Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Matthew: Chapter 7].
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7:1 {Judge not} (\m• krinete\). The habit of censoriousness,
sharp, unjust criticism. Our word critic is from this very word.
It means to separate, distinguish, discriminate. That is
necessary, but pre-judice (prejudgment) is unfair, captious
criticism.
7:3 {The mote} (\to karphos\). Not dust, but a piece of dried
wood or chaff, splinter (Weymouth, Moffatt), speck (Goodspeed), a
very small particle that may irritate. {The beam} (\t•n dokon\).
A log on which planks in the house rest (so papyri), joist,
rafter, plank (Moffatt), pole sticking out grotesquely. Probably
a current proverb quoted by Jesus like our people in glass houses
throwing stones. Tholuck quotes an Arabic proverb: "How seest
thou the splinter in thy brother's eye, and seest not the
cross-beam in thine eye?"
7:5 {Shalt thou see clearly} (\diablepseis\). Only here and Lu
6:42 and Mr 8:25 in the New Testament. Look through, penetrate
in contrast to \blepeis\, to gaze at, in verse 3. Get the log
out of your eye and you will see clearly how to help the brother
get the splinter out (\ekbalein\) of his eye.
7:6 {That which is holy unto the dogs} (\to hagion tois kusin\).
It is not clear to what "the holy" refers, to ear-rings or to
amulets, but that would not appeal to dogs. Trench (_Sermon on
the Mount_, p. 136) says that the reference is to meat offered in
sacrifice that must not be flung to dogs: "It is not that the
dogs would not eat it, for it would be welcome to them; but that
it would be a profanation to give it to them, thus to make it a
_skubalon_, Ex 22:31." The yelping dogs would jump at it. Dogs
are kin to wolves and infest the streets of oriental cities.
{Your pearls before the swine} (\tous margaritas h–m•n emprosthen
t•n choir•n\). The word pearl we have in the name Margarita
(Margaret). Pearls look a bit like peas or acorns and would
deceive the hogs until they discovered the deception. The wild
boars haunt the Jordan Valley still and are not far removed from
bears as they trample with their feet and rend with their tusks
those who have angered them.
http://www.ccel.org/r/robertson_at/wordpictures/htm/MT7.RWP.html (1 of 4) [28/08/2004 09:03:01 a.m.]
Word Pictures in the New Testament
(Matthew: Chapter 7)