KJV: 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!
YLT: but if thine eye may be evil, all thy body shall be dark; if, therefore, the light that is in thee is darkness -- the darkness, how great!
Darby: but if thine eye be wicked, thy whole body will be dark. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great the darkness!
ASV: 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 the darkness!
| δὲ | however |
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Parse: Conjunction Root: δέ Sense: but, moreover, and, etc. |
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| ὀφθαλμός | eye |
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Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: ὀφθαλμός Sense: the eye. |
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| σου | of you |
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Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Singular Root: σύ Sense: you. |
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| πονηρὸς | evil |
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Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: πονηρός Sense: full of labours, annoyances, hardships. |
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| σῶμά | body |
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Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular Root: σῶμα Sense: the body both of men or animals. |
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| σκοτεινὸν | full of darkness |
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Parse: Adjective, Nominative Neuter Singular Root: σκοτεινός Sense: full of darkness, covered with darkness. |
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| ἔσται | will be |
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Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Singular Root: εἰμί Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present. |
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| φῶς | light |
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Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular Root: φῶς Sense: light. |
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| τὸ | that [is] |
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Parse: Article, Nominative Neuter Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| ἐν | within |
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Parse: Preposition Root: ἐν Sense: in, by, with etc. |
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| σκότος | darkness |
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Parse: Noun, Nominative Neuter Singular Root: σκότος Sense: darkness. |
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| τὸ | that |
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Parse: Article, Nominative Neuter Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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| πόσον | how great |
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Parse: Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun, Nominative Neuter Singular Root: πόσος Sense: how great. |
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Greek Commentary for Matthew 6:23
Seneca, 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 we laugh in her, happens to us all; no one understands that he is avaricious or covetous. The blind seek for a guide; we wander about without a guide.” “Seeing falsely is worse than blindness. A man who is too dim-sighted to discern the road from the ditch, may feel which is which; but if the ditch appears manifestly to him to be the road, and the road to be the ditch, what shall become of him? False seeing is unseeing, on the negative side of blindness” (Ruskin, “Modern Painters”)i1. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 6:23
Lit., the light, that, namely, which is in thee; thus emphasizing the inward light. See on Matthew 6:23. [source]
Present passive participle of ελεγχω elegchō an old verb meaning in Homer to treat with contempt, then to convict (Matthew 18:15), to expose (Ephesians 5:11), to reprove as here. The substantive ελεγχος elegchos means proof (Hebrews 11:1) and ελεγμος elegmos censure (2 Timothy 3:16). Josephus (Ant. XVIII. V.4) shows how repulsive this marriage was to Jewish feeling. Evil things Incorporated into the relative sentence. The word is from πονοσ πονεω ponosclass="normal greek">οπταλμος πονηρος poneō toil, work, and gives the active side of evil, possibly with the notion of work itself as evil or at least an annoyance. The “evil eye” In Matthew 6:23 it is a diseased eye. So Satan is “the evil one” (Matthew 5:37; Matthew 6:13, etc.). It is a very common adjective in the N.T. as in the older Greek. [source]
Third condition again. It is spiritual darkness that Jesus here pictures, but the result is the same. See the same figure in John 12:35 (1 John 2:11). The ancients had poor illumination at night as indeed we did before Edison gave us electric lights. Pedestrians actually used to have little lamps fastened on the feet to light the path. In him Spiritual darkness, the worst of all (cf. Matthew 6:23; John 8:12). Man has the capacity for light, but is not the source of light. “By the application of this principle Christianity is distinguished from Neo-Platonism” (Westcott). [source]
Second aorist middle subjunctive (final clause with οπως hopōs) of εχαιρεω exaireō old verb to pluck out, to rescue (Acts 23:27). “Strikes the keynote of the epistle. The gospel is a rescue, an emancipation from a state of bondage” (Lightfoot). Out of this present evil world (εκ του αιωνος του ενεστωτος πονηρου ek tou aiōnos tou enestōtos ponērou). Literally, “out of the age the existing one being evil.” The predicate position of πονηρου ponērou calls emphatic attention to it. Each word here is of interest and has been already discussed. See Matthew 13:22 for aiōn Matthew 6:23 for ponēros αιων Enestōtos is genitive masculine singular of πονηρος enestōs second perfect (intransitive) participle of Ενεστωτος enistēmi for which see 2 Thessalonians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 3:22; 1 Corinthians 7:26. It is present as related to future (Romans 8:38; Hebrews 9:9). According to the will of God Not according to any merit in us. [source]
Literally, “out of the age the existing one being evil.” The predicate position of πονηρου ponērou calls emphatic attention to it. Each word here is of interest and has been already discussed. See Matthew 13:22 for aiōn Matthew 6:23 for ponēros αιων Enestōtos is genitive masculine singular of πονηρος enestōs second perfect (intransitive) participle of Ενεστωτος enistēmi for which see 2 Thessalonians 2:12; 1 Corinthians 3:22; 1 Corinthians 7:26. It is present as related to future (Romans 8:38; Hebrews 9:9). [source]
More correctly, sons of light. See on Mark 3:17, and comp. Luke 16:8; John 12:36; Ephesians 5:8; Colossians 1:12. The Christian condition is habitually associated in N.T. with light: see Matthew 5:14, Matthew 5:16; John 3:21; John 8:12; Acts 26:18; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 John 1:7. The contrary condition with darkness: see John 3:19, John 3:20; Ephesians 5:8; 1 Peter 2:9; Matthew 4:16; Matthew 6:23, etc. [source]