BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Matthew 7: Judgment, Prayer, and the Two Foundations
Matthew 7 closes the Sermon on the Mount with teachings on non-judgment, persistent prayer, the narrow gate, discernment of false prophets, and obedience to Jesus' words, ending with the crowd's astonishment at his authoritative teaching.
Scripture
1Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you.
3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye?
5Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
6Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet, and turn and rend you.
7Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
8for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
9Or what man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone;
10or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent?
11If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
12All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets.
13Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby.
14For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it.
15Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.
16By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works?
23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
24Every one therefore that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, who built his house upon the rock:
25and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and if fell not: for it was founded upon the rock.
26And every one that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand:
27and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall thereof.
28And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching:
29for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
What this passage means
Verses 1–6 address judgment. Jesus forbids censorious judgment and uses the exaggerated image of a 'beam' (δοκόν) versus a 'mote' (κάρφος) to show that self-awareness must precede correction of others. The pairing of dogs and swine in verse 6 warns against mishandling what is holy, without defining the exact referent.
Verses 7–12 move to prayer and the Golden Rule. Asking, seeking, and knocking are presented as guaranteed responses for the persistent petitioner, grounded in the character of the heavenly Father. Verse 12, the positive form of the Golden Rule, is identified as the summary of 'the law and the prophets.'
Verses 13–27 form a concluding exhortation. The narrow gate, the warning about false prophets known by fruit, and Jesus' claim that merely saying 'Lord, Lord' is insufficient lead into the parable of two builders, which divides hearers from doers. Verse 28–29 notes the crowd's astonishment because, unlike the scribes, Jesus taught 'as one having authority' (ἐξουσίαν).
Context
Matthew 7 concludes the Sermon on the Mount begun in chapter 5. The chapter transitions from Jesus' corrective teaching on the law to ethical commands about community life, prayer, and eschatological choice. The opening 'Judge not' is not a blanket ban on all discernment—verse 6 itself implicitly calls for discernment between what is 'holy' and what is not.
The chapter ends by noting that the crowds were astonished because Jesus taught 'as one having authority, and not as their scribes' (7:29). This sets up the contrasting teachings that follow in chapters 8–9, where Jesus demonstrates this authority through healings and pronouncements.
Key words in the original
- G2919 κρίνω ('to judge') appears repeatedly in 7:1–2. In these verses the verbal repetition links human judging to being judged by the same standard, underscoring reciprocity rather than mere prohibition.
- G2595 κάρφος ('a dry twig or straw,' translated 'mote') in 7:3 contrasts with δοκός ('a stick of timber,' translated 'beam'). The contrast in size between the speck and the beam drives the point about self-awareness before correction.
- G1385 δοκός ('a stick of timber,' translated 'beam') in 7:3–4 forms the larger counterpart to the κάρφος. The hyperbole of a timber in one's own eye makes visible the absurdity of ignoring one's fault while correcting another's.
Related verses
- Luke 13:24 Luke's parallel, 'Strive to enter in by the narrow door,' echoes Matthew 7:13–14. Both stress the difficulty and limited number of those who find the way to life.
- Luke 6:46 Luke 6:46, 'And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?' parallels Matthew 7:21–23's warning that verbal acknowledgment of Jesus as Lord is insufficient without obedience.
- Romans 2:13 Romans 2:13 declares 'the doers of the law shall be justified.' This connects directly to the parable of the two builders in Matthew 7:24–27, where hearing alone collapses while doing the words of Jesus stands firm.
Common questions
Does Matthew 7:1 mean Christians should never judge anything?
The chapter itself narrows the absolute. Verse 6 calls for distinguishing what is 'holy' from what is 'dogs and swine,' and verses 15–20 instruct recognizing false prophets 'by their fruits.' The 'Judge not' therefore targets censorious, hypocritical judgment, not all moral or doctrinal discernment.
Does asking always guarantee receiving, as Matthew 7:7–8 says?
Matthew 7:7–8 makes an unqualified promise at this point in the text. Related passages such as Matthew 21:22, Mark 11:24, and John 15:7 add conditions like 'believing' or 'abiding,' and 1 John 3:22 ties answered prayer to keeping God's commandments. The chapter itself, in verse 21, treats mere verbal asking as insufficient without doing the Father's will.
Who are the 'dogs' and 'swine' in Matthew 7:6?
The text identifies them only by behavior: those who would 'trample' what is holy and 'turn and rend you.' The chapter does not specify the referent. Suggested identifications in Christian tradition vary (e.g., hardened mockers, apostate teachers, those hostile to the gospel), but this study describes only what the provided text states.