Matthew 7 is the seventh chapter of the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. This chapter is the last of the three chapters which comprise the

Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 29 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(~325–350; complete) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

(~330–360; complete) *

Codex Washingtonianus The Codex Washingtonianus or Codex Washingtonensis, designated by W or 032 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), ε 014 ( Soden), also called the ''Washington Manuscript of the Gospels'', and ''The Freer Gospel'', contains the four biblical gospels an ...

(~400) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) designated by the siglum C or 04 {in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 3 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a ma ...

(~450; extant verses 6-29)

Verses

Analysis

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

's analysis of the Sermon on the Mount, chapter five outlines "the sum of all true religion", allowing chapter six to detail "rules for that right intention which we are to preserve in all our outward actions, unmixed with worldly desires or anxious cares for even the necessaries of life" and this chapter to provide "cautions against the main hinderances of religion". Within the chapter there are several themes, with verses 1–12 dealing with judging and discernment. Verses 3-5 relate a proverbial saying on

the Mote and the Beam The Mote and the Beam is a parable of Jesus given in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, verses . The discourse is fairly brief, and begins by warning his followers of the dangers of judging others, stating that they too ...

, which has a parallel in Luke 6:37-42. At Matthew 7:7 Jesus returns to the subject of

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

, promising that God will respond to prayer. Verses 7:13 and 14 contain the analogy of the broad and narrow roads, a warning of the ease of slipping into

damnation Damnation (from Latin '' damnatio'') is the concept of divine punishment and torment in an afterlife for actions that were committed, or in some cases, not committed on Earth. In Ancient Egyptian religious tradition, citizens would recite th ...

. Verse 7:15 continues the warnings about judgment and adds a caution about

false prophets In religion, a false prophet is a person who falsely claims the gift of prophecy or divine inspiration, or to speak for God, or who makes such claims for evil ends. Often, someone who is considered a "true prophet" by some people is simultaneous ...

by repeating some of the language used by

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

chapter 3 Chapter Three refers to a third Chapter (books), chapter, but the term may also refer to: Albums *Chapter III (Agathodaimon album), ''Chapter III'' (Agathodaimon album), 2003 *Chapter III (Allure album), ''Chapter III'' (Allure album), 2004 *Chapte ...

. The chapter ends with the

parable of the wise and the foolish builders A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, w ...

in Matthew 7:24– 27, which has a parallel in Luke 6:46–49. According to theologian

Edward Plumptre Edward Hayes Plumptre (6 August 1821 – 1 February 1891) was an English divine and scholar born in London. Life He was born on 6 August 1821, being the son of Edward Hallows Plumptre, a London solicitor. Charles John Plumptre was his brother. ...

, in comparison with the preceding chapters, "this hapterdeals chiefly with the

temptation Temptation is a desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment that threatens long-term goals.Webb, J.R. (Sep 2014). Incorporating Spirituality into Psychology of temptation: Conceptualization, measurement, and clinical implications. Sp ...

s incident to the more advanced stages of hristianlife when lower forms of evil have been overcome – with the temper that judges others, the self-deceit of unconscious

hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...

, the danger of unreality".Plumptre, E. H. (1905)
Matthew 7
in '' Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers'', accessed 17 December 2016

Explanatory notes

Citations

External links

* , King James Bible at Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate

Online Bible at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions
at

BibleGateway.com BibleGateway is a Christian website designed to allow easy reading, listening, studying, searching, and sharing of the Bible in many different versions and translations, including English, French, Spanish, and other languages (see below). Its miss ...

(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Sermon on the Mount Matthew 07