The Meaning of Matthew 5:30 Explained

Matthew 5:30

KJV: 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.

YLT: 'And, if thy right hand doth cause thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna.

Darby: And if thy right hand be a snare to thee, cut it off and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell.

ASV: And if thy right hand causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body go into hell.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does Matthew 5:30 Mean?

Context Summary

Matthew 5:27-37 - Pure Eyes And Clean Speech
The legislation of the old time insisted that no member of the commonwealth should commit adultery, and enforced terrible penalties. See Deuteronomy 22:22-24. But the Divine Man, who reads the human heart with perfect accuracy, goes behind the deed to its premonitory stages, legislates about the look that may inflame passion, and condemns the soul that does not instantly turn the eye from that which allures it, to the All-Holy, asking to be cleansed not with tears only but with blood. The first act in the religious life is to detect right and wrong in the thought or intention. If the tempter is arrested there, He is powerless to hurt. Kill the snake in the egg!
The prohibition against swearing does not deal with taking an oath in the law court. During His trial by the high priest, our Lord did not resent being put on His oath. On rare and solemn occasions we may have to bare our heads before God and ask Him to corroborate our word. But how different is this from the frequent and flippant use of expletives and extravagances of speech. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 5

1  Jesus' sermon on the mount:
3  The Beattitudes;
13  the salt of the earth;
14  the light of the world
17  He came to fulfill the law
21  What it is to kill;
27  to commit adultery;
33  to swear
38  He exhorts to forgive wrong,
43  to love our enemies;
48  and to labor after perfection

What do the individual words in Matthew 5:30 mean?

And if the right of you hand causes to stumble you cut off it cast [it] from you it is better indeed for you that should perish one of the members not all the body into hell should depart
καὶ εἰ δεξιά σου χεὶρ σκανδαλίζει σε ἔκκοψον αὐτὴν βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ συμφέρει γάρ σοι ἵνα ἀπόληται ἓν τῶν μελῶν μὴ ὅλον τὸ σῶμά εἰς γέενναν ἀπέλθῃ

δεξιά  right 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: δεξιός  
Sense: the right, the right hand.
σου  of  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
χεὶρ  hand 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: χείρ  
Sense: by the help or agency of any one, by means of any one.
σκανδαλίζει  causes  to  stumble 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: σκανδαλίζω  
Sense: to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way, upon which another may trip and fall, metaph. to offend.
ἔκκοψον  cut  off 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: ἐκκόπτω  
Sense: to cut out, cut off.
βάλε  cast  [it] 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Imperative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: βάλλω 
Sense: to throw or let go of a thing without caring where it falls.
συμφέρει  it  is  better 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: συμφέρω 
Sense: to bear or bring together.
γάρ  indeed 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: γάρ  
Sense: for.
σοι  for  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative 2nd Person Singular
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
ἵνα  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἵνα  
Sense: that, in order that, so that.
ἀπόληται  should  perish 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Middle, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἀπόλλυμι  
Sense: to destroy.
ἓν  one 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: εἷς  
Sense: one.
τῶν  of  the 
Parse: Article, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
μελῶν  members 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: μέλος  
Sense: a member, limb: a member of the human body.
σῶμά  body 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular
Root: σῶμα  
Sense: the body both of men or animals.
εἰς  into 
Parse: Preposition
Root: εἰς  
Sense: into, unto, to, towards, for, among.
γέενναν  hell 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: γέεννα  
Sense: Hell is the place of the future punishment call “Gehenna” or “Gehenna of fire”.
ἀπέλθῃ  should  depart 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: ἀπέρχομαι  
Sense: to go away, depart.