Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
- KJV Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
- NKJV Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
- NASB Do not judge by the outward appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
- NLT Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus commands them not to judge by appearances but to judge with righteous judgment. He calls for discernment that goes beneath the surface to the truth.
Overview
Having exposed their superficial reasoning about the Sabbath, Jesus calls for judgment that is fair and rooted in God's righteousness rather than outward impressions. This corrects their snap condemnation of His healing and challenges all hasty, surface-level judgments. True discernment evaluates by God's standards, and ultimately rightly recognizes who Jesus is.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Isa 11:3–4And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,
- Jas 2:9But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
- Prov 17:15Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.
- John 8:15You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
- Prov 24:23These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.
- Jas 2:1My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism.
- Lev 19:15You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly.
- Isa 5:23who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.
- Deut 1:16–17At that time I charged your judges: “Hear the disputes between your brothers, and judge fairly between a man and his brother or a foreign resident.
- Deut 16:18–19You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.
- Jas 2:4have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
- Ps 58:1–2For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?
- Ps 82:2“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
- Ps 94:20–21Can a corrupt throne be Your ally—one devising mischief by decree?
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John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
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Original language
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