Matthew 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge,

Spoken to: 

audience

Sermon on Mount, law and fulfillment, visible and hidden, temporary and permanent, criticism and acceptance

KJV: 

Matthew 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

NIV : 

Matthew 7:2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

LISTENERS HEARD: 

Because on those judgments you all judge, you will be judged. And, on what measure, you measure, it will be measured to you.

MY TAKE: 

We can see how we judge and measure things today and from the we can predict our future.

GREEK (Each Word Explained Bottom of Page): 

GREEK ORDER: 

ἐν        γὰρ         κρίματι     κρίνετε            κριθήσεσθε,
on those Because judgments you all judge, you will be judged.

καὶ    ἐν       μέτρῳ     μετρεῖτε              μετρηθήσεται             ὑμῖν.
And, on what measure, you all measure, it will be measured to you.

LOST IN TRANSLATION: 

This verse used not only the humor of repetition, which we can get in translation, but also alliteration that is lost in translation. It features not one but two sets of alliterations of three words each. In Greek, each set of three words all have the same beginning but end differently. These alliterations are lost in English translation because we need pronouns for subjects and helper verbs for verb forms.

The first clause has the three-word alliteration: "judge," "judged," "be judged" each beginning with "kri."  Though we lose the second-person and the specific forms of the verbs, the sound of the alliteration is captured by, “Because, with those criticisms, criticizers criticize."

The second clause has the three-word alliteration: "measure," "measured," "be measured" each beginning with "metr." It would sounnd like, "And with this meter, meters meter."

All the verbs are plural except the last one.  We cannot see this because we used "you" for both plural and singular. So we all judge all others, and everyone judges us. We all measure out to all others. However, the last verb is singular "it" will be measured, but a singular verb in Greek for a group of things.  The punchline following the last alliteration and singular verb is "to you"  which is also plural.

# KJV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

1

OS -- Outdated Source -- The Greek word translated as "again" existed in the KJV Greek source but not the one we used today.

# NIV TRANSLATION ISSUES: 

6
  • IP - Inserted Phrase-- The phrase "the same way" doesn't exist in the source.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "what" is not shown in the English translation.
  • MW - Missing Word -- The word "judgment" is not shown in the English translation.
  • IW - Inserted Word -- The word "others" doesn't exist in the source.
  • WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "the " should be "what."
  • WW - Wrong Word -- The word translated as "use" should be "measure."

EACH WORD of KJV : 

For  - The word translated as "for" can be treated as supporting a dependent clause, or, in written English, as "this is because..." to start a new sentence.

with  - The Greek word translated as "with" primarily means "in." It is the same word translated as "in" later in the verse. However, this preposition can be used to describe a means or instrument by which something is done, and then it means "with" or "by".

what  - The word translated as "what" is a demonstrative or relative pronoun, and often as connective pronoun introducing a dependent clause.

judgment  - The Greek word translated as "judgment" is a pronouncement of judgment, a decree, a judge's sentence, the announcement of a decision made by a leader. This is a noun form of the following verb.

ye -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

judge,  - "Judge" is krino, which primarily means "to separate", "to put asunder," and "to distinguish." It has a lot of other secondary meanings, including "to pick out", "to choose", "to decide" disputes or accounts, "to win" a battle, "to judge" especially in the sense of "estimate", "to expound," or "to interpret" in a particular way. We need to use the context to decide how Jesus is using it. The sense seems to be the idea that we describe by "criticizing". The form could be a statement about the present, "you are judging," but it more likely a possibility at some point in time, "you might judge at some time.?

ye -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

shall -- This helping verb "shall" indicates that the verb is the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

be -- This helping verb "be" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

judged: - "Judge" is krino, which primarily means "to separate", "to put asunder," and "to distinguish." It has a lot of other secondary meanings, including "to pick out", "to choose", "to decide" disputes or accounts, "to win" a battle, "to judge" especially in the sense of "estimate", "to expound," or "to interpret" in a particular way. We need to use the context to decide how Jesus is using it. The sense seems to be the idea that we describe by "criticizing".

and  - The Greek conjunction that means "and" can also be translated as "also."

with  - The Greek word translated as "with" primarily means "in." It is the same word translated as "in" later in the verse. However, this preposition can be used to describe a means or instrument by which something is done, and then it means "with" or "by".

what  - The word translated as "what" is a demonstrative or relative pronoun, and often as connective pronoun introducing a dependent clause.

measure  - The word translated as "measure" means any measurement scale, not a specific scale. We use the word "standard" to capture the general idea of measurement. This is again the noun form of the following verb, so only the term "measure" worked in English if we want to capture the repetition.

ye -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

mete,  - The Greek verb translated as "mete" means primarily the measurement of size, but it can means any sort of measurement. The first time, it is addressed to a group in his audience, in a measurement they are making today.  Unlike the "judge" above, this verb can only be a statement about the present, "are measuring out."

it -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.

shall -- This helping verb "shall" indicates that the verb is the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

be -- This helping verb "be" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

measured - The Greek verb translated as "measured" means primarily the measurement of size, but it can means any sort of measurement.

to -- This word "to" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English, but the translator must decide which preposition to use: a "to" as an indirect object.

you -- The Greek pronoun "you" here is plural and in the form of an indirect object, "to you", "for you", etc. 

again. -- (OS) There is nothing in the Greek that can be translated as "again" in the source we use today but it does exist in the source that the KJV translators used.

EACH WORD of NIV : 

For  - The word translated as "for" can be treated as supporting a dependent clause, or, in written English, as "this is because..." to start a new sentence.

in - The Greek word translated as "with" primarily means "in." It is the same word translated as "in" later in the verse. However, this preposition can be used to describe a means or instrument by which something is done, and then it means "with" or "by".

the same way -- (IP) There is nothing that can be translated as "the same way" in the Greek source.

missing "what"-- (MW) The untranslated word "what" is a demonstrative or relative pronoun, and often as connective pronoun introducing a dependent clause.

missing "judgment"-- (MW) The untranslated word "judgment" is a pronouncement of judgment, a decree, a judge's sentence, the announcement of a decision made by a leader. This is a noun form of the following verb.

you -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

judge,  - "Judge" is krino, which primarily means "to separate", "to put asunder," and "to distinguish." It has a lot of other secondary meanings, including "to pick out", "to choose", "to decide" disputes or accounts, "to win" a battle, "to judge" especially in the sense of "estimate", "to expound," or "to interpret" in a particular way. We need to use the context to decide how Jesus is using it. The sense seems to be the idea that we describe by "criticizing". The form could be a statement about the present, "you are judging," but it more likely a possibility at some point in time, "you might judge at some time.?

others, -- (IW) There is nothing that can be translated as "others" in the Greek source.

you -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

will -- This helping verb "will " indicates that the verb is the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

be -- This helping verb "be" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

judged: - "Judge" is krino, which primarily means "to separate", "to put asunder," and "to distinguish." It has a lot of other secondary meanings, including "to pick out", "to choose", "to decide" disputes or accounts, "to win" a battle, "to judge" especially in the sense of "estimate", "to expound," or "to interpret" in a particular way. We need to use the context to decide how Jesus is using it. The sense seems to be the idea that we describe by "criticizing".

and  - The Greek conjunction that means "and" can also be translated as "also."

with  - The Greek word translated as "with" primarily means "in." It is the same word translated as "in" later in the verse. However, this preposition can be used to describe a means or instrument by which something is done, and then it means "with" or "by".

the  - (WW) The word translated as "the " is a demonstrative or relative pronoun, "what," "which," "who" and so on often as connective pronoun introducing a dependent clause.

measure  - The word translated as "measure" means any measurement scale, not a specific scale. We use the word "standard" to capture the general idea of measurement. This is again the noun form of the following verb, so only the term "measure" worked in English if we want to capture the repetition.

you -- This is from the second-person, plural form of the verb.

use,  - (WW) The Greek verb translated as "use" means primarily the measurement of size, but it can means any sort of measurement. The first time, it is addressed to a group in his audience, in a measurement they are making today.  Unlike the "judge" above, this verb can only be a statement about the present, "are measuring out."

it -- This is from the third-person, singular form of the verb.

will -- This helping verb "will " indicates that the verb is the future tense. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

be -- This helping verb "be" indicates that the verb is passive. Helping or auxiliary verbs are needed to translate the Greek verb forms into English.

measured - The Greek verb translated as "measured" means primarily the measurement of size, but it can means any sort of measurement.

to -- This word "to" comes from the dative case of the following word that requires the addition of a preposition in English, but the translator must decide which preposition to use: a "to" as an indirect object.

you -- The Greek pronoun "you" here is plural and in the form of an indirect object, "to you", "for you", etc.

COMPARISON: GREEK to KJV : 

ἐν (prep) "With" is from en, which means "in", "on", "at", "by", "among", "within", "surrounded by", "in one's hands", "in one's power," and "with".

(pron sg neut dat) "What" is from hos, which means "this", "that", "he", "she", "which", "what", "who", "whosoever", "where", "for which reason," and many similar meanings.

γὰρ (partic) "For" comes from gar which is the introduction of a clause explaining a reason or explanation: "for", "since," and "as." In an abrupt question it means "why" and "what."

κρίματι [5 verses](noun sg neut dat) "Judgment" is from krima, which means "decision", "judgment", "decree", "resolution," and a "legal decision."

κρίνετε (2nd pl pres ind act or verb 2nd pl aor subj act) "Judge" is from krino, which primarily means "to separate", "to put asunder," and "to distinguish." It has a lot of other secondary meanings, including "to pick out", "to choose", "to decide" disputes or accounts, "to win" a battle, "to judge" especially in the sense of "estimate", "to expound," or "to interpret" in a particular way.

κριθήσεσθε, (2nd pl fut ind pass) "Ye shall be judged" is from krino, which primarily means "to separate", "to put asunder," and "to distinguish." It has a lot of other secondary meanings, including "to pick out", "to choose", "to decide" disputes or accounts, "to win" a battle, "to judge" especially in the sense of "estimate", "to expound," or "to interpret" in a particular way.

καὶ (conj) "And" is from kai, which is the conjunction joining phrases and clauses, "and," or "but." After words implying sameness, "as" (the same opinion as you). Used in series, joins positive with negative "Not only...but also." Also used to give emphasis, "even", "also," and "just."

ἐν (prep) "In" is from en, which means "in", "on", "at", "by", "among", "within", "surrounded by", "in one's hands", "in one's power," and "with".

(pron sg neut dat) "What" is from hos, which means "this", "that", "he", "she", "which", "what", "who", "whosoever", "where", "for which reason," and many similar meanings.

μέτρῳ [4 verses] (noun sg neut dat) "Measure" is from metron, which means "that by which anything is measured", "measure", "rule", "measure of content", "any space of measurable length", "limit," and "due measure."

μετρεῖτε [3 verses](2nd pl pres ind act) "Ye mete" is metreo, which means to "to measure space", "to pass over space", "to traverse space", "to count size or worth", "to measure size or worth," and "to measure out" an amount.

μετρηθήσεται [3 verses] (3rd sg fut ind pass) "It shall be measured" is from metreo, which means to "to measure space", "to pass over space", "to traverse space", "to count size or worth", "to measure size or worth," and "to measure out" an amount.

ὑμῖν. (pron 2nd pl dat) "To you" is from hymin (humin), which is the 2nd person plural dative pronoun. Dative is the case which indicates to whom something is given.

Wordplay: 

The double use of three forms of the same word in a row: the decision decides what will be decided. The measure measures what will be measured. 

Related Verses: 

Unimportant Opinions and Imaginings: 

“Why shouldn’t the people most dedicated to the Divine set the standard?” Iozeph persisted.
“Because with those judgments you judge you will be judged,” the Teacher explained, emphasizing the alliteration.
“But the rewards of the Divine are measured out from His judgment,” asked the ascetic.
“And,” the Teacher proclaimed to the crowd, “by that measure you measure, it will be measured out to you.”
He then smiled and made his trash-throwing gesture.
We laughed at the new alliteration and the familiar gesture.

Front Page Date: 

Jun 28 2020