The ' mote ' (t6 Kip(pos, from Kipipoi, ' to contract," ' dry up,' ' wither ') may be a dry stalk or twig, or aiw small dry body. The word is used in the LXX (Gn 8") to render in?, the adj. applied to the olive-leaf brought by the dove. Weymouth {NT in Modern Speech) renders ' speck.'
It is clear, therefore, that the point of. the pro- verb lies in the contrast between a smaller fault in the person criticised and a greater one in the critic. The figures chosen express the contrast in a very emphatic way, pushing it, indeed, to the verge of absurdity, to suggest the essential folly of the unbrotlierly and insincere faultfinder.
Various illustrations are given by commentators of the possibly greater defect of the man who is finding fault with liis neighbour. Morison, e.g., quotes Augustine as comparing ' settled hatred ' (the beam) witli a passing burst of anger (the mote). A. B. Bruce (/.c.)says: 'The faiilts may be of the same kind : ^d/)0o! a petty theft, 5ok6s commercial dislionesty on a large scale . . . ; or a
different sort : moral laxity in the publican, pride and inhumanity in the Pharisee who despised
All such illustrations are to the point, for the proverb is capable of many applications ; and it is very often true that men eager to correct others liave great and obvious faults of their own which disqualify them for the office. It seems clear, however, that ' the beam ' is very definitely the censorious spirit. Our passage, as it stands in St. Matthew, follows immediately upon the general exhortation 'judge not,' and the warning, 'with what measure ye mete it shall be measured unto you.' There is a spirit which sees and notes faults in others where true goodness would be blind. The ' beholding ' is in the judgment of Jesus often a much greater evil than tlie fault it beholds. Sucli a spirit leads a man on to the officious attempt to correct others, and makes him doubly unfit for the task. To cast out the mote from another's eye is always difficult. It needs clear sight and wonderful delicacy of touch. To the censorious man, blind in his fancied superiority, it is of all tasks the most impossible. Moreover, the censorious spirit is closely akin to hypocrisy. It pretends to zeal for righteousness, but really cares only for personal superiority. A sincere man begins with that humble self-judgment which is fatal to uncharitable judgments of others. A zeal for righteousness which begins with correction of others stands convicted of dishonesty at the outset. If a man has once taken the true ground of lowly penitence, if he has cast out the proud, self-sufficient, censorious spirit, he will leave no other beam un- noticed in his own eye. He will be too much occupied with the task of self-discipline to be the quick and eager censor of others. Vet he will not be blind to moral distinctions. On the contrary, the single eye will be full of light ; and while he will have no wish to ' behold ' tlie mote in his brother's, he will see clearly to cast it out. Love and pride are both quick to observe ; but with what different results !
In St. Luke's Gospel our passage stands in a slightly different connexion. There the command 'judge not' is separated from the proverb of the Mote and the Beam by the verses which speak of the reward of generous giving, of blind leaders of the blind, of the disciple not above his master. A. B. Bruce suggests that the parable comes in at this point, because censoriousness is a natural fault of young disciples. In any case the essential meaning of the passage remains unchanged.
LiTERATTTRE. — Dykes, Manifesto of the King, 536 ff. ; Dale, Laios of Christ for Common Life, 93 ff.
E. H. TITCHMAR.SH.
BEATITUDE.—
i. Derivation and Meaning, ii. Significance of fj-axapm. iii. The NT Beatitudes.
1. .Single Sayings.
2. The Group of Sayings.
iv. The ' Beatitudes" in Matthew and Luke.
1. Their number in Matthew.
2. The relation of the two versions.
3. Order and connexion of thought.
i. Derivation and Meaning. — The Latin word beatitudo is derived from bedtus, the past participle of bearc, 'to make happy,' 'to bless' (cf. bene and bonus). Trench sa5's that beatitas and beatitudo are both words of: Cicero's coining ; yet, ' as he owns himself, with something strange and un- attractive about them.'* On this account they ' found almost no accei^tance at all in the classical literature of Rome. Beatitudo, indeed, found a
'Th- niiU [M"(_^.- in which Cicero appears to use the two u^ I ' \ i' liitirum,\.'M:'lstasimbeatitas,si\]e,beati-
t" t ' ni tnque omnino durum, sed ttsu mtiUicnda
BEATITUDE
BEATITUDE
177
home, as it deserved to do, in the Christian Church, but beatitas none' (Study of Words^", p. 210).
The primary meaning of ' beatitude ' is blessed- ness. In the earliest example of its use quoted in Murray's Dictionary (1491, Caxton), it signities supreme blessedness ; hence it was frequently used to describe the bliss of heaven. Cf. Milton, Par. Lost, iii. 62—
'About Him all the Sanctities of Heaven
Stood thick as stars, and from His sight received
Beatitude past utterance." Trapp applies the word to ' such as are set out of the reach of evil in the most joyous condition, having just cause to be everlastingly merry as being 6ca<i re et spe, "blessed in hand and in hope." ' But there is nothing in the connotation of the word itself to suggest whether the blessedness is enjoyed on earth or in heaven ; the context must show whether it refers to an experience in the present or to a hope for the future.