Matthew 18:8

DOOM OF THE WICKED

Mat 18:8-9; Mar 9:45-48. “And if thy foot may offend thee, cut it off; it is good for thee to go into life lame, rather than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire which can not be quenched, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” This awful deliverance of our Savior, relative to the doom of the wicked, follows as a normal sequence from the innumerable and egregious sins committed in giving offense to spiritual and natural infants. Consequently He goes out into a clear, straight, and unequivocal affirmation, relative to the endless punishment of the wicked, which is simply irrefutable by all the sophistry of Universalism, all the chicanery of infidelity, and all the diabolical effrontery of the Pandemonium. Here, Jesus says that the wicked “go into the fire which can not be quenched, where the worm [i.e., the conscious living] dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” The word for “die” is teleutao, from telos, the “end;” consequently, it means never have an end, the strongest and most inevasible word in the Greek language. These words and phrases, uttered by the Savior, can never be modified, evaded, weakened, or explained away. The sophistry that would have the audacity to tinker with these plain and unmistakable words of Jesus, could upset every truth in the Bible, completely take God’s Book of Truth out of our hands, leaving us groping in the utter bewilderment of rayless night. O that the preachers would preach like Jesus! If they do not, they have no right to preach at all. You have no right to deliver a message for another, unless you deliver it as he gave it to you. The reason why so many preachers have lost their power, is because Jesus does not send them. The reason why He does not send them, is because they have failed to deliver His message as He gave it to them. If you were to send a man with a most important message, and he should materially change it, either by additions or subtractions, or both, you would never again trust your business in his hands. Preachers stand in the pulpit, empty as the shell of a dead oyster, because of the delinquency in the faithful deliverance of the Lord’s message. The wicked are going to hell by millions. The most successful method of stopping them is faithfully, persistently, importunately fearlessly, and tearfully telling them precisely what they are doing, without mollification or modification, but persistently warning them night and day. One of the saddest concomitants of the awful apostasy in the Churches is the elimination of endless punishment out of the pulpit. Just as heaven should be the constant theme preached to the Christian pilgrim for glory bound, so hell should be the incessant theme roaring from every pulpit in the ears of all the hellward bound. If this is not faithfully adhered to, conviction will not only go out of a Church, but evanesce from a community, leaving all the gospel timber-gum logs, which will neither rive nor split.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

18:8-9 Concern shifts to the individual: Get rid of whatever causes you to sin (see 5:29-30; Col 3:5-17).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mat 18:8. Εἰ δὲ, κ.τ.λ., but if, etc.) He who is not careful to avoid offence to himself, will cause offence to others, and vice versa.—χεὶρ, ποὺς, hand—foot) In the impulse of sinning, acting ill, going where we ought not, the hands or other members are urged on by the animal spirits rushing together into them: and there is great propriety in the expressions employed by our Lord: for the imperative ἔκκοψον (cut off), holds good with regard to the hand, in as far as it is thus affected, and so on with the rest.—ζωὴν, life) opposed to eternal fire.—κωλὸν, κ.τ.λ., lame, etc.) The godly, forsooth, in this world are lame, deaf, dumb, etc., both to themselves and others;[812] see Psa 38:14. This must be taken of the time of mortification, not that of glorification; for those members which have been most mortified will shine the most in glory; see Gal 6:17.—ΑἸΏΝΙΟΝ, eternal) The word, eternal, signifies sometimes in the Old Testament a finite eternity more clearly than it does in the New.

[812] Comp. Rev 3:17; 1Co 4:8-13.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat_18:8 f. Comp. Mar_9:43 ff. A passing direction, suggested by Mat_18:7, for avoiding certain specified offences, and substantially the same as in Mat_5:29. A repetition depending here, no doubt, on Mark (Weiss), yet not to be regarded as out of place, because the proverbial saying refers to ones own temptations as coming through the senses, while here the point in question is the temptation of others (de Wette, Kuinoel, Strauss, Holtzmann, Hilgenfeld), but on the contrary as quite appropriate, inasmuch as the σκάνδαλα occasioned from without operate through the senses, and thereby seduce into evil.

καλόν σοι ἐστὶν … ἤ] a mixture, by attraction, of two constructions: It is good to enter into the life (of the Messiahs kingdom at the second coming) maimed (and better) than, etc. See Fritzsches note on this passage, and Dissert. II. ad 2 Cor. p. 85; Winer, p. 226 [E. T. 302]; Buttmann, p. 309 [E. T. 360]. For examples from classical writers, see Kypke, Obss. I. p. 89; Bos, Ellips., ed. Schaefer, p. 769 ff. See besides, the note on Mat_5:29-30. But in the present passage the material representation of mortification as the condition of eternal life is somewhat more circumstantial and graphic.

χωλόν] refers to the feet, one of which, indeed, is supposed to be awanting (comp. Hom. Il. ii. 217: χωλὸς δʼ ἕτερον πόδα); while, according to the context, κυλλόν here (more general in Mat_25:30) refers to mutilation of the arm, from which the hand is supposed to be cut off. Hence: limping (χωλόν) or maimed (κυλλόν). But the circumstance of χωλόν being put first is due to the fact that the cutting off of the foot (αὐτόν, see critical notes) had been specified, although at the same time an identical proceeding in regard to the hand is, of course, to be understood.

μονόφθαλμ.] Herod. III. 116, IV. 27; Strabo, II. p. 70. According to the grammarians, we should have had ἑτερόφθαλμ. in contradistinction to μονόφθαλμ., which denotes the condition of one born with one eye. See Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 136 f.; Becker, Anecd. I. p. 280.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mat 18:8-9 . These verses are one of Mt.’s dualities, being found with some variations in the Sermon on the Mount (Mat 18:29-30 ). Repetition perhaps due to use of two sources, but in sympathy with the connection of thought in both places. Since the offender is the greater loser in the end, it is worth his while to take precautions against being an offender.

Mat 18:8 . χείρ , πούς : mentioned together as instruments of violence. καλόν … ἢ : the positive for the comparative, or ἢ used in sense of magis quam . Raphel and Kypke cite instances of this use from classics. It may be an imitation of Hebrew usage, in which the comparative is expressed by the positive, followed by the preposition min . “A rare classical usage tends to become frequent in Hellenistic Greek if it be found to correspond to a common Hebrew idiom” (Carr, in Camb. N. T.). κυλλὸν : with reference to hand, mutilated; wanting one or both hands. χωλόν : in a similar condition regarding the feet ( cf. Mat 11:5 ; Mat 15:30 ).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See Matt. 5:29.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 8. - 9. If thy hand, c.] See the notes on Mt 5:29-30.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(8, 9) If thy hand or thy foot offend thee.—(See Notes on Mat_5:29-30.) The disciples had heard the words before in the Sermon on the Mount, but their verbal reproduction, sharpened as by a special personal application addressed not to the multitude but to the Twelve, gave them a new and solemn emphasis.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8, 9. Cp. note ch. Mat_5:29-30.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot,.... The same words are repeated here on occasion of offences, as are spoken by Christ, Mat 5:29 on account of unchaste looks, desires and lusts: giving offence to Christ's disciples, or endeavouring, by any means whatever, to cause them to stumble and fall, is equally gratifying the flesh, and no more to be indulged, than the other, on pain of eternal damnation. See Gill on Mat 5:29, Mat 5:30

Matthew 18:10

mat 18:10

mat 18:10

mat 18:10Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones,.... That is, one of those little ones that believed in Christ; for he is not speaking of infants in age, but of those who might be compared to such, for their humility and modesty; who were little in their own eyes, and mean and despicable in the eyes of the world, as well as appeared but little in the eyes of their fellow disciples and brethren; for our Lord returns and addresses himself to his disciples, who had been contending among themselves who should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven; and so were striving to lessen one another, each looking upon himself as the greater, and every other as little. Wherefore Christ cautions them against such a spirit, and bids them beware of despising their fellow disciples, as little, and below them; especially since so much notice and care were taken of them, both in heaven, and in earth:

for I say unto you, that in heaven: the phrase, "in heaven", is omitted in the Syriac and Persic versions, perhaps because it might be looked upon as unnecessary, since it afterwards appears; but is very proper, or pertinent, whether it be considered as descriptive of the angels, who have their habitation there, in distinction from the evil angels, who are cast down from thence; or as pointing out the place where the angels behold the face of God, and who are styled "their angels"; the angels of the little ones, that believe in Christ, who are ministering spirits unto them, the guardians of them, who encamp about them, and do many good offices for them. Some have thought from hence, that every good man has his peculiar angel that waits upon him, and cares for him; but this does not necessarily follow from, these words, only that they all have an interest in angels, and in their good services. This seems indeed to have been a notion that prevailed among the Jews, not only that there were angels which presided over particular nations, but who also had the care of particular persons; so they speak of an angel that was particularly appointed for Abraham (f). Nor will they allow, that one angel does two messages, nor two angels one (g) message: but that everyone has his particular place, person, and work; of whom it is further said, that they

do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven: which is not so much to be understood of their intellectual knowledge, and apprehension of the divine being, of their beholding the glory of his nature, and essence, and of their contemplating and applauding his perfections; as of their ministering before him, waiting, as servants, upon him, watching to receive his orders, and ready to obey his commands. And our Lord's argument is, that if such excellent creatures as the angels in heaven, who are continually favoured with being in the presence of Christ's heavenly father, honoured with so high a station, as always to stand before him, as ministers of his; if these are the guardians of these little ones, if they are committed to their care, and they have the oversight of them, then they ought not to be despised: and besides, since the angels that have the care of them are so near the throne, it should deter everyone from having their charge in contempt, or doing any injury to them; since they arc capable of lodging accusations and complaints against them; and, when leave is given, have power of executing the sorest judgments upon men. This description of angels agrees with what the Jews say of them, especially of the chief of them. Michael, they say (h), is the first and principal of the chief princes, "that behold the face of the king"; that is, the King of kings, the Lord of hosts. Suriel, which, with them, is another name of an angel, is called (i), , "the prince of faces", who is always in the presence of God; and, as the gloss says, is "an angel that is counted worthy to come before the king."

(f) T. Bab. Sanhedrim, fol. 96. 1. (g) Bereshit Rabba, sect. 50. fol. 44. 4. (h) Jacchiades in Dan. x. 13. (i) T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 51. 1.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.

Ver. 8. If thy hand or foot offend thee, &c.] Mat 5:29-30, our Saviour forbids all his to defile themselves with the filth of sin; here, to offend others thereby. {See Trapp on "Mat 5:29"} {See Trapp on "Mat 5:30"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If thy hand ... - See the notes at Mat 5:29-30. The sense in all these instances is the same. Worldly attachments, friendships, and employments of any kind, that cannot be pursued without leading us into sin, be they ever so dear to us, must be abandoned, or the soul will be lost.

It is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed ... - It is not meant, by this, that when the body shall be raised it will be maimed and disfigured in this manner. It will be perfect. See 1Co 15:42-44. But these things are said for the purpose of carrying out or making complete the figure or the representation of cutting off the hands, etc. The meaning is, it is better to go to heaven without enjoying the things that caused us to sin, than to enjoy them here and then be lost.

Halt - Lame.

Maimed - With a loss of limbs.

Into hell fire - It is implied, in all this, that if their sins, however dear to them, were not abandoned, the soul must go into everlasting fire. This is conclusive proof that the sufferings of the wicked will be eternal. See the notes at Mar 9:44, Mar 9:46, Mar 9:48.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And if thy hand, or thy foot, &c. These comparisons are to make us sensible, that we must quit and renounce what is most dear to us, sooner than remain in the occasions of offending God. (Witham) --- These words more properly mean our relatives and friends, who are united to us as closely as the different members of the body. This he had touched upon before, yet he again repeats it, for nothing is so pernicious, nothing so dangerous, as the company and conversation of the dissolute. Connections of friendship and affinity, are sometimes more powerful in inclining us to good or evil, than open compulsion. On this account Christ, with great earnestness, commands us to cut with those most near and dear to us, when they are to us the immediate occasions of scandal. (St. John Chrysostom, hom. lx.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Wherefore. The Lord teaches how to avoid this sin of giving offence, repeating the solemn words already delivered in the sermon on the mount, though with some variation and a different context. (Mat_5:29, Mat_5:30) The reference on the former occasion was especially to breaches of the seventh commandment; here the Lord speaks of offences in general, of that external corruption among mankind which is the fruitful source of temptation and sin. The only remedy for this is the sternest self-denial, the strictest watchfulness. Or thy foot. Christ did not name this member in his previous discourse. Literally, the hand or foot leads into sin, when it is directed to forbidden objects, moves towards the acquisition of things contrary to the Law of God. Metaphorically, the expression signifies all that is as dear and as necessary as these important members. Such occasions of sin we must at once and absolutely cast aside. It includes also persons as well as things. Friends the dearest must be parted from if their presence, or conversation, or habits cause evil thoughts or encourage evil acts. In the presence of such offences, ties the nearest must be snapped asunder. Loneliness, isolation, is better than companionship in wickedness. It has been well said by Olshausen that the hand and the foot may denote mental powers and dispositions; and the warning is given that their over-cultivation may prove an obstacle to the spiritual life, and must be accordingly checked. We may also descry in the paragraph an admonition against making too much of skill, dexterity, and adroitness in business and occupation. There is a subtle snare in them; they may draw the heart away from God, and must be restrained and modified, so as not to interfere with the cultivation of religion and the care of the soul. Enter into life. This is an addition not found in the sermon on the mount; it refers to the eternal life which, beginning on earth, is consummated in heaven. Everlasting fire (to pur to aiwnion). This is the first time that this phrase occurs. Whatever these words may mean, there can be no doubt that they signify, and are intended to signify, some awful kind and extent of punishment, the fear of which may deter from such sins as incur it. It is not morally expedient to minimize the force of such terms by disputing about the exact connotation of "aeonian." When we remember that the words are spoken by the loving and pitiful Saviour, we must allow that they point to some dreadful reality, the import of which he knew, and which he thus mercifully veiled from us as not able to bear the full revelation. (see on Mat_25:46)

Vers. 8, 9. The offending member.

A moment"s reflection will convince us that these stern sentences of Christ"s are unanswerable. If the alternative lay between losing a limb and losing his life, who would hesitate with his decision? "All that a man hath will he give for his life.

I IT IS POSSIBLE FOR WHAT IS VERY NEAR TO US TO BE FATALLY HURTFUL TO US. It would be a mistake to suppose that our Lord meant that under any circumstances self-mutilation would be a duty. The causes of stumbling are not bodily, although the body may be the instrument of temptation; they are in the thoughts and desires of the heart. (Jam_1:14, Jam_1:15) But there may be things precious as parts of our very selves, or friends dear as the apple of the eye, or useful as the right hand, and yet spiritually hurtful to us. Our own daily occupation, to which we have grown until it has become as a part of ourselves, may be a source of temptation and danger. Our habits, which are our second nature, may be a very bad second nature.

II IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO LET LOWER INTERESTS BLIND US TO OUR HIGHEST GOOD. Eyes, hands, and feet are good and useful things in themselves. A maimed creature who has lost any of these valuable organs and limbs is certainly a pitiable object. Naturally and rightly we desire to keep our body sound and whole. Many possessions, though less intimately connected with our persons, are still justly valued when considered by themselves. But this valuation only touches a part of life, and that the lower part. If the enemy can seize the outworks and turn them against the citadel, it is desirable to demolish them, excellent as they may be in form and structure, because the principal object is to keep the citadel. The great necessity in spiritual things is to guard the very life of God within. If anything threatens this it threatens our highest interest. Selfish people are their own worst enemies, because, while pandering to the outer self, they starve and poison the true self.

III IT IS WISE TO MAKE ANY SACRIFICE TO SAVE THE TRUE LIFE. We admit this in bodily disease. The shattered limb must be amputated to preserve the patient"s life. The same principle applies in spiritual regions. The pain of losing what is very near and dear to us may be great. But we dare not be cowardly. A greater evil is the alternative. We may spare our friendship, our wealth, our pleasure, and yet destroy our souls. Then at best these things can but decorate the tomb of the dead spiritual nature. We have to rise to the stern severity of life. Sin is so terrible that it cannot be laid aside as one would put off a superfluous garment. It has eaten its way like a cancer into our very being. We shrink from the knife, but we must submit to it if we would live. Desperate efforts are needed or rather a patient submission to the great Deliverer of souls who sometimes saves by terrible means. Yet he does save! W.F.A.

The severity of spiritual discipline.

Cutting off a right hand and plucking out a right eye are extreme measures, types of the severest dealing with one"s self. They bring into thought those cases of disease in which signs of mortification are shown, and the limb must be promptly surrendered or the life will be lost. Our Lord"s counsel rests upon the recognized fact that bodily organs are the agents of sin. The palate is the agency of drunkenness and gluttony, the eye of sensuality, and the hand of dishonesty. We do not really cure a moral evil by merely removing the agency through which, it gains expression, but resolute dealing with the organ that is the agent shows that we are dealing with the inner evil, weakening it by taking away its food and exercise. See some of the things which account for spiritual discipline taking such severe forms.

I BIAS TO SPECIAL EVILS IN NATURAL DISPOSITIONS. This bias belongs to the mystery of hereditary influences. Through a deteriorated bodily organization, a man is born with a bias in favour of drink, cheating, pride, sensuality. The members of one royal family are all born gluttons. Possibly, some bias to evil is found in every disposition, and the life problem is What will the man do with just that tendency influencing all relations? Acquired evils may be effectually dealt with. Evils that belong to our bodily constitution make the moral struggle of a whole life.

II WEAKNESS OF WILL IN NATURAL DISPOSITIONS. This is the real cause of the necessary severity of spiritual discipline. The man is not strong enough to get and to hold the mastery over his evil self, and so he is worried and worn by a struggle which has to be continually kept up, because he is not strong enough to make any victory decisive. The hardest moral lives are lived by the weak willed.

III INDULGENCE OF THE EVIL BIAS UNTIL IT GROWS MASTERFUL. This may be illustrated by the difference in the tone of the moral struggle in the case of a man converted in youth, and of a man converted in advanced life. In the one case the bias is a mere tendency, and can be easily checked; in the other it has become a fixed habit, and must be dug out. When a man in middle life has vigorously taken in hand his conduct and relations, and wisely reshaped them, he often has the bitter lesson to learn that the evil in him remains untouched. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If thy hand, foot, eye, cause thee to offend - If the most dear enjoyment, the most beloved and useful person, turn thee out of, or hinder thee in the way Is not this a hard saying? Yes; if thou take counsel with flesh and blood. Matt. v, 29; Mark ix, 43.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

everlasting

The Greek has "the" before "everlasting."

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A further warning:

v. 8. Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them from thee; it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than, having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire.

v. 9. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee; it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell-fire.

The subject upon which He here touches affects Jesus so deeply that He repeats His warning of the Sermon on the Mount, Mat 5:29-30. Offenses will come, not only from without, but also from within, from one’s own members. The hand, the foot, the eye present occasion for sinning. The law of sin is ever present in the organs of the body. To deny these members, to fight against every abuse of their God-given functions, to keep them in absolute control, that is the great concern of the disciple of Christ. That is not to be understood, as Luther says, that a person mutilate his body, but that he should keep his members in subjection with the help of the Holy Ghost, in true faith. The members must be cut off, that is, be subdued by the Spirit, in order that the hand, the eye, the feet do not perform what the sinful heart intends. For the end of him that yields to sin, that places his members into the willing service of sin, is everlasting fire, the fire of hell, where their worm will not die, neither will their fire be quenched, Mar 9:43-48. Only he who, through the power of the Holy Ghost within him, keeps his body in subjection, does not permit sin to gain the ascendancy, only he will retain faith and a good conscience, only he will save body and soul unto everlasting life.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This command of Christ is not to be understood literally, as if it were our duty to maim our bodily members; but the exhortation is to cut off all occasions that may betray us into sin; and to mortify our darling and beloved lust, though as dear to us as our right eye.

Learn, 1. That sin may be avoided. It is our duty to avoid whatever leads unto it, or may be the instrument or occasion of it.

2. That the best way to be kept from the outward acts of sin, is to mortify our inward affection and love to sin. If our love and affection to sin be mortified, our bodily members may be preserved, for they will no longer be weapons of sin, but instruments of holiness.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8, 9. If thy hand or thy foot offend thee. Cause you to sin or stumble; ensnare you into evil. The meaning is, if an object dear as the right eye, and useful as the right hand, lead you into sin, that object however dear, you are to part with. See Matt. 5:29. Into life halt or maimed. The meaning is, not that a man hath no better way to avoid sin and hell, but if he had no better, he should choose this.

Into hell fire. “Into the Gehenna of fire.” This phrase, in verse 9, is synonymous with “everlasting fire,” in verse 8. See note on Matt. 5:22, for Gehenna.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

8. καλὸν … ἤ. Cp. Luk 15:7, χαρὰ ἔσται ἐπὶ ἑνὶ ἁμαρτωλῷ μετανοοῦντι ἢ ἐπὶ ἐνενηκονταεννέα δικαίοις. Instances are quoted from the classics, as Thuc. VI. 21, αἰσχρὸν βιασθέντας ἀπελθεῖν ἤ ὕστερον ἐπιμεταπέμπεσθαι, but it is better to refer the construction to the Hebrew usage, by which the comparative idea is expressed by the positive adjective followed by the preposition min (from). The construction is common in the LXX. and it may be noted that a rare classical usage tends to become frequent in Hellenistic Greek if it be found to correspond to a common Hebrew idiom. For another instance of this see note on τοῦ πυρὸς below.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8.] The connexion is—‘Wilt thou avoid being the man on whom this woe is pronounced?—then cut off all occasion of offence in thyself first.’ The cautions following are used in a wider sense than in ch. 5:29, 30. In Mark, the ‘foot’ is expanded into a separate iteration of the command.

καλὸν …, ἢ …, a mixture of the two constructions, καλὸν.… καὶ μὴ …, and κάλλιον … ἢ … See reff. τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον, which here first occurs, is more fully in Mark τὸ πῦρ τὸ ἄσβεστον, ὅπου ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ τελευτᾷ καὶ τὸ πῦρ οὐ σβέννυται.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. And if thy hand or thy foot is causing thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast (it) from thee. It is good for thee to enter into life maimed or halt, than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire.] Mk. has two separate sayings for the hand and the foot: “And if thy hand should cause thee to stumble, cut it off. It is good for thee maimed to enter into life, than having the two hands to go away into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if thy foot should be causing thee to stumble, cut it off. It is good for thee to enter into life halt, than having the two feet to be cast into Gehenna.” Mt. has the saying about the hand in 5:30. He combines here, selecting βληθῆναι (Mk 45) rather than ἀπελθεῖν (43). In 5:29-30 he has both verbs. He assimilates to 5:29 by substituting εἰ σκανδαλίζει for ἐὰν σκανδαλίσῃ (ίζῃ), and ἔκκοψον for ἀπόκοψον, and by adding καὶ βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ; cf. Introduction, p. xxx. For “life,” see on 7:14.—εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον] Mk. has: εἰς τὴν γέενναν, εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ ἄσβεστον. τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον, is an assimilation to 25:41. αἰώνιος occurs again in 25:46 of κόλασις, and in 19:16, 29, 25:46 of ζωή. On the idea of everlasting punishment, see Volz, Jüd. Eschat. p. 287. Cf. Ps.-Sol. 2:35 ἀπώλεια αἰώνιος; Enoch. 91:9 “eternal judgement”; 27:3 “judgement—continually, for ever”;22:11 “punishment and torture for ever”; 67:13 “fire which burns for ever”; Josephus, Wars, ii. 164, “everlasting punishment” (ἀϊδίῳ τιμωρίᾳ κολάζεσθαι); Ant. xviii. 14, “an everlasting prison” (εἱργμὸν ἀΐδιον); Secrets of Enoch 10:6 hell is “an everlasting inheritance”; Jubilees 24:32 “eternal malediction”; Berakhoth 28b (Jochanan ben Zaccai) “All the more should I weep now that they are about to lead me before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, who lives and abides for ever, and for ever and ever; whose wrath, if He be wrathful, is an eternal wrath; and if He bind me, His binding is an eternal binding; and if He kill me, His killing is an eternal killing; whom I cannot placate with words, nor bribe with wealth”; Baruch 85:12 “there will be no opportunity of returning, nor a limit to the times.” In view of this general drift of contemporaneous thought upon this subject, there is no justification for the attempt to weaken the meaning of αἰώνιος in this Gospel. For the questions raised as to the duration of punishment in the Rabbinical schools, see Volz.

(M)

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.