Matthew 7:1
Bible verses · Also called: Matt. 7:1, Judge not, Judge not, that ye be not judged, Do not judge, The mote and the beam, The speck and the log
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Judge not, that ye be not judged.
The text is the New Korean Revised Version (1998), shown under a licence from the Korean Bible Society. Wording may differ slightly from the Korean Revised Version and the Revised New Korean Standard Version. Read in the Korean Revised Version
"Judge not, that ye be not judged" is a saying of Jesus. It warns against the hypocrisy of condemning others, but critics frequently point out that it is used to rule out all judgments of right and wrong.
Context
The verse opens the final chapter of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus says that people will be judged by the same standard with which they judge others (7:2), and he calls the person who sees the mote in a brother's eye but does not consider the beam in his own eye a "hypocrite" (7:3-5). Immediately afterward, however, he warns against giving what is holy to dogs or casting pearls before swine (7:6), and a little later he says of false prophets, "Ye shall know them by their fruits" (7:15-20). This context is often cited as evidence that the passage does not simply forbid judgment as such.
Interpretation
- As a prohibition of hypocritical condemnation: The Greek verb krinō can mean both "to discern" and "to condemn." On this reading, the passage forbids condemning others without first examining oneself. The statement that once the beam is cast out of one's own eye, one will "see clearly" to remove the mote from a brother's eye (7:5) is taken to indicate that correction itself is not forbidden.
- As a prohibition of encroaching on God's prerogative of judgment: On this reading, judging the human heart and a person's ultimate destiny belongs to God alone (Romans 14:10; James 4:12). In this respect, the verse is sometimes read in connection with the Last Judgment.
Debates and Issues
Today the verse is widely used as a general maxim of tolerance, taken to mean that "no one may judge anyone else." In response, some argue that Scripture elsewhere commands believers to judge righteously (John 7:24) and to deal with sin within the church (1 Corinthians 5:12; Matthew 18:15-17).
In the Korean church, voices within the church reform movement have observed that when members point out wrongdoing by pastors or church leaders, this verse, or the saying "Do not judge the Lord's servant," is sometimes invoked to silence criticism. Conversely, others cite the verse as a warning against hastily condemning opponents in church disputes. In both cases, there is general agreement that the verse's original meaning centers on self-examination and fairness.
Related Passages
- Luke 6:37-42
- Romans 2:1
- John 7:24
- James 4:11-12
See also 5
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