Devine Scripture

Matthew 7:4

What does Matthew 7:4 mean?

A plain-English look at Matthew 7:4 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Matthew 7:4 means

This verse continues the illustration of the 'mote' and 'beam,' intensifying the charge of hypocrisy. Jesus questions how someone with a major spiritual or moral flaw (the beam) can sincerely offer to help another with a minor one (the mote). The rhetorical question underscores the absurdity and insincerity of such an offer. It reveals that the motivation behind such 'help' is often judgmental pride rather than genuine concern. True help can only come from a place of humility and self-awareness, not from a position of unaddressed sin.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye?

KJV

King James Version · 1611

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye?

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

Or how will you say to your brother, Let me take out the grain of dust from your eye, when you yourself have a bit of wood in your eye?

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

or, how wilt thou say to thy brother, Suffer I may cast out the mote from thine eye, and lo, the beam <FI>is<Fi> in thine own eye?

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

Or how sayest thou to thy brother: Let me cast the mote out of thy eye; and behold a beam is in thy own eye?

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Allow [me], I will cast out the mote from thine eye; and behold, the beam is in thine eye?

Context

Following the foundational image of the beam and the mote, this verse directly poses a rhetorical question, challenging the logic of a hypocritical offer of help. It deepens the condemnation of self-righteousness, preparing the reader for Jesus' direct command to address one's own faults first. This verse emphasizes the practical impossibility of offering genuine assistance while remaining spiritually compromised by one's own unexamined sins.

v.3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

v.4This passage

v.5Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

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