International Institute of Jesus Christ

Matthew 7

Translated straight from the SBLGNT, with the grounds of every decision on the page.

Μὴ κρίνετε, ἵνα μὴ κριθῆτε·

Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.

ἐν ᾧ γὰρ κρίματι κρίνετε κριθήσεσθε, καὶ ἐν ᾧ μέτρῳ μετρεῖτε μετρηθήσεται ὑμῖν.

For with the judgement you judge you will be judged, and with the measure you measure it will be measured to you.

τί δὲ βλέπεις τὸ κάρφος τὸ ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου, τὴν δὲ ἐν τῷ σῷ ὀφθαλμῷ δοκὸν οὐ κατανοεῖς;

Why do you see the speck of chaff in your brother's eye, but not notice the beam in your own eye?

Why this rendering

Matt.7.3 Observation

Syntactic observation

κάρφος is a dry twig or speck of chaff; δοκός is a roof-beam. Both occur only at Matthew 7:3, 4, 5 and Luke 6:41, 42, and nowhere in Mark or John — in each book they are shut inside a single paragraph, and it is the same saying. Being both of wood, the contrast rests on size alone: the smallest and the largest thing of one material. The verbs divide too — what is in the other's eye you βλέπεις, see; what is in your own you οὐ κατανοεῖς, do not notice. Seeing and noticing are different words. In v.5 the verb of resolution is διαβλέψεις, you will see clearly — the verb of Mark 8:25, where the blind man touched twice saw distinctly — three places in the corpus (Matt 7:5, Mark 8:25, Luke 6:42), and Luke uses it in this same paragraph.

Rendering options · 2

Adopted

“speck of chaff” and “beam” — both kept wooden

Basis Chooses words of one material so the contrast rests on size; a mote erases the material and keeps only the size.

“mote” and “beam”

Basis Uses the settled rendering.

Rejected A mote is closer to dust, so the wood disappears — and with it the structure by which the two words are the extremes of one material.

ἢ πῶς ἐρεῖς τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου· Ἄφες ἐκβάλω τὸ κάρφος ⸀ἐκ τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ σου, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἡ δοκὸς ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ σοῦ;

Or how will you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and look — the beam is in your own eye?

ὑποκριτά, ἔκβαλε πρῶτον ⸂ἐκ τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ σοῦ τὴν δοκόν⸃, καὶ τότε διαβλέψεις ἐκβαλεῖν τὸ κάρφος ἐκ τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου.

Hypocrite, first take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Μὴ δῶτε τὸ ἅγιον τοῖς κυσίν, μηδὲ βάλητε τοὺς μαργαρίτας ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων, μήποτε ⸀καταπατήσουσιν αὐτοὺς ἐν τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτῶν καὶ στραφέντες ῥήξωσιν ὑμᾶς.

Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them with their feet and turn and tear you.

Why this rendering

Matt.7.6 Observation

Syntactic observation

The word here is κύων, dog, while the word in the exchange with the Syrophoenician woman at Matthew 15:26-27 and Mark 7:27-28 is κυνάριον, little dog — the plain form against the diminutive. The three books divide three ways: Matthew uses both (κύων at 7:6, κυνάριον at 15:26-27), Mark only κυνάριον (7:27-28), and Luke only κύων (16:21, the dogs licking Lazarus' sores). So the two places are different words even inside Matthew, and keeping 개 and 강아지 apart in Korean shows the difference. The sentence is a chiasm: the holy — dogs, the pearls — pigs. But the clause that follows takes them up in reverse: trampling (the pigs) and then tearing (the dogs), so the fourth element loops back to the first. And after μήποτε one verb is future indicative (καταπατήσουσιν) and the other aorist subjunctive (ῥήξωσιν) — the place SBLGNT marks. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀καταπατήσουσιν).

Rendering options · 2

Adopted

“to dogs” — kept distinct from the little dogs of 15:26-27

Basis Renders the diminutive and the plain form differently. 강아지 was already fixed for Mark 7:27-28, so that stands and this place is separated from it.

dogs in both places

Basis One animal, one word.

Rejected Matthew used two words and Mark one. Merging them blurs the scene in ch. 15 where the woman takes up the diminutive, and erases the lexical difference between the two authors.

Αἰτεῖτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν· ζητεῖτε, καὶ εὑρήσετε· κρούετε, καὶ ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

πᾶς γὰρ ὁ αἰτῶν λαμβάνει καὶ ὁ ζητῶν εὑρίσκει καὶ τῷ κρούοντι ⸀ἀνοιγήσεται.

For everyone asking receives, and the one seeking finds, and to the one knocking it will be opened.

ἢ τίς ⸀ἐστιν ἐξ ὑμῶν ἄνθρωπος, ὃν ⸀αἰτήσει ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἄρτον— μὴ λίθον ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ;

Or what man is there among you whose son will ask him for bread — will he give him a stone?

⸀ἢ καὶ ⸂ἰχθὺν αἰτήσει⸃— μὴ ὄφιν ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ;

Or he will ask for a fish — will he give him a snake?

εἰ οὖν ὑμεῖς πονηροὶ ὄντες οἴδατε δόματα ἀγαθὰ διδόναι τοῖς τέκνοις ὑμῶν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς δώσει ἀγαθὰ τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν αὐτόν.

So if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in the heavens give good things to those asking him.

Πάντα οὖν ὅσα ⸀ἐὰν θέλητε ἵνα ποιῶσιν ὑμῖν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς ποιεῖτε αὐτοῖς· οὗτος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται.

So whatever you want people to do for you, do so for them also; for this is the law and the prophets.

Εἰσέλθατε διὰ τῆς στενῆς πύλης· ὅτι πλατεῖα ⸂ἡ πύλη⸃ καὶ εὐρύχωρος ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ ἀπάγουσα εἰς τὴν ἀπώλειαν, καὶ πολλοί εἰσιν οἱ εἰσερχόμενοι δι’ αὐτῆς·

Enter through the narrow gate; because wide is the gate and spacious the road that leads away to destruction, and many are those entering through it.

Why this rendering

Matt.7.13 Observation

Syntactic observation

There are two pictures — πύλη, a gate, and ὁδός, a road. A gate is one place, a road goes on; so whether the narrowness attaches to a single passage or to continued walking is split between two words. πύλη occurs four times in Matthew (7:13 twice, 7:14, 16:18), once in Luke (7:12, the gate of Nain) and not at all in Mark. εὐρύχωρος itself occurs once in the whole corpus — here. Verses 13 and 14 mirror each other: wide gate, wide road, destruction, many ↔ narrow gate, pressed road, life, few. The τεθλιμμένη of v.14 is the perfect passive participle of θλίβω, to press or squeeze — not narrow but pressed upon; a different word from the στενή of v.13. Matthew uses στενή of both gates and gives the two roads εὐρύχωρος, spacious, and τεθλιμμένη, pressed. And πλατεῖα ἡ πύλη in v.13 carries SBLGNT's ⸂⸃ marks. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸂ἡ πύλη⸃).

Rendering options · 2

Adopted

“narrow gate” and “pressed road” — the two adjectives kept apart

Basis Matthew gives gate and road different adjectives, so the renderings differ; the perfect passive of τεθλιμμένη is kept.

narrow in both

Basis Smooths the parallel.

Rejected Smoothness costs one of the two words. τεθλιμμένη speaks of pressure, not width, and its root returns as θλῖψις, tribulation, at Matthew 24:9 and 21 — θλῖψις stands at four in Matthew, three in Mark, two in John and none in Luke — the picture of a road under pressure runs that way.

⸀ὅτι στενὴ ἡ πύλη καὶ τεθλιμμένη ἡ ὁδὸς ἡ ἀπάγουσα εἰς τὴν ζωήν, καὶ ὀλίγοι εἰσὶν οἱ εὑρίσκοντες αὐτήν.

But narrow is the gate and pressed the road that leads away to life, and few are those who find it.

⸀Προσέχετε ἀπὸ τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν, οἵτινες ἔρχονται πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν ἐνδύμασι προβάτων ἔσωθεν δέ εἰσιν λύκοι ἅρπαγες.

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inside are ravenous wolves.

ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιγνώσεσθε αὐτούς. μήτι συλλέγουσιν ἀπὸ ἀκανθῶν ⸀σταφυλὰς ἢ ἀπὸ τριβόλων σῦκα;

By their fruits you will recognise them. Do people gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?

οὕτως πᾶν δένδρον ἀγαθὸν καρποὺς καλοὺς ποιεῖ, τὸ δὲ σαπρὸν δένδρον καρποὺς πονηροὺς ποιεῖ·

So every good tree produces good fruits, but the rotten tree produces evil fruits.

οὐ δύναται δένδρον ἀγαθὸν καρποὺς πονηροὺς ⸀ποιεῖν, οὐδὲ δένδρον σαπρὸν καρποὺς καλοὺς ποιεῖν.

A good tree cannot produce evil fruits, nor a rotten tree good fruits.

πᾶν δένδρον μὴ ποιοῦν καρπὸν καλὸν ἐκκόπτεται καὶ εἰς πῦρ βάλλεται.

Every tree not producing good fruit is cut down and thrown into fire.

ἄρα γε ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιγνώσεσθε αὐτούς.

So then, by their fruits you will recognise them.

Οὐ πᾶς ὁ λέγων μοι· Κύριε κύριε εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἀλλ’ ὁ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν ⸀τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.

Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father in the heavens.

πολλοὶ ἐροῦσίν μοι ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ· Κύριε κύριε, οὐ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι ἐπροφητεύσαμεν, καὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι δαιμόνια ἐξεβάλομεν, καὶ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι δυνάμεις πολλὰς ἐποιήσαμεν;

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many works of power?'

καὶ τότε ὁμολογήσω αὐτοῖς ὅτι Οὐδέποτε ἔγνων ὑμᾶς· ἀποχωρεῖτε ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ οἱ ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀνομίαν.

And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you who work lawlessness.'

Πᾶς οὖν ὅστις ἀκούει μου τοὺς λόγους τούτους καὶ ποιεῖ αὐτούς, ⸀ὁμοιωθήσεται ἀνδρὶ φρονίμῳ, ὅστις ᾠκοδόμησεν ⸂αὐτοῦ τὴν οἰκίαν⸃ ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν.

So everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a prudent man who built his house on the rock.

καὶ κατέβη ἡ βροχὴ καὶ ἦλθον οἱ ποταμοὶ καὶ ἔπνευσαν οἱ ἄνεμοι καὶ προσέπεσαν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ οὐκ ἔπεσεν, τεθεμελίωτο γὰρ ἐπὶ τὴν πέτραν.

And the rain came down and the rivers came and the winds blew and fell against that house, and it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

καὶ πᾶς ὁ ἀκούων μου τοὺς λόγους τούτους καὶ μὴ ποιῶν αὐτοὺς ὁμοιωθήσεται ἀνδρὶ μωρῷ, ὅστις ᾠκοδόμησεν ⸂αὐτοῦ τὴν οἰκίαν⸃ ἐπὶ τὴν ἄμμον.

And everyone hearing these words of mine and not doing them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

Why this rendering

Matt.7.26 Observation

Syntactic observation

The last parable of the sermon calls a man μωρός — and this root is here for the third time in the sermon. At 5:13 salt that μωρανθῇ, becomes foolish, is good for nothing; at 5:22 calling a brother Μωρέ, fool, brings liability to Gehenna; at 7:26 the one who hears these words and does not do them is likened to an ἀνὴρ μωρός, a foolish man. The name one was forbidden to use returns at the end as the sermon's own verdict. μωρός occurs six times in Matthew and never in the other three books — in this corpus the word is Matthew's alone. Its opposite φρόνιμος, prudent, stands seven times in Matthew and twice in Luke, and never in Mark. The two house-stories are symmetrical to the word, with one place out of step — the house of v.24 receives προσέπεσαν, they fell against it, and the house of v.27 προσέκοψαν, they struck against it. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸂αὐτοῦ οἰκίαν⸃).

Rendering options · 2

Adopted

“a foolish man” — sharing the root of 5:13 and 5:22

Basis Renders all three with one root so the sermon can be seen closing on its own word.

Vary the word between the three places

Basis Chooses what suits each place.

Rejected That the three share a root is part of the sermon's fabric. To see the address forbidden at 5:22 return as the parable's name at 7:26, the renderings must match.

καὶ κατέβη ἡ βροχὴ καὶ ἦλθον οἱ ποταμοὶ καὶ ἔπνευσαν οἱ ἄνεμοι καὶ προσέκοψαν τῇ οἰκίᾳ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ ἔπεσεν, καὶ ἦν ἡ πτῶσις αὐτῆς μεγάλη.

And the rain came down and the rivers came and the winds blew and struck against that house, and it fell — and great was its fall.”

Καὶ ἐγένετο ὅτε ⸀ἐτέλεσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοὺς λόγους τούτους, ἐξεπλήσσοντο οἱ ὄχλοι ἐπὶ τῇ διδαχῇ αὐτοῦ·

And when Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were astounded at his teaching;

ἦν γὰρ διδάσκων αὐτοὺς ὡς ἐξουσίαν ἔχων καὶ οὐχ ὡς οἱ γραμματεῖς ⸀αὐτῶν.

for he was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

Why this rendering

Matt.7.29 Observation

Syntactic observation

This sentence matches Mark 1:22 word for word. Mark: ἐξεπλήσσοντο ἐπὶ τῇ διδαχῇ αὐτοῦ, ἦν γὰρ διδάσκων αὐτοὺς ὡς ἐξουσίαν ἔχων καὶ οὐχ ὡς οἱ γραμματεῖς. Matthew 7:28-29: ἐξεπλήσσοντο οἱ ὄχλοι ἐπὶ τῇ διδαχῇ αὐτοῦ· ἦν γὰρ διδάσκων αὐτοὺς ὡς ἐξουσίαν ἔχων καὶ οὐχ ὡς οἱ γραμματεῖς αὐτῶν. Two differences only — Matthew names the astonished as οἱ ὄχλοι, the crowds, and adds αὐτῶν, their, to the scribes. Overlaps this long between the two books are rare in this corpus and are directly verifiable by collation. Luke 4:32 opens the same way (ἐξεπλήσσοντο ἐπὶ τῇ διδαχῇ αὐτοῦ) but ends otherwise — ὅτι ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ ἦν ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ, **with no scribes at all.** Only Matthew and Mark give the authority someone to be measured against. The settings differ: in Mark it follows a first teaching in a synagogue; in Matthew it closes a sermon spanning three chapters. And Matthew uses this closing formula (Καὶ ἐγένετο ὅτε ἐτέλεσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς…) as a frame he repeats five times in his book. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀αὐτῶν.).

Rendering options · 2

Adopted

Rendered as at Mark 1:22, keeping the αὐτῶν of their scribes

Basis Where the two books share a sentence the renderings match, so the overlap is visible and only the two differing words stand out.

Drop their and render simply scribes

Basis Tidies a redundant possessive.

Rejected αὐτῶν is in Matthew and not in Mark — one of the only two points where the books differ here; dropping it erases the divergence.

Lost in translation

the overlap itself

That the two books share a sentence is invisible to a reader of either one alone. This is why the corpus renders both under one set of rules — and even so, the reader must set the two places side by side.