Stop judging, that you may not be judged. 2 For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. 3 Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? 5 You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.
In Matthew 7:1–5, Jesus addresses a temptation as old as humanity itself: the impulse to judge others while ignoring the need for personal conversion. “Stop judging, that you may not be judged” (v. 1) is not a call to moral indifference, but a warning against harsh, hypocritical, or self-righteous judgment. Some may misinterpret this verse to mean that if they refrain from judging others, they will not be judged themselves—as though abstaining from judgment earns a free pass from God. But Jesus is not suggesting that divine judgment can be avoided by silence or passivity. Rather, He is exposing the danger of assuming the role of judge without first undergoing self-examination, repentance, and conversion. As the footnotes to the NABRE explain, Jesus is forbidding the kind of judgment that condemns others without mercy or self-examination—something that only God has the authority to do (cf. Jas 4:12).
The phrase in verse 2, “the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you,” echoes a common rabbinic principle found in wisdom literature: we will be judged according to the standards we apply to others (cf. Prov 21:2; Sir 28:1–7). This follows Jesus’ own teaching earlier in Matthew: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Mt 5:7), and it anticipates His later warning that unforgiveness hardens the heart against God’s mercy (cf. Mt 18:23–35). It is not God who hardens the heart, but the heart itself that, by refusing to forgive, becomes closed off—resisting the very mercy it needs.
As an example of this dynamic, some readers may recall that in Exodus, Scripture says God “hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (Ex 9:12). In the biblical worldview, saying that “God hardened” someone’s heart often means that God permitted them to persist in their chosen pride or rebellion. He did not create their hardness, but withdrew the softening grace they continually rejected. In other words: if our hearts are hardened, it is not because God made them so, but because we have closed ourselves off to His mercy.
Jesus then illustrates His point with a vivid and ironic metaphor. Someone obsessed with removing a splinter from their neighbor’s eye is blind to the wooden beam in their own. The image is not only exaggerated for effect—it reflects a spiritual condition. Self-deception often accompanies moral superiority. What the person thinks is righteous correction is, in truth, distorted by pride.
The Greek word for “hypocrite” in verse 5 (ὑποκριτά) refers to an actor on stage—someone performing a role rather than living authentically. Jesus is not condemning correction itself but insisting that correction must begin with humility and conversion: “Remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.”
Jesus’ instruction does not cancel fraternal correction (cf. Mt 18:15–17), but it reveals the proper spirit in which it must be done—one of charity, self-awareness, and love of truth.
Almighty God, help me to see myself with honesty and others with mercy. Remove whatever blinds me from loving You and my neighbor with purity of heart. Teach me to correct gently, forgive freely, and reflect Your justice with compassion. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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Sources and References:
• The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
• A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, ed. Orchard et al. (1953).
• The Navarre Bible: Matthew, Faculty of the University of Navarre (2008).
• The Paulist Biblical Commentary, ed. Chiu et al. (2018).
• Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§311, 1861, 2478, 2842–2845.
• Proverbs 21:2; Sirach 28:1–7.
• Matthew 5:7; 7:1–5; 18:15–17.
• Romans 2:1–6; James 4:12.
• Exodus 8:15, 32; 9:12, 34.
• St. Augustine, On Grace and Free Will, ch. 21.
• St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, Homily 23.
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