Matthew 7:5 (KJV)

Passage

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Nearby Context

Matthew 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Matthew 7:4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

Matthew 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "hypocrite", "first", "cast", "beam", "thine", and "shalt". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "hypocrite", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "Or how wilt thou say to thy..." into verse 6's "Give not that which is holy unto...", so "thou" and "hypocrite" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thou" and "hypocrite" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.