Matthew 6:23
but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
English Standard Version (ESV)
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What's easy to miss is that Jesus isn't just talking about literal sight; "eye" here represents our inner faculty of discernment and desire. If this inner "light," our guiding principle, is corrupted by self-love or greed, it turns what should be guiding light into a deception, plunging our entire being into a profound and terrible darkness.
Jesus is talking about what truly matters to us – where we store our treasures. He contrasts earthly, corruptible treasures with heavenly, eternal ones, warning against an unhealthy attachment to wealth. This verse follows his teaching on avoiding the spiritual paralysis that comes from trying to serve both God and money, suggesting that our inner focus determines our spiritual condition.
Understand the original words
skotos · Greek Noun
Biblically, this represents the absence of God's presence, sin, error, ignorance, or the state of being separated from the truth.
This verse emphasizes guarding one's heart, paralleling Matthew 6:23's idea that a corrupted inner 'eye' or focus leads to darkness in the whole person.
Luke 11:34-36Luke presents the positive counterpart to Jesus' teaching in Matthew, showing that a 'single' eye (representing a pure heart and right focus) fills the body with light, reinforcing the metaphor of the eye as the director of one's inner and outer life.
Romans 8:5-8This passage contrasts those who set their minds on the flesh (darkness) with those who set their minds on the Spirit (light), directly aligning with Matthew's theme that a corrupted inner disposition results in spiritual darkness.
Ephesians 5:8Paul urges believers to 'walk as children of light,' implying that the spiritual state of one's inner being (their 'light') dictates the nature of their actions and life, echoing Jesus' metaphor of the eye and darkness.
vincentMatthew 6:23: "But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!"
In thee - darknessSeneca, in one of his letters, tells of an idiot slave in his house, who had suddenly become blind. "Now, incredible as the story seems, it is really true that she is unconscious of her blindness, and consequently begs her attendant to go elsewhere because the house is dark. But you may be sure that this, at which w…
gillMatthew 6:23: "But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!"
But if thine eye be evil,.... If thou art of a sordid disposition, of an avaricious temper, if the sin of covetousness prevails over thee, thy whole body will be full of darkness: thy judgment will be so influenced by that sordid principle, that thou wilt not be able to discern what is agreeable to the law of God, or human reason; wh…
What's easy to miss is that Jesus isn't just talking about literal sight; "eye" here represents our inner faculty of discernment and desire. If this inner "light," our guiding principle, is corrupted by self-love or greed, it turns what should be guiding light into a deception, plunging our entire being into a profound and terrible darkness.
Jesus is talking about what truly matters to us – where we store our treasures. He contrasts earthly, corruptible treasures with heavenly, eternal ones, warning against an unhealthy attachment to wealth. This verse follows his teaching on avoiding the spiritual paralysis that comes from trying to serve both God and money, suggesting that our inner focus determines our spiritual condition.
Jesus is talking about what truly matters to us – where we store our treasures. He contrasts earthly, corruptible treasures with heavenly, eternal ones, warning against an unhealthy attachment to wealth. This verse follows his teaching on avoiding the spiritual paralysis that comes from trying to serve both God and money, suggesting that our inner focus determines our spiritual condition.
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"but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" — What's easy to miss is that Jesus isn't just talking about literal sight; "eye" here represents our inner faculty of discernment and desire. If this inner "light," our guiding principle, is corrupted…
