Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Luke 6:42 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 42. 42Either how canst thou say to thy brother, Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Luke 6:42 requires self-examination before correction and therefore blocks hypocritical policing.
The measure you use, and the log you skip
This verse is one part of that explanation in Luke 6:37–6:42. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Luke 6:37–6:42
Read Luke 6:42 with 6:37–6:42. In isolation, this contribution—requires self-examination before correction and therefore blocks hypocritical policing—can be detached from its speaker, audience, scene or teaching sequence, and outcome. The complete unit establishes: Jesus forbids condemning judgment, calls for forgiveness and generosity, warns that students become like teachers, and uses blind-guide and speck-log images to demand self-examination before correction.
Follow the Context
- Identify the actors, setting, and initiating speech or action in Luke 6:37–6:42.
- Jesus forbids condemning judgment, calls for forgiveness and generosity, warns that students become like teachers, and uses blind-guide and speck-log images to demand self-examination before correction.
- Hold this material interpretive limit in view: The unit critiques hypocritical condemnation, not every moral discernment or accountable judgment. Disability images belong to ancient rhetoric and should not be turned into ableist labels.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not detach its specific contribution—requires self-examination before correction and therefore blocks hypocritical policing—from the complete unit or override the unit's explicit boundary: The teaching does not abolish discernment, reporting harm, communal discipline, boundaries, or professional accountability.
What Remains True
Luke 6:42 requires self-examination before correction and therefore blocks hypocritical policing. Read inside Luke 6:37–6:42, this contribution supports the unit's proportionate truth: Jesus forbids condemning judgment, calls for forgiveness and generosity, warns that students become like teachers, and uses blind-guide and speck-log images to demand self-examination before correction. Its use remains accountable to affected people and the unit's explicit boundary.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Luke 6:37–6:42 — Merciful Judgment Begins with Self-ExaminationSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and coverage.
Exact location: Luke 6:37–6:42, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and sentence relations; the edition is not treated as a complete apparatus.
Exact location: Faithlife SBLGNT official repository, data/sblgnt/text/Luke.txt, 6:37–6:42
Open the Luke Greek text file ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Luke
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level translation, syntax, KJV-language clarification, historical notes, Synoptic parallels, and textual alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Luke PDF, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to Luke 6:37–6:42
Open source ↗