Luke 6:41

Luke 6:41 Meaning and Explanation

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

King James Version (KJV)

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Jesus asks why we notice the speck in a brother's eye while missing the beam in our own.

What Does Luke 6:41 Mean?

Jesus paints his most comic and cutting picture: a man with a beam — a roof timber — jutting from his own eye, squinting at the speck of sawdust in his brother's. The exaggeration is deliberate; he means us to smile, and then to wince.

Faults are like that: microscopic in ourselves, magnified in others. The very flaw we excuse at home we prosecute abroad — often loudest where we are guiltiest. The question 'why beholdest thou?' is worth sitting with: what we fixate on in others frequently maps what we refuse to face in ourselves. Self-examination is the beginning of clear sight.

Luke 6:41 in the Original Language

karphos (κάρφος), 'mote' -- a speck, a splinter of dry wood or chaff, the smallest particle.

Frequently Asked Questions About Luke 6:41

What does Luke 6:41 mean?

Jesus asks why we notice the speck in a brother's eye while missing the beam in our own.

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