ESTUDIO DEL VERSÍCULO
Matthew 7:1-5 — Judge Not, the Mote and the Beam
Jesus commands his hearers not to judge, explains the reciprocal principle behind it, and illustrates hypocritical fault-finding with the contrast between a speck and a log in the eye.
Escritura
- 1.No juzguéis, para que no seáis juzgados.Judge not, that ye be not judged.
- 2.Porque con el juicio con que juzgáis, seréis juzgados, y con la medida con que medís, os será medido.For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you.
- 3.¿Y por qué miras la paja que está en el ojo de tu hermano, y no echas de ver la viga que está en tu propio ojo?And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
- 4.¿O cómo dirás a tu hermano: Déjame sacar la paja de tu ojo, y he aquí la viga en el ojo tuyo?Or 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?
- 5.¡Hipócrita! saca primero la viga de tu propio ojo, y entonces verás bien para sacar la paja del ojo de tu hermano.Thou 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.
Qué significa este pasaje
Verses 1-2 open with a prohibition and its reason. The command Judge not, that ye be not judged is followed by a reciprocal principle: the measure one applies to others will return upon oneself. The Greek particle ἵνα (G2443) introduces the purpose clause, so the verse describes a self-imposed consequence rather than a divine threat. The pairing of κρίνετε (G2919, present imperative) and κριθήσεσθε (G2919, future passive) shows the action and its result in the same root family, reinforcing the symmetry of judgment given and judgment received.
Verses 3-4 shift from principle to picture. A speck of straw (κάρφος, G2595) in a brother's eye is set against a beam of timber (δοκός, G1385) in one's own eye. The vocabulary contrast is deliberate: the word translated mote is a dry twig or straw particle, while the word translated beam is a stick of timber large enough to be structural. The question is rhetorical; Jesus is not denying that faults are real, but exposing that the fault-finder has not first observed the larger fault in himself, as expressed by κατανοεῖς (G2657, to observe fully).
Verse 5 names the person addressed: Thou hypocrite. The remedy is sequential — 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. The word hypocrite draws on the theater term for an actor under a mask, someone playing a role they do not actually inhabit. Jesus does not abolish discernment; verse 5 itself describes a process of seeing clearly (διαβλέπω in the underlying text) in order to help another, which implies that the corrective gaze returns once the obstacle is removed.
Contexto
Matthew 7:1-5 sits in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount and leads directly into warnings about holy things and pearls (v. 6) and then into the invitation to ask, seek, and knock (vv. 7-8). The chapter as a whole moves from the warning against hypocritical judgment to distinguishing false prophets by their fruit (vv. 15-20) and to the closing contrast of two builders (vv. 24-27), which the chapter note summarizes as Do not judge, two builders.
The opening judgment sayings in this chapter echo Luke 6:37-42, where the same instructions appear in a sermon setting on the plain. The full chapter shows that Jesus immediately follows the mote-and-beam picture with commands that presuppose real discernment is still required — not giving what is holy to dogs, recognizing false prophets by fruit, and obeying or refusing to obey his words.
Palabras clave del original
- G2919 κρίνω — to judge. In Matthew 7:1-2 the verb appears both as command (κρίνετε) and as future passive (κριθήσεσθε), binding the hearer's action and its consequence into one root family.
- G2595 κάρφος — a dry twig or straw particle. The English word mote is here a translation of this small speck, deliberately contrasted with the beam in the next clause.
- G1385 δοκός — a stick of timber, large enough to be structural. The contrast with κάρφος highlights the disproportion between the fault one notices in another and the fault one ignores in oneself.
Versículos relacionados
- Luke 6:37 Luke's parallel of the opening judgment command pairs judge not with condemn not and release, and shall be released, expanding the measure-for-measure principle beyond Matthew's wording.
- Romans 2:1 Paul applies the same logic to the moral critic: by judging another, the critic condemns himself, because he practises the same things. The reciprocal principle of Matthew 7:2 is restated as self-condemnation.
- Romans 14:13 Paul reframes the prohibition as a redirection: Let us not therefore judge one another any more; but judge ye this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock in his brother's way. The focus shifts from personal faults to causing the brother to stumble.
Preguntas frecuentes
Does Matthew 7:1 forbid all discernment or correction?
The passage forbids hypocritical and unexamined judgment, not discernment as such. Verse 5 itself ends with the helper seeing clearly to cast out the mote from the brother's eye, which assumes that real, restorative correction is the goal once self-examination has come first.
What is the difference between the mote and the beam?
The mote (κάρφος) is a small dry speck like a straw fragment; the beam (δοκός) is a stick of timber large enough to be structural. Jesus uses the size gap to expose disproportion: a person who ignores a major fault in himself while pressing a minor fault on another.
What does hypocrite mean in verse 5?
The Greek term drawn on here is the word for an actor who plays a role under a mask. Jesus uses it for someone who takes on the appearance of a faithful critic while not actually embodying the self-examination the role demands.