A familiar Bible saying, checked in context
Judge not lest ye be judged
Altered wording
Matthew 7:1 says “Judge not, that ye be not judged,” rather than “lest ye be judged.”
By @The..Mustard..Seed · Updated
Read the relevant KJV passage
Matthew 7:1Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Compare the evidence
Jesus’ plank-and-mote illustration ends by telling the listener to see clearly before helping a brother with a mote.
Matthew 7:5Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
John records Jesus saying not to judge by appearance but to judge righteous judgment, an important balance for a slogan used to end every discussion.
John 7:24Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
What the context adds
Matthew 7:1 says “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” The familiar “lest ye be judged” changes the connector, so it belongs under altered wording. The next sentences do not leave the matter at a ban on every moral evaluation: Jesus describes the measure used against others and warns against overlooking a beam in one’s own eye. John 7:24 supplies a different instruction about righteous judgment. Put together, these passages make a simple argument-stopping use of the slogan inadequate. The first question for a reader is whether the person speaking has examined their own conduct before correcting another.
A question to carry forward
How does Jesus’ beam-and-mote picture change the way you would raise a concern about someone else?
Keep reading
Read Matthew 7:1–5 and trace the order of actions in the beam-and-mote image.
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