The passage
      v1. To "make a right judgment" is good and proper, Jn.7:24. To be judgmental and censorious is evil.
      v2. "The judgemental person, by not being forgiving, testifies to their own arrogance and impenitence, by which they shut themselves out from God's forgiveness", Manson. When we demand justice of others, we cannot easily seek mercy for ourselves, James 2:13, 4:12.
      v3-5. Jesus now illustrates this point. There is nothing wrong helping a brother recognize and deal with a weakness in their Christian life, 1Cor.11:31, Gal.6:1. There is a problem if, as a self-righteous person, we claim obedience to the law while constantly falling short of it (the "plank"), and then at the same time, we busy ourselves exposing the failings of others (the "speck of sawdust").
      v6. Jesus now quotes an old proverb. This proverb is often lifted from its context and given numerous interpretations. eg. Don't preach the gospel to people who mock it; exclude unbaptized persons from the Eucharist (Didache). Of those who link it with the context, some argue it is a warning to those who fail to deal with their own "specks", while others argue it is a warning for those who are into speck-removal. It is most likely that Jesus uses the proverb to make a comment about his word on speck-removal. Sadly, this precious word is well beyond the grasp of most self-righteous people. Their response will be righteous indignation rather than repentance. When pearls are set before pigs they only trample them.
      v7-8. Jesus finally lets us into the secret of salvation. The "righteousness that exceeds that of the Scribes and the Pharisees", without which a person will "certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven", is not earned by doing, but given as a gift by asking.
      v9-11. Jesus now illustrates his point. If a father, a member of the sinful human race, knows how to give good gifts to his son, "how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him." If we humans can be gracious, imagine how gracious God can be. Luke tells us the "good gift(s)" is the intimate presence of the Spirit of God, Lk.11:13. Matthew lets the context dictate. In the end, the precious gift is salvation, that is, entry into the kingdom of heaven, which of course, includes the intimate touch of the Spirit.
      v12. Rabbi Hillel, AD20 said, "What is hateful to you, do not do to anyone else. This is the whole law, all the rest is commentary." Jesus gives a positive spin to the "golden rule" and uses it to sum up the substance of the moral law. "Treat other people exactly as you would like to be treated by them", Phillips. What a wonderful practical summary of the law and how pointedly it reminds us that "none is righteous, no not one." Jesus has again brought out the function of the law, namely, to expose sin and drive us to God for mercy.

A judgemental spirit
      A believer, who has not grasped the full extent of God's mercy in Christ, tends to see their Christian life progressed through obedience to Biblical law. Faithfulness to Christ becomes an essential element in their Christian walk. The problem is that daily they find recurrent sin undermining any notion of faithfulness. This constant failure to measure up promotes guilt, which in turn undermines a sense of worthiness in the sight of God.
      There are numerous ways we can blunt guilt. One of the most effective ways of dissipating the energy of buried guilt, and the one most commonly used, is that of judgementalism. The power of guilt is dissipated when we give maximum exposure to the sin of others. Jesus describes this as picking the specks out of another's eye.
      There is nothing wrong with helping a brother see some weakness in their Christian character. Yet, the "preacher" must first face their own state of loss, recognize their own sinfulness, their own "log", and look wholly to its removal through the grace of God in Christ. Only then is the saying true, "who best to preach than a sinner?"
      Given that ethics plays an important part in church life, it is very easy to find ourselves returning to law-obedience to progress our Christian walk. If we find ourselves getting into speck removal, note the warning bell and return again to grace.
      Hopefully, we are all patently aware of our own unrighteousness, of our total inability to act with integrity. If we are to stand before God it will only be in the righteousness of Christ, which righteousness is ours as a gift for the asking, ours when we "ask", "seek" and "knock". As for the doing of righteousness, we but do what we can. Even if our "can" is little, it is always enough for God.
      So remember, the counting of specks is evidence of a log jam!

v2
      gar "for" - Establishing a logical connection in the argument.
      en + dat. "in" - with. Probably instrumental of manner, "as you judge", Moffatt.
      krimati (a atoV) "judge" - judgment. Used of a negative judicial judgment. Here of the passing of an adverse judgement on others.
      metrhqhsetai (metrew) fut. pas. "it will be measured" - Again, the sense may be of getting back in this life what we give, but divine judgment is not far below the surface and may well be indicated by the passive (the theological passive where God is the implied agent).

v3
      to karfoV (oV ouV) "the speck of sawdust" - a small piece of wood, chaff, or even straw; speck, splinter*. Here of identifying a small failing in another person
      dokon (oV) "plank" - a beam of wood. Probably for Jesus, the major flaw missed by the speck-remover is their state of loss in the sight of God - a condemned sinner busying themselves identifying sin in others while ignoring their own total state of loss before God.
      ou katanoeiV (katanoew) "pay no attention to" - do not consider, understand

v4
      h "-" - or. Introducing another example of the foolishness of harshly criticizing others.
      pwV "how" - how. The question poses an improbable proposition. A person who has failed to recognize their own state of loss is not the best person to help another with a particular personal failure.
      afeV (afihmi) aor. imp. "let me" - allow.
      ekbalw (ekballw) aor. imp. "take [the speck] out" - cast out

v5
      uJpokrita (hV ou) voc. "you hypocrite" - playing a part. Possibly "oversuspicious", but more likely "playacting". "You fraud", Phillips.
      diableyeiV (diablepw) fut. "you will see clearly" - see sharply. "Who best to preach than a sinner?" Only the preacher who has recognized their sin and come to rest wholly on the grace of God, can remove the speck from the eye of a brother.

v6
      mh dwte (didwmi) subj. "do not give" - Hortatory subjunctive, a strong command not to. "On no account give", Turner.
      to aJgion adj. "what is sacred" - holy things. If paralleled to "pearl", it simply means something precious and by nature, not appreciated by a dog. See Black where he discusses the possibility that the Greek is alluding to the Aramaic word "gold ring." What is the precious thing? It is often argued that the "beautiful thing" is the gospel and that it should not be repeatedly proclaimed to those who refuse to hear it. Yet, it is probably better to interpret the proverb within its context. Most likely the precious thing is a wise word, just like the one given by Jesus to those who would judge others. Jesus may hope that his listeners will see that their own sin must be addressed before preaching to others, but these religious legalists have long lost the ability to see past their own self-righteousness. Thus, for most, the precious truth that they are log-bound, but can be log-lifted, will be for them a truth that prompts righteous indignation rather than repentance.
      katapathsousin (katapatew) fut. "they may trample" - they will trample, squash.
      strafenteV (strefw) aor. pas. part. "turn" - having turned. An adverbial participle of manner answering the question, how?
      hJhxwsin (hJrhgnumi) subj. "tear [you] to pieces" - they will tear, break, attack.. Subjunctive forming a purpose (final) clause, "in order to tear you to pieces." Possibly a chiastic construction (inverted word order, see Turner) such that the pigs do the trampling and the dogs do the tearing to pieces.

v7
      aiteite (aitew) imp. "Ask" - All three, "ask, seek, knock" are imperatives, with "given" a future passive, "find" a future active, and "opened" a future passive. NIV etc., adds "door". Far too often this verse is treated as if it is a general word on prayer, although seeking ("asking plus acting", Hendricksen - ho-hum) and knocking, defy such an idea and the context in no way supports it. This episode, v7-12, sits between Jesus' word on the judgemental behavior of the self-righteous, behavior which identifies their condition of loss, v1-6, and the parables of the two ways, two trees, two claims and two builders, which serve to remind the self-righteous that their imperfect righteousness condemns them to death, v13-27. There is little point identifying a problem and not supplying an answer. If law-obedience only produces pharisaism and ultimately, God's condemnation, then how does a person gain approval in the sight of God and so pass from death to life? Thankfully, some commentators have seen that Jesus is not speaking about prayer in general, but how it is possible to gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven. "The good things which will be given by God in answer to prayers are themselves certainly related to entrance into the kingdom", Patte. This is all about "knocking at the gates of mercy", Talmud.

v9
      h "-" - or. Used here and in v10 as a disjunctive conjunctive where a related alternative is being suggested. It certainly works in v10 as an alternate to v9, both of which are interrogative sentences. The fit with v8 is not so obvious, although the subject-matter remains the same.
      anqrwpoV (oV) "-" - [what] man [is there among you]. "Who among you", "there would not be one human being who would give his son a stone when he had just asked for a bread roll." We have here an example of the "how much more" formula. If humans can be kind, imagine how kind God can be. Of course, the kindness here is the gift of eternity, not the provision of our every whim, or even need.
      mh "[will he give him a stone?]" - not [a stone will he give him?]. Construction expects a negative answer.

v10
      icqun (uV uoV) "a fish" - Probably an eel-like catfish is intended

v11
      ei "if" - Introducing a 1st class conditional sentence where the condition is assumed to be true.
      onteV (eimi) part. "though you are" - being [evil]. The participle forms a concessive clause, "even through." "For all your evil", Phillips.
      ponhroi adj. "evil" - Jesus is establishing the Pauline truth, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." "Bad", TEV, REB, CEV,... is a bit light; "corrupted" would be better.
      didonai (didwmi) inf. "to give" - The infinitive is used to identify what is known, namely, "how to give...."