'Judge not' — the rest of the passage

What gets cited

The standalone citation, almost always in the KJV form:

Judge not, that ye be not judged.

This is Matthew 7:1. It is widely quoted in popular discourse — in social media debates, in arguments about morality, in advice columns. It is treated as a freestanding prohibition on judgment in any form.

What follows in Matthew

Matthew 7:1 is the opening verse of a five-verse unit. The full passage (Matthew 7:1–5, BSB):

1 Do not judge, or you will be judged. 2 For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” while there is still a beam in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Several observations about the full unit:

• Verse 2 names the standard. The way you judge is the way you will be judged. The principle is reciprocity, not abstention.
• Verses 3–4 introduce the speck-and-beam. The image is comic: someone walking around with a wooden beam protruding from their eye, offering to remove a speck of sawdust from someone else’s. The image foregrounds proportion.
• Verse 5 ends with an instruction to remove the speck. “First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” The conclusion is not “stop trying to remove the speck”; it is “remove the beam first, then proceed.” The text presupposes that the speck-removal is a legitimate end, just one that requires the beam-removal as a precondition.

The full unit is therefore a teaching about hypocritical judgment specifically — judgment that focuses on others while ignoring the same or worse failings in oneself. The unit does not abolish moral discernment; it specifies a precondition for exercising it.

What John 7:24 adds

In the Gospel of John, Jesus is recorded as making a different statement that uses the same Greek verb (krinō).

John 7:24 (BSB):

Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.

Or in the KJV:

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

The verse appears within a discourse in the temple courts at the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus is responding to charges related to a healing on the Sabbath. The instruction is twofold:

• Stop the kind of judgment that goes on appearances
• Start the kind that is just / righteous

The verse is rarely cited in popular discourse. When the Matthean “Judge not” is treated as a freestanding prohibition, John 7:24 is almost never paired with it. Together the two passages constitute a more nuanced picture: the Matthean passage warns against hypocritical and self-blind judgment; the Johannine passage commands a different kind — judgment that is just, that goes by substance rather than surface.

A note on the Greek

The verb in all three passages — Matthew 7:1, 7:2, and John 7:24 — is κρίνω (krinō). The verb’s range covers “judge, decide, evaluate, determine” through to “condemn, sentence.” Same word, different applications.

The Matthean verse uses the present tense imperative mē krinete — “do not be judging” or “stop judging” (in the durative aspect). The Johannine verse uses the same verb in the imperative again: krinete tēn dikaian krisin — “judge the just judgment” or “judge with the just judgment.” The grammatical mood is the same; the object is different.

The cumulative picture: the same verb, applied differently, with the Matthean passage ruling out one kind of judgment (hypocritical) and the Johannine passage commanding another (just). For the broader entry on the Matthew verse with its full surrounding context, see our entry on judge not in full context.

What this entry does not do

We do not adjudicate between Christian traditions that differ on how to apply these passages — whether the prohibition on judgment extends across the board, or applies only to hypocritical judgment specifically, or admits various exceptions. We document what the texts say, in their full immediate context. The application is interpretive and we do not arbitrate.