poured into the fold of a garment.
• As God's standard of judgment: Some interpreters take God to be the implied agent of passive expressions such as "ye shall not be judged." Read this way, the passage becomes a warning that the standard by which a person measures others will be the standard by which God measures that person on the last day.
• As a warning to teachers: Verses 39–40 state that one who cannot see cannot lead others, and that a disciple becomes like his teacher. These verses are therefore read as addressing the responsibility of teachers and leaders.
• As a teaching about order: The "beam" of verses 41–42 is a large wooden timber used in a house, while the "mote" is a tiny speck. The common interpretation is that this parable does not forbid correcting a brother as such. As the words "then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote" indicate, it is understood to teach an order of priority: one must first examine oneself.

Questions of Application

• Does it forbid all judgment? A frequently raised question is whether "Judge not" forbids all discernment and rebuke. Preachers and commentators across many denominations read this passage alongside John 7:24 and Galatians 6:1. They often understand it not as prohibiting church discipline or admonition concerning wrongdoing, but as forbidding hypocritical and harsh condemnation. Because the Korean Revised Version's rendering bipan ("judge") readily sounds like "criticism" or "faultfinding" in modern Korean, preachers sometimes also explain the original sense of "to pass judgment."
• How verse 38 is cited: Verse 38 is often used to teach about offerings and material blessing. Some argue that, because the surrounding context concerns judging and forgiving, the verse refers to generous mercy in general. In particular, critics object to reading it solely as a promise of material reward, as in prosperity theology.

In the Korean Church

The expression "seeing the mote in another's eye but not the beam in one's own" is so widely known that it is used as an idiom even outside the church. Within the church, this passage is frequently cited in sermons warning against censure and gossip within the community, as well as in sermons encouraging offerings and charitable giving.

Related Passages

• Matthew 7:1–5
• Luke 6:36
• Romans 2:1
• Galatians 6:1
• James 4:11–12