Matthew 7:4

Study note

Setting — Jesus addresses listeners in the Sermon on the Mount, posing a rhetorical question to a crowd examining others while ignoring themselves. He interrupts their moral scrutiny to confront their failure to assess their own condition first.

The words — The verb ἐρεῖς (ereis) translates literally as "will you say," framing the passage as a direct challenge to hypocritical speech. The phrase ἄφες ἐκβάλλω (aphes ekballō) means "do permit that I may cast out," describing the proposed act of removing a brother's flaw.

The thread — The text explicitly contrasts the speck and the beam in Matthew 7:3 and 7:5, establishing the immediate literary context. The same corrective sequence appears in Luke 6:41-42, which records the parallel teaching.

Why it lands — The text states that a person cannot legitimately propose to remove another's minor fault while ignoring their own major fault. It requires the reader to prioritize self-examination and correction before offering any guidance to others.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.