Matthew 5:29

Mat 5:29-30. If thy right eye offend thee — If any person or thing, as pleasant and as dear to thee as thy right eye, should be a stumbling-block in thy way, and an occasion of thy falling, or should be a means of insnaring thee, and leading thee into sin, pluck it out — With inexorable resolution: that is, give up and part with the beloved object. For it is profitable for thee — It will be to thine advantage, that one of thy members should perish — To suffer an apparent temporary loss of pleasure or profit, rather than that thy whole soul and body should perish eternally, which yet would be the fatal consequence of thy indulging a favourite lust. And if thy right hand offend, or insnare thee — Though it be so useful and necessary a part, do not spare it, but immediately cut it off and cast it from thee — “The greatest part of Christ’s auditors were poor people, who lived by their daily labour; and to these the loss of a right hand would be a much greater calamity than that of a right eye: so that there is a gradation and force in this passage beyond what has generally been observed.” — Doddridge. There is an allusion, in both instances, to the practice of surgeons, who, when any member of the body happens to be mortified, cut it off, to prevent the sound part from being tainted. And the meaning of the passage, stripped of the metaphor, is this: By the force of a strong resolution, founded on the grace of God, deny thyself the use of thy senses, though ever so delightful, in all cases where the use of them insnares thy soul. Turn away thine eye, and keep back thy hand from the alluring object. This, says Chrysostom, is a most mild and easy precept. It would have been much more hard, had he given commandment to converse with and look curiously on women, and then abstain from further commission of uncleanness with them. Upon the whole, we learn from these two verses, that the salvation of our immortal souls is to be preferred beyond all things, be they never so dear and precious to us; and that, if men’s ordinary discretion teaches them, for the preservation of their bodies, to cut off a particular member, which would necessarily endanger the whole body, it much more teaches them to part with any thing which would prevent the salvation of their souls.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5:29-30 good eye . . . gouge it out . . . stronger hand . . . cut it off: These graphic images call for radical separation from sin. But even self-mutilation, radical as it would be, cannot stop a lustful mind. Jesus is calling for the surpassing righteousness that only he can bring.

5:29 hell (Greek Gehenna): Gehenna originally referred to a valley outside Jerusalem where some of the kings of Judah worshiped idols and performed human sacrifice by fire (2 Chr 28:3; 33:6; Jer 7:31; 32:35). The site was eventually destroyed by Josiah (2 Kgs 23:10). In the New Testament, Gehenna describes the place of punishment by God. Unless disciples have surpassing righteousness, they will not enter the Kingdom (Matt 5:20) but will be punished eternally (5:22; 23:33).

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

Mat 5:29. Ὁ δεξιὸς, the right) The right, strictly speaking in the case of the hands, is most useful and most precious, thence also, it is mentioned in the case of the eyes, feet, etc.—See Zec 11:17; Exo 29:20.—σκανδαλίζει, is a stumbling-block to) so that you should see wrongly; as in the case of your hand, so that you should act wrongly.—ἔξελε αὐτὸν, pluck it out) not the eye absolutely, but the eye which is a stumbling-block, i.e., make all things hard to thyself, until it cease to be a stumbling-block to thee. Not the organ itself, but the concupiscence which animates the eye or hand is meant: for this is the soul of the eye where that organ proves a stumbling-block; in like manner as soon afterwards the body is said for the [whole] man [soul as well as body]. He who, where his eye proves a stumbling-block, takes care not to see, does in reality blind himself. On the other hand, a man might pluck out his material eye, and yet cherish concupiscence within. A similar mode of expression occurs in Coloss. Mat 3:5, where the apostle says—Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth; fornication, etc. A negative maxim is frequently expressed by affirming the opposite.—See Mat 5:39-40, and ch. Mat 6:17.—βάλε, cast) with earnestness. The expression βληθῇ, be cast) in the next verse has reference to this.—συμφέρει, it is profitable) to thy salvation. Not only is it not hurtful, but also it will be glorious.—ἀπόληται, should perish) True self-abnegation is not of less amount than the loss of an eye, etc.: and it is so necessary that it is better to be deprived of an eye itself, than to sin with the eye, unless the sin may be separated from the eye. An eye which is actually plucked out, as in the case of a martyr, will be restored in the resurrection.—ἕν τῶν αελῶν σου, one of thy members) Many, indeed, have been destroyed by neglecting the mortification of one member, as, for example, the gullet.—ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου, thy whole body) If one member sin, the whole man sins and pays the penalty.—γέενναν, hell) of eternal fire.—See ch. Mat 18:8, etc.

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

Mat_5:29.[409] Unconditional self-denial, however, is required in order not to stumble against the prohibition of adultery in its complete meaning, and thereby to fall into hell. Better for thee that thou decidedly deprive thyself of that which is so dear and indispensable to thee for the temporal life, and the sacrificing of which will be still so painful to thee, than that thou, seduced thereby, and so on. In the typical expression of this thought (comp. on Col_3:5) the eye and hand are named, because it is precisely these that are the media of lust; and the right members, because to these the popular idea gave the superiority over the left, Exo_29:20; 1Sa_11:2; Zec_11:17; Aristotle, de animal. incessu, 4. The non-typical but literal interpretation (Pricaeus, Fritzsche, likewise Ch. F. Fritzsche in his Nov. Opusc. p. 347 f., Arnoldi) is not in keeping with the spirit of the moral strictness of Jesus; and to help it out by supplying a limitation (perhaps in the extreme case, to which, however, it cannot come; comp. Tholuck) is arbitrary. The view, however, which is, indeed, also the proper one, but hyperbolical, according to which the plucking, out is said to represent only the restraining or limiting the use, does not satisfy the strength of the expression. So Olshausen, comp. already Grotius. Only the typical view, which is also placed beyond doubt by the mention of the one eye, satisfies the words and spirit of Jesus. Yet, having regard to the plastic nature of the figures, it is not the thought as is done to criminals (Keim), but merely that of thoroughgoing, unsparing self-discipline (Gal_5:24; Gal_6:14; Rom_8:13).

σκανδαλίζει] a typical designation, borrowed from a trap (σκανδάλη and σκανδάλεθρον, the trap-spring), of the idea of seducing to unbelief, heresy, sin, etc. Here it is the latter idea. The word is not found in Greek writers, but in the LXX. and Apocrypha, and very frequently in the N. T. Observe the present. What is required is not to take place only after the completion of the seduction.

συμφέρει γάρ σοι, ἵνα, κ.τ.λ.] not even here, as nowhere indeed, does ἵνα stand instead of the infinitive (comp. Mat_18:6), but is to be taken as teleological: it is of importance to thee (this plucking out of the eye), in order that one of thy members may be destroyed, and not thy whole body be cast into hell. Thus Fritzsche alone correctly; comp. Käuffer. The alleged forced nature of this explanation is a deception arising from the customary usage of the infinitive in German.

καὶ μὴ ὅλον … γέενναν] namely, at the closely impending establishment of the kingdom; comp. Mat_10:28. Mat_5:30 is the same thought, solemnly repeated, although not quite in the same words (see the critical remarks). Sane multos unius membri neglecta mortificatio perdit, Bengel.

[409] Comp. Mat_18:8 f.; Mar_9:43 ff. Holtzmann assigns the original form to Mark. On the other hand, see Weiss.

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 5:29-30 . Counsel to the tempted , expressing keen perception of the danger and strong recoil from a sin to be shunned at all hazards, even by excision, as it were, of offending members; two named , eye and hand, eye first as mentioned before. ὁ ὀφ . ὁ δεξιὸς : the right eye deemed the more precious (1Sa 11:2 , Zec 11:17 ). Similarly Mat 5:30 the right hand, the most indispensable for work. Even these right members of the body must go. But as the remaining left eye and hand can still offend, it is obvious that these counsels are not meant to be taken literally, but symbolically, as expressing strenuous effort to master sexual passion ( vide Grotius). Mutilation will not serve the purpose; it may prevent the outward act, but it will not extinguish desire. σκανδαλίζει , cause to stumble; not found in Greek authors but in Sept [25] Sirach, and in N. T. in a tropical moral sense. The noun σκάνδαλον is also of frequent occurrence, a late form for σκανδάληθρον , a trap-stick with bait on it which being touched the trap springs. Hesychius gives as its equivalent ἐμποδισμός . It is used in a literal sense in Lev 19:14 (Sept [26] ). συμφέρει … ἵνα ἀπολ .: ἵνα with subjunctive instead of infinitive ( vide on ch. Mat 4:3 ). Meyer insists on ἵνα having here as always its telic sense and praises Fritzsche as alone interpreting the passage correctly. But, as Weiss observes, the mere destruction of the member is not the purpose of its excision. Note the impressive solemn repetition in Mat 5:30 of the thought in Mat 5:29 , in identical terms save that for βληθῇ is substituted, in the true reading, ἀπέλθῃ . This logion occurs again in Matthew (Mat 18:8-9 ). Weiss (Marc.-Evang., 326) thinks it is taken here from the Apostolic document, i.e. , Matthew’s book of Logia, and there from Mar 9:43-47 .

[25] Septuagint.

[26] Septuagint.

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

Word for word, do cause thee to offend: for sins are stumbling blocks as it were, that is to say, rocks which we are cast upon.

He nameth the right eye and the right hand, because the parts of the right side of our bodies are the chiefest, and the readiest to commit any wickedness.

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

And if thy right eye--the readier and the dearer of the two.

offend thee--be a "trap spring," or as in the New Testament, be "an occasion of stumbling" to thee.

pluck it out and cast it from thee--implying a certain indignant promptitude, heedless of whatever cost to feeling the act may involve. Of course, it is not the eye simply of which our Lord speaks--as if execution were to be done upon the bodily organ--though there have been fanatical ascetics who have both advocated and practiced this, showing a very low apprehension of spiritual things--but the offending eye, or the eye considered as the occasion of sin; and consequently, only the sinful exercise of the organ which is meant. For as one might put out his eyes without in the least quenching the lust to which they ministered, so, "if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light," and, when directed by a holy mind, becomes an "instrument of righteousness unto God." At the same time, just as by cutting off a hand, or plucking out an eye, the power of acting and of seeing would be destroyed, our Lord certainly means that we are to strike at the root of such unholy dispositions, as well as cut off the occasions which tend to stimulate them.

for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell--He who despises the warning to cast from him, with indignant promptitude, an offending member, will find his whole body "cast," with a retributive promptitude of indignation, "into hell." Sharp language, this, from the lips of Love incarnate!

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 29. - 30. Pluck it out - cut it off] We must shut our senses against dangerous objects, to avoid the occasions of sin, and deprive ourselves of all that is most dear and profitable to us, in order to save our souls, when we find that these dear and profitable things, however innocent in themselves, cause us to sin against God.

It is profitable for thee that one of thy members] Men often part with some members of the body, at the discretion of a surgeon, that they may preserve the trunk, and die a little later; and yet they will not deprive themselves of a look, a touch, a small pleasure, which endanger the eternal death of the soul. It is not enough to shut the eye, or stop the hand; the one must be plucked out, and the other cut off. Neither is this enough, we must cast them both from us. Not one moment's truce with an evil passion, or a sinful appetite. If you indulge them, they will gain strength, and you shall be ruined. The rabbins have a saying similar to this: "It is better for thee to be scorched with a little fire in this world, than to be burned with a devouring fire in the world to come."

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

(29) If thy right eye offend thee.—The Greek verb means, strictly, to cause another to stumble or fall into a snare, and this was probably the sense in which the translators used the word “offend.” It is doubtful, however, whether it ever had this factitive sense in English outside the Authorised version, and the common use of the word gives so different a meaning that it cannot be regarded as a happy rendering. The difficulty of finding an equivalent is shown by the variations in the successive English versions: “offend,” in Tyndal’s; “hinder thee,” in Cranmer’s; “cause thee to offend,” in the Geneva; “scandalise,” in the Rhemish; “offend,” again in the Authorised version. Of these the Geneva is, beyond doubt, the best.

Pluck it out.—The bold severity of the phrase excludes a literal interpretation. The seat of the evil lies in the will, not in the organ of sense or action, and the removal of the instrument might leave the inward taint unpurified. What is meant is, that any sense, when it ministers to sin is an evil and not a good, the loss of which would be the truest gain. Translated into modern language, we are warned that taste, culture, æsthetic refinement may but make our guilt and our punishment more tremendous. It were better to be without them than

“Propter vitam vivendi perdere causas.”

[“ And for life’s sake to lose life’s noblest ends.”]

It is profitable.—The element of prudential self-love, of a calculation of profit and loss, is not excluded from Christian motives. As addressed to a nation immersed in the pursuit of gain, it conveys the stern, yet pertinent, warning—“If you must think of profit, make your calculations wisely.”

Hell.—Gehenna, as in Mat_5:22. The language is still symbolical. The horrid picture of a human body thrown into the foul, offal-fed flame of the Valley of Hinnom is again a parable of something more terrible than itself.

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

29. thy right eye] suggested by the preceding verse. The eye and the hand are not only in themselves good and serviceable, but necessary. Still they may become the occasion of sin to us. So pursuits and pleasures innocent in themselves may bring temptation, and involve us in sin. These must be resigned, however great the effort implied in “cast it from thee.”

offend thee] “cause thee to fall.”

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.

And if thy right eye offend thee,.... Or "cause thee to offend", to stumble, and fall into sin. Our Lord has no regard here to near and dear relations seeking to alienate us from God and Christ, and hinder us in the pursuit of divine things; whose solicitations are to be rejected with the utmost indignation, and they themselves to be parted with, and forsaken, rather than complied with; which is the sense some give of the words: for both in this, and the following verse, respect is had only to the law of adultery; and to such members of the body, which often are the means of leading persons on to the breach of it; particularly the eye and hand. The eye is often the instrument of ensnaring the heart this way: hence the Jews have a (z) saying,

"whoever looks upon women, at the end comes into the hands of transgression.''

Mention is only made of the right eye; not but that the left may be an occasion of sinning, as well as the right; but that being most dear and valuable, is instanced in, and ordered to be parted with:

pluck it out, and cast it from thee: which is not to be understood literally; for no man is obliged to mutilate any part of his body, to prevent sin, or on account of the commission of it; this is no where required, and if done, would be sinful, as in the case of Origen: but figuratively; and the sense is, that persons should make a covenant with their eyes, as Job did; and turn them away from beholding such objects, which may tend to excite impure thoughts and desires; deny themselves the gratification of the sense of seeing, or feeding the eyes with such sights, as are graceful to the flesh; and with indignation and contempt, reject, and avoid all opportunities and occasions of sinning; which the eye may be the instrument of, and lead unto:

for it is profitable for thee, that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. This is still a continuation of the figure here used; and the meaning is, that it will turn to better account, to lose all the carnal pleasures of the eye, or all those pleasing sights, which are grateful to a carnal heart, than, by enjoying them, to expose the whole man, body and soul, to everlasting destruction, in the fire of hell.

(z) T. Bab. Nedarim, fol. 20. 1.

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

29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

Ver. 29. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out] That is, if it be either so natural or habitual to thee to go after the sight of thine eyes (which Solomon assigneth for the source of all youthful outrages, Ecc 11:9) that thou hadst as dear to me lose thy right eye as not look at liberty; out with such an eye (though a right eye): pull it out, and rake in the hole where it grew, rather than that any filth should remain there. Pluck it out of the old Adam, and set it into the new man. Get that oculum irretortum, that may look forth right upon the mark, without idle or curious prying into, or poring upon, forbidden beauties, Pro 4:25. A praetor (said the heathen) should have continent eyes as well as hands. And the Greek orator wittily and worthily upbraided a certain wanton, that he had not pupils but punks in his eyes. {a} And Archesilaus the philosopher, observing one to have wanton eyes, told him that the difference was not great, whether he played the naughty pack with his upper parts or his nether. Lot might not look toward Sodom. And Peter Martyr observeth out of Nathan’s parable, that lust, though it once prevailed over David, yet it was but a stranger to him; he had enough of that once, for it cost him hot water. His eye became a fountain, he washed his bed which he had defiled (yea, his pallet, or underbedding) with tears. {b} So did Mary Magdalen, once a strumpet: her hands were bands, her words were cords, her eyes as glasses whereinto while silly larks gazed they were taken as in a clap net. She therefore made those eyes a fountain to bathe Christ’s feet in, and had his blood a fountain to bathe her soul in, Zec 13:1. To conclude, the sight is a deceitful sense, therefore bind it to the good abearance; call it from its straying, check it, and lay God’s charge upon it for the future. Chaste Joseph would not once look on his immodest mistress; she looked, and caught hold on him, and that when she was in bed; but her temptation fell like fire upon wet tinder, and took not. {c} It must be our constant care that no sparkle of the eye flee out to consume the whole by a flame of lust: but upon offer of wanton glances from others beat them back as the north wind driveth away rain, Pro 25:23. A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment (and so any other man that sets seriously upon this practice of mortification) scattereth away all evil with his eyes, Pro 20:8. And this is to pluck out and cast away the right eye that offendeth us, as being an occasion of offence unto us. He that shall see God to his comfort, shuts his eyes from seeing of evil. For wanton and wandering eyes (like spiders) gather poison out of the fairest flowers: and (like Jacob’s sheep) being too firmly fixed on beautiful objects, they make the affections often times bring forth spotted fruits, Isa 33:14-15.

For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members perish] An eye is better lost than a soul. For every (unmortified) one shall be salted with fire, pickled up, as it were, and preserved for eternal torment: and every sacrifice (acceptable to God) shall be salted with salt of mortification and self-denial, Mar 9:49.

And not that thy whole body should be cast into hell] As otherwise it will be: "For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die," &c., Rom 8:13. In Barbary, it is present death for any man to see one of the Zeriff’s concubines; and for them too, if when they see a man, though but through a casement, they do not suddenly screech out. So here, a loose and lewd eye hazards the whole to hell fire. And is it nothing to lose an immortal soul? to purchase an everliving death? A man would be loth to fetch gold out of a fiery crucible, because he knows it will burn him. Did we as truly believe the everlasting burning of that infernal fire we dare not offer to fetch either pleasures or profits out of those flames. {d} Bellarmine is of the opinion that one glimpse of hell’s horror were enough to make a man not only turn Christian and sober, but anchorite {e} and monk, to live after the strictest rule that can be. And there is a story of one, that being vexed with fleshly lusts, laid his hands upon hot burning coals to mind himself of hell fire that followeth upon fleshly courses.

{a} ου κορας, αλλα πορνας. Κορη puellam et pupillam oculi significat. Plut.

{b} In 2Sa 12:4, there came a traveller to the rich man, &c., עין signifies both an eye and a fountain: as it is the spring of sin, let it be of tears.

{c} Iisdem quibus videmus oculis flemus. Josephus saith that Potiphar and his servants were at a feast; she was at home as feigning herself sick.

{d} Apuleius cum amicam dissuaviaretur, ab illa hoc modo monitus est: heus tu scholastice, dulce et amarum gustulam carpis: cave ne nimia mellis dulcedine diutinam bilis amaritudinem trahas. Lascivis contrectationibus animi adulterium saepe contrahitur. The archers shot at Joseph, but his bow abode in strength, Gen 49:24. Castus erat, non solum continens, ut Bellerophon.

{e} A person who has withdrawn or secluded himself from the world; usually one who has done so for religious reasons, a recluse, a hermit. D

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.

Thy right eye - The Hebrews, like others, were accustomed to represent the affections of the mind by the members or parts of the body, Rom 7:23; Rom 6:13. Thus, the bowels denoted compassion; the heart, affection or feeling; the reins, understanding, secret purpose. An evil eye denotes sometimes envy Mat 20:15, and sometimes an evil passion, or sin in general. Mar 7:21-22; “out of the heart proceedeth an evil eye.” In this place, as in 2Pe 2:14, the expression is used to denote strong adulterous passion, unlawful desire, or wicked inclination. The right eye and hand are mentioned, because they are of most use to us, and denote that, however strong the passion may be, or difficult to part with, yet that we should do it.

Offend thee - The noun from which the verb “offend,” in the original, is derived, commonly means a stumbling-block, or a stone placed in the way, over which one might fall. It also means a net, or a certain part of a net against which, if a bird strikes, it springs the net, and is taken. It comes to signify, therefore, anything by which we fall, or are ensnared; and applied to morals, means anything by which we fall into sin, or by which we are ensnared. The English word “offend” means now, commonly, to displease; to make angry; to affront. This is by no means the sense of the word in Scripture. It means to cause to fall into sin. The eye does this when it wantonly looks upon a woman to lust after her.

Pluck it out ... - It cannot be supposed that Christ intended this to be taken literally. His design was to teach that the dearest objects, if they cause us to sin, are to be abandoned; that by all sacrifices and self-denials we must overcome the evil propensities of our nature, and resist our wanton imaginations. Some of the fathers, however, took this commandment literally. Our Saviour several times repeated this sentiment. See Mat 18:9; Mar 9:43-47. Compare also Col 3:5.

It is profitable for thee - It is better for thee. You will have gained by it.

One of thy members perish - It is better to deny yourself the gratification of an evil passion here, however much it may cost you, than to go down to hell forever.

Thy whole body should be cast into hell - Thy body, with all its unsubdued and vicious propensities. This will constitute no small part of the misery of hell. The sinner will be sent there as he is, with every evil desire, every unsubdued propensity, every wicked and troublesome passion, and yet with no possibility of gratification. It constitutes our highest notions of misery when we think of a man filled with anger, pride, malice, avarice, envy and lust, and with no opportunity of gratifying them forever. This is all that is necessary to make an eternal hell. On the word hell, see the notes at Mat 5:22.

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

Whatever is an immediate occasion of sin, however near or dear it may be, must be abandoned (Menochius), though it prove as dear to us, or as necessary as a hand, or an eye, and without delay or demur. (Haydock)

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).

The sum of these two verses is, that the salvation of our immortal souls is to be preferred before all things, be they never so dear and precious to us; and that if men’s ordinary discretion teacheth them for the preservation of their bodies to cut off a particular member, which would necessarily endanger the whole body, it much more teacheth them to part with any thing which will prejudice the salvation of their souls. Not that any person is by this text obliged to cut off any bodily member, (as some have done), because there can be no such necessity; but only to mortify their members, Col 3:5, the deeds of the body, Rom 8:13, their inward lusts, which being mortified there will be no need of mutilating ourselves; for the members of the body are but commanded and animated to their motions from the inward lusts of the heart: but if there could happen such a case, as that a man must voluntarily part with the most useful member of his body, or sin against God to the damnation of his soul, he ought rather to choose the former than the latter. How much more then ought Christians to mortify their inward lusts and unlawful desires, which can be of no profit nor advantage to them; but will certainly make them to offend God, and so run them upon the danger of hell fire!

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

29. Offend thee — Seduce thee, entrap thee to sin; for such is the meaning of the word offend in the Greek. Eye… members… body — Symbolical terms again. We have a corrupt inner system; a depraved hidden man, within the outer man, with all its members, eye, hand, and foot, in which resides our appetency for sin. And yet it is ourself, and cannot be cast into perdition without taking the whole being. Now if this corrupt eye seduce us to adultery, if the itching palm contract theft, if the foot tend to blood, let spiritual amputation be performed. This may bring the whole corrupt man to health. One of thy members perish — The adventurous figure is boldly carried out. It is as if some bystander had endeavoured to push our Lord’s simile into absurdity by saying, If we amputate as you advise, we should go to heaven maimed. Our Lord virtually replies, Very well; better go to heaven maimed, than to hell whole.

The sentiment, therefore, is — affections and lusts for forbidden objects must be sacrificed at whatever expense of feeling.

Upon this passage Roberts remarks, “This metaphor is in common use to this day; hence people say of anything which is valuable, ‘It is like my right eye!’ ‘Yes, yes, that child is the right eye of his father.’ ‘That fellow forsake his sins! never; they are his right eye.’“

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 29, 30. Also in Mat_18:8, Mat_18:9; (parallel passage, Mar_9:43-47) the chief differences being

(1) that they are there adduced with reference to "offences" generally;

(2) that the foot is mentioned, as well as the eye and the hand. It seems not improbable that this saying was spoken twice.

The reason why our Lord did not mention the foot here may be either that that member is less immediately connected with sins of the flesh than the other two (cf. Wetstein, in loc., "Averte oculum a vultu illecebroso: arce manum ab impudicis contrectationibus"), or, as seems more probable, that the eye and the hand represent the two sets of faculties receptive and active, and together express man"s whole nature. The insertion of the foot in Mat_18:8, Mat_18:9, only makes the illustration more definite. "The remark in ver. 29f treats of what is to be done by the subjects of the kingdom when, in spite of themselves, evil desires are aroused" (Weiss, "Life," 2:149).

Right. Not in Mt 18, and parallel passage. Inserted to enhance the preciousness of the members spoken of (cf. Zec_11:17; cf. ver. 39). Offend thee; Authorized Version, do cause thee to offend; Revised Version, cause thee to stumble (skandalizei se). Perhaps the verb originally referred to the stick of a trap (skandalon , a Hellenistic word, apparently equivalent to skandalhyron) striking the person"s foot, and so catching him in the trap; but when found in literature (almost solely in the New Testament) it has apparently lost all connotation of the trap, and only means causing a person to stumble (for an analysis of its use in the New Testament, vide especially Cremer, s.v.). Pluck it out, and cast it from thee. The second clause shows the purely figurative character of the sentence. Our Lord commands

(1) the removal of the means of offence" out of the place of affection that it has long held;

(2) the putting it away so thoroughly, both by the manner of the act and the distance placed between the "offence" and the person, that restoration is almost impossible. In both verbs the aorist brings out the decisiveness of the action. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish. It is better to lose one faculty, one sphere of usefulness, one part of those things which normally make a person complete, than that the person himself should be lost. Notice the sixfold personal pronoun in this one verse; "Our Lord grounds his precept of the most rigid and decisive self-denial on the considerations of the truest self interest" (Alford). Should be cast. For to One thy whole person will become as abhorrent as the offending member ought in fact now to be to thee (bale blhyh).

Plucking out the right eye.

The ideas of this verse are expressed in the strong language of Oriental imagery, and yet a moment"s reflection will show us that the language is not a whir too strong, even if it is interpreted with strict literalness. If it came to a choice between plucking out an eye and death, every man who had courage enough to perform the hideous deed Would at once choose it as the less terrible alternative. Every day hospital patients submit to frightful operations to save their lives or to relieve intolerable sufferings. But if to the thought of death we add the picture of the doom of the lost, the motives for choosing the lesser evil are immeasurably strengthened. Therefore to one who really believes the alternatives set forth by our Lord to be his, there should not be a thought of hesitation. Doubt as to the future, the overmastering influence of the present, or weakness of will, may restrain a person from doing what is really for his self-interest; but these things will not make it the less desirable. The difficulty, then, is not as to the truth of our Lord"s words, but as to the application of them.

I AN INNOCENT THING MAY BECOME A CAUSE OF STUMBLING. Christ does not require us to maim ourselves as an act of penance, or on any ascetic grounds. The eye is given to see with, and the hand to work with. Both are from God, and both are innocent in themselves. The body is not an evil thing, but it is meant to be the servant of the soul; as such it is an instrument "fearfully and wonderfully made." We do not honour God by dishonouring the body which he has bestowed upon us. But the body may become the tool of the tempter. It may be corrupted and perverted so as to be worse than the slave of sin, so as to be itself a perpetual temptation. Not only the body, but other things that belong to us, and are sent for our good, may become stumbling-blockse.g, wealth, power, friendship.

II A STUMBLING-BLOCK IN THE WAY OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE MUST BE CAST ASIDE AT ANY COST. The question turns on Our estimate of the great end of life. To frustrate that in deference to any present pleasure, or to escape from any present trouble, is to commit a great mistake. We are not now concerned with some slight inconvenience in the future. The thought is of complete shipwreck, of being thrown into perdition on account of the hindrance which it is very unpleasant for us to remove. So serious a danger does not admit of any consideration for the present annoyance involved in escaping it. The engineer will tunnel through mountains, blow up huge rocks, and bridge wide chasms to carry his line to its destination. Shall any hindrance be permitted to block the Christian"s course to eternal life? As a matter of fact, self-mutilation is not the right method of avoiding temptation. If it were the sole method, it would be prudent to resort to it. But, as God has provided other ways, only a wild delusion will resort to this. Moreover, if lust is in the heart, it will not be destroyed by plucking out the eye. If hatred reigns within the enraged man, he is essentially a murderer, even after he has cut off the hand with which he was about to commit his awful crime. Still, whatever is most near to us and hinders our Christian life, must go any friendship, though dear as the apple of the eye; any occupation, though profitable as the right hand. W.F.A.

Self-discipline.

Plumptre suggests the proper way in which to treat these strong figures of speech. "The bold severity of the phrase excludes a literal interpretation. The seat of the evil lies in the will, not in the organ of sense or action, and the removal of the instrument might leave the inward taint unpurified. What is meant is, that any sense, when it ministers to sin, is an evil and not a good, the loss of which would be the truest gain." Pursuits and pleasures, innocent enough in themselves, may bring temptation and involve us in sin. There should be resolute dealing with them, so as to ensure that they are held in safe and wise bonds of self-restraint.

I SELF-DISCIPLINE MAY TAKE EXTRAVAGANT FORMS. It does whenever the body is regarded as in itself an evil thing. Then the supreme work of life seems to be the humiliation of the body, and the silencing of its demands. This extravagance is illustrated by the hermits; by such action as that of St. Simeon Stylites; by the orders of monks and nuns; by the self-mortification of wearing hair-shirts or sharp crosses next the skin; or submitting to prolonged fasting, etc. It is said that the holy Henry Martyn yielded to this extravagance, and tried to mortify the flesh by walking about with stones in his shoes. The abuse of a thing should never prevent our making a right and good use of it. (See also the self-discipline system of Buddhists.)

II SELF-DISCIPLINE SHOULD TAKE REASONABLE FORMS. There is quite room enough for stern, strong dealing within wise limitations. A man is not required to ruin his health by his self-discipline; because the soul needs a sound and healthy body through which to gain its full expression. It may be shown that Christian self-discipline should

(1) keep within reasonable spheres;

(2) use reasonable methods; and

(3) seek to attain only reasonable results.

Men form an unnatural conception of the Christian requirement, and think to attain eminent piety. This leads them into extravagances. If we had worthy conceptions of what piety is, its attainment without adding any idea of eminent would seem the all-sufficing effort of a life. 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 a person as dear as a right eye, or as useful as a right hand, cause thee thus to offend, though but in heart. Perhaps here may be an instance of a kind of transposition which is frequently found in the sacred writings: so that the 29th verse may refer to 27, 28; and the 30th to ver. 21, 22. As if he had said, Part with any thing, however dear to you, or otherwise useful, if you cannot avoid sin while you keep it. Even cut off your right hand, if you are of so passionate a temper, that you cannot otherwise be restrained from hurting your brother. Pull out your eyes, if you can no otherwise be restrained from lusting after women. Chap. xviii, 8; Mark ix, 43.

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

Christ’s advice to the tempted:

v. 29. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

v. 30. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

The right eye and the right hand are named as prominent members in the actual committing of sin, through which the evil desire of the heart finds its expression. They are represented as the organs of temptation. According to popular view, they are the members that offend, that incite to the actual commission of sin. Therefore, symbolically speaking, these members and all the members of the body must be controlled, if necessary, by an absolute and painful renunciation. Better to be without individual organs and members of the body than have the whole body condemned. Christ speaks figuratively, and His words must be understood in the spiritual sense; for mutilation evidently may prevent the outward act, but will not kill the desire. Every member of the body shall be so controlled and governed by the sanctified will that it will not yield to sin, thus bringing the whole body into condemnation. Jesus again uses the figure of the perpetual fires of the valley of Hinnom, where the waste and refuse of the city of Jerusalem was burned, for the punishment of hell. "This, then, is the meaning: If you feel that you look upon a woman with evil lust, then pluck that eye or vision out as being contrary to God’s commandment, not of the body, but of the heart from which the burning and desire proceeds, then have you torn it out rightly. For when the evil lust is out of the heart, then the eye will also not sin nor offend you, and you will look upon the same woman with the same eyes of your body, but without desire, and it will be as though you had not seen her. For no longer is that eye there which was there before, which is called an eye of burning or desire, although the eye of the body remains uninjured. "

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

Our Saviour had condemned ocular adultery in the foregoing verse, or the adultery of the eye; He that looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her in his heart.

Whence note, That the eye is an inlet to sin, especially the sin of uncleanness: list enters the heart at the window of the eye.

Now in these verses Christ prescribes a remedy for the cure of this eye-malady: If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: which is not to be understood literally, as if Christ commanded any man to maim his bodily members; but spiritually, to mortify the lusts of the flesh, and the lusts of the eye, which otherwise would prove a dangerous snare to the soul.

Learn, 1. That sin may be avoided: it is our duty to avoid whatsoever leads to it, or may be an occasion of it; if we find the view of an ensnaring object will inflame us, we must, though not put out our eye, yet make a covenant with our eye that we will not look upon it.

Note, 2. That the best course we can take to be kept from the outward acts of sin, is to mortify our inward affection and love to sin. This is to kill it in the root; and if once our inward affections be mortified, our bodily members may be spared and preserved; for they will no longer be weapons of sin but instruments of righteousness unto holiness.

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

29. If thy right eye offend thee. The eye that giveth a lustful look. A licentious passion, or anything that tempts to sin, whether thoughts within, friends, or surroundings. Pluck it out. Cast far from you what would lead to sin. It is profitable. Better to suffer deep mortification by self-denial than to be judged worthy of hell. Body. Used for the whole man.

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.

If your

Jesus is talking to a group of people about what they as individuals should or should not do. All instances of "you" and "your" are singular, but in some langugaes they may need to be plural. (See: Forms of You)

If your right eye causes you to stumble

Here "eye" refers to what a person sees. And, "stumble" is a metaphor for "sin." AT: "if what you see causes you to stumble" or "if you want to sin because of what you see" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)

right eye ... right hand

This means the most important eye or hand, as opposed to the left eye or hand. You may need to translate "right" as "better" or "stronger." (See: Idiom)

pluck it out ... cut it off

These commands are exaggerations for a person doing whatever he needs to do to stop sinning. (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

pluck it out

"forcefully remove it" or "destroy it." If the right eye is not specifically mentioned, you may need to translate this "destroy your eyes." If eyes have been mentioned, you may need to translate this "destroy them."

throw it away from you

"get rid of it"

one of your body parts should perish

"you should lose one part of your body"

than that your whole body should be thrown into hell

This can be stated in active form. AT: "than for God to throw your whole body into hell" (See: Active or Passive)

If your right hand causes

In this metonymy, the hand stands for the actions of the whole person. (See: Metonymy)

translationWords

stumbling block

perish

hell

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

29. ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου, suggested by the preceding verse. The eye and the hand are not only in themselves good and serviceable, but necessary. Still they may become the occasion of sin to us. So pursuits and pleasures innocent in themselves may bring temptation, and involve us in sin. These must be resigned, however great the effort implied in ‘cast it from thee.’

σκανδαλίζει σε, ‘allure thee to destruction.’ This verb which is confined to Hellenistic Greek is derived from σκάνδαλον also Hellenistic; the classical form σκανδάληθρον, itself very rare, is defined as, ‘the crooked stick forming the part of a trap on which the bait is placed’ (the root-meaning of the word is swift darting movement, as of falling or gliding away, Curtius, Greek Etymology, 166). Hence σκάνδαλον and its cognates have first the meaning of temptation, combined with those of entrapping and swift destruction. Cp. σκάνδαληθρʼ ἱστὰς ἐπῶν, Arist. Ach. 647, ‘setting word-traps.’ κρεάδιον τῆς σκανδάλης ἀφάψας, Alciphr. III. 22, ‘having attached a bait to the trap.’ ἐσκανδαλίσθη εἰς ἐμέ. Joan. Mosch. 3049 c. (quoted E. A. Soph. Greek Lex. and there rendered ‘tempted to fall in love with me’). This sense of the word conveying, by a vivid and apt imagery, the idea of temptation or allurement to ruin, is applicable to the use of σκάνδαλον in most passages of the N.T. See notes, chs. Mat 13:41, Mat 16:23, Mat 18:7. It appears also to be the primary thought in σκανδαλίζειν. In other passages the notion of ‘entrapping’ is prominent. Hence to ‘impede,’ ‘bring into difficulties’; so to ‘irritate,’ ‘offend.’ At this point begins the correspondence with the figurative sense of προσκόπτειν and πρόσκομμα, the Latin rendering of which supplies the English words to offend, offence, &c., by which σκανδαλίζειν and σκάνδαλον are translated in the A.V. And though differing in their origin and literal meaning σκάνδαλον appears in parallelism with πρόσκομμα in Rom 9:31 and 1Pe 2:7, and σκανδαλίζεσθαι is nearly synonymous with the figurative sense of προσκόπτειν.

συμφέρει γάρ σοι κ.τ.λ. Cp. Cic. Phil. VIII. 15, In corpore si quid ejusmodi est quod reliquo corpori noceat, uri necarique patimur; ut membrorum aliquod potius quam totum corpus intereat.

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.

29.] An admonition, arising out of the truth announced in the last verse, to withstand the first springs and occasions of evil desire, even by the sacrifice of what is most useful and dear to us. ταῦτα προσέταξεν οὐ περὶ μελῶν διαλεγόμενος, ἄπαγε· οὐδαμοῦ γὰρ τῆς σαρκὸς τὰ ἐγκλήματα εἶναί φησιν, ἀλλὰ πανταχοῦ τῆς γνώμης τῆς πονηρᾶς ἡ κατηγορία. οὐ γὰρ ὁ ὀφθαλμός ἐστιν ὁ ὁρῶν, ἀλλʼ ὁ νοῦς καὶ ὁ λογισμός. Chrys. Hom. xvii. 3, p. 225: and to the same effect Euthymius, who adds ἀλλʼ ὀφθαλμὸν μὲν δεξιὸν καλεῖ τὸν δίκην ὀφθαλμοῦ στεργόμενον δεξιὸν φίλον· χεῖρα δὲ δεξιὰν τὸν δίκην χειρὸς χρησιμεύοντα δεξιὸν ὑπηρέτην, καὶ εἴτε ἄνδρες εἶεν εἴτε γυναῖκες. λέγει τοίνυν ὅτι ἐὰν οἱ τοιοῦτοι σκανδαλίζωσί σε πρὸς ἐμπάθειαν, μηδὲ τούτων φείσῃ· ἀλλʼ ἔκκοψον αὐτοὺς τῆς πρός σε σχέσεως, καὶ ῥίψον πόῤῥω σου. Philo Judæus reports that he had heard ἀπὸ θεσπεσίων ἀνδρῶν an interpretation of Deu 25:12, singularly agreeing with this verse: εἰκότως οὖν τὴν … χεῖρα.… ἀποκόπτειν διείρηται συμβολικῶς, οὐχ ὅπως ἀκρωτηριάζηται τὸ σῶμα στερόμενον ἀναγκαιοτάτου μέρους, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ τοῦ πάντας τῆς ψυχῆς ἀθέους τέμνειν λογισμούς. De Spec. Legibus ad 6 Est_7 decal. cap. § 32, vol. ii. p. 329. We may observe here, that our Lord grounds His precept of the most rigid and decisive self-denial on the considerations of the truest self-interest,—συμφέρελ σοι. See ch. 18:8, 9, and notes.

ἵνα belongs to συμφ. σοι (see Joh 16:7); and not (Meyer) to the foregoing, making συμφ. γάρ σοι parenthetical.

31,

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

29. First applicatiion for this.

(L) And if thy right eye is causing thee to stumble(by inducing lustful thoughts), pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for its is better for thee that one of thy members perish, than that thy whole body be cast into Gehenna.]

δεξιός as applied to a hand seems to emphasise it as being the more valued of the two. It is here transferred to a eye by a natural assimilatiion of the two phrases.

σκανδαλίζει occurs outside the New Testament in LXX. Dan 11:41; in Aquila, Psa 63:9, Isa 40:30, Isa 63:13, Pro 4:12, Dan 11:41; in Ecclus 9:5, 23:8, 32:15; in Sym. Isa 8:21; in Ps.-Sol. 16:7, and in eccles. writers.

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

Offend [σκανδαλιζει] . The word offend carries to the English reader the sense of giving offense, provoking. Hence the Rev., by restoring the picture in the word, restores its true meaning, causeth to stumble. The kindred noun is skandalon, a later form of skandalhqron, the stick in a trap on which the bait is place, and which springs up and shuts the trap at the touch of an animal. Hence, generally, a snare, a stumbling - block. Christ 's meaning here is : "If your eye or your hand serve as an obstacle or trap to ensnare or make you fall in your moral walk." How the eye might do this may be seen in the previous verse. Bengel observes : "He who, when his eye proves a stumbling - block, takes care not to see, does in reality blind himself." The words scandal and slander are both derived from skandalon; and Wyc. renders, "If thy right eye slander thee." Compare Aeschylus, "Choephori," 301, 372.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.