Vv. 3-5. Proverb of the mote and beam. Also current among Jews and Arabs (vide fhe > ;a minute dry particle of chaff, w etc.— δοκός, a wooden beam (let in, from δέχομαι) or joist, a monstrous symbol a great fault. A beam in the eye is a natural impossibility; cf. the camel and the needle eye. ε Eastern = ame was prone to μ.ο is is a case of tu quoque ( . li. 2), or rather
of “thou much more”. The faults may
1—6.
τὴν δὲ ἐν τῷ σῷ ὀφθαλμῷ «δοκὸν οὐ
d
129
κατανοεῖς; 4. ἢ πῶς ἐρεῖς τῷ ο Lk. vi. 41, 2
ἀδελφῷ σου, “Ades ἐκβάλω τὸ κάρφος ἀπὸ 1] τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ σου: Kald Lk. vi. 41;
ἰδού, ἡ δοκὸς ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ σου; 5.
δοκὸν ἐκ τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ σου,” καὶ τότε Ξδιαβλέψεις ἐκβαλεῖν τὸ κάρφος
ἐκ τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ τοῦ ἀδελφού σου.
μηδὲ βάλητε τοὺς µαργαρίτας ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων, µήποτε © a vi
Ad XX. 23. ὑποκριτά, ἔκβαλε πρῶτον τὴν Acts xxvii. k. xi1.24, a a 27. Rom.
6. Μὴ δῶτε τὸ ἅγιον τοῖς Kut: πο
. Vili. Lk. 2
f Ch. xiii. 45. 1 Tim, ii.g, Rev. xvii. 4; xviii. 16 : mee αι.
1ΝΒΣ have ex, which is preferred by most modern edd. Weiss suspects con-
formity to the ex in εκβαλω.
2 NBC place εκ του οφθ. σου before την δοκον, so giving to the censor’s own eye
due emphasis.
be of the same kind: κάρφος, a petty theft, δοκός, commercial dishonesty on a large scale—‘‘ thou that judgest doest the same things” (Rom. ii. 2); or of a different sort: moral laxity in the publican, pride and inhumanity in the Pharisee who despised him (Lk. xviii. ο- 14).--βλέπεις, οὐ κατανοεῖς: the contrast is not between seeing and failing to see, but between seeing and not choosing to see; ignoring, consciously overlooking. The censorious man is not necessarily ignorant of his own faults, but he does not let his mind rest on them. It is more pleasant to think of other people’s faults. —Ver. 4. ἐκβάλω, hortatory conjunc- tive, first person, supplies place of im- perative which is wanting in first person ; takes such words as aye, φέρε, or as here ἄφες, before it. Vide Goodwin, section 255. For ἄφες modern Greek has ds, a contraction, used with the subjunctive in the first and _ third persons (vide Vincent and Dickson, Modern Greek, p. 322).—Ver. 5. ὑποκριτά: because he acts as no one should but he who has first reformed himself. ‘What hast thou to do to declare my statutes?”’ Ps. 1. 16.—81a- βλέψεις, thou will see clearly, vide Mk. viii. 24, 25, where three compounds of the verb occur, with avd, διά, and ἐν. Fritzsche takes the future as an im- perative and renders: se componere ad aliquid, curare ; 1.ε., set thyself then to the task of, etc.
Ver. 6. A complementary counsel. No connecting word introduces this sentence. Indeed the absence of con- necting particles is noticeable throughout the chapter: vv. 1, 6, 7, 13, 15. Itis a collection of ethical pearls strung loosely together. Yet it is not difficult to suggest a connecting link, thus: I have said, ‘Judge not,” yet you must know people, else you will make great
mistakes, such as, etc. is inevitable. Jesus Himself practised it. He judged the Pharisees, but in the interest of humanity, guided by the law of love. He judged the proud, pre- tentious, and cruel, in behalf of the weak and despised. All depends on what we judge and why. The Pharisaic motive was egotism; the right motive is de- fence of the downtrodden or, in certain cases, self-defence. So here.—xata- πατήσουσι: future well attested, vide critical note, with subjunctive, ῥήξωσι, in last clause; unusual combination, but not impossible. On the use of the future after µήποτε and other final particles, vide Burton, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses in N. T. Greek, § 100.---τὸ ἅγιον, τοὺς µαργαρίτας: what is the 5 thing, ας καί are the pearls? In a moral aphorism special indications are not to be expected, and we are left to our own conjectures. The ‘“‘holy” and the ‘ pearls”? must define themselves for each individual in his own experience. They are the things which are sacred and precious for a man or woman, and which natural feeling teaches us to be careful not to waste or expose to desecration. For this purpose knowledge of the world, discrimination, is necessary. We must not treat all people alike, and show our valuables, religious experiences, best thoughts, tenderest sentiments, to the first comer. Shyness, reserve, goes along with sincerity, depth, refinement. In all shyness there is implicit judgment of the legitimate kind. A modest woman shrinks from a man whom her instinct discerns to be impure; a child from all hard-natured people. Who blames woman orchild? It is but the instinct of self-preservation.—xvotv, χοίρων. The people to be feared and shunned are those represented by dogs and swine, regarded by Jews as shameless and