τῷ

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 τῷ

   tôi

   the
2. sentence🔊 τί δὲ βλέπεις τὸ κάρφος τὸ ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου τὴν δὲ δοκὸν τὴν ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ ὀφθαλμῷ οὐ κατανοεῖς

   TI de BLE-peis to KAR-phos to en tôi oph-thal-MÔI tou a-del-PHOU sou tên de do-KON tên en tôi i-DEE-ôi oph-thal-MÔI ou ka-ta-no-EIS

   why and do you see the speck the in the eye of the brother your the but log the in the own eye not do you notice

Exegesis

The first object phrase, to karphos to en tō ophthalmō tou adelphou sou {τὸ κάρφος τὸ ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου | tò kár-phos tò en tō oph-thál-mō toû a-del-phoû sou}, is carefully articulated with repeated articles, emphasizing the small foreign object located “in the eye of your brother.”

The second, contrasting object phrase, ten de dokon ten en tō idiō ophthalmō {τὴν δὲ δοκὸν τὴν ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ ὀφθαλμῷ | tḕn dè do-kòn tḕn en tō i-dí-ō oph-thál-mō}, mirrors this structure but replaces the minor karphos with the massive dokos, and adds idiō ‘your own’ for emphasis. This syntactic mirroring (small object in another’s eye versus large object in one’s own eye) intensifies the irony and exposes hypocrisy. The negation ou placed immediately before katanoeis underscores the failure of self-perception, which is central to the ethical force of the saying. In translation, the parallel clauses and contrasting nouns are preserved to maintain the rhetorical punch and vivid metaphor.

Root and etymology

sabbaton🔊 σαββάτονsigma–alpha–beta–beta–alpha–tau–omicron–nu

“Sabbath, rest”

• 🔊 σαββατισμόςsabbathismosSabbath observanceHebrews 4:9