Amplified Bible
Matthew 18:8
8“If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off and throw it away from you [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into everlasting fire.
Matthew 18:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.
- New King James Version (NKJV)“If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire.
Context of Matthew 18:8
6but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin [by leading him away from My teaching], it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone [as large as one turned by a donkey] hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7“Woe (judgment is coming) to the world because of stumbling blocks and temptations to sin! It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to the person on whose account or through whom the stumbling block comes! “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off and throw it away from you [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into everlasting fire. 9If your eye causes you to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; it is better for you to enter life with only one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fiery hell. 10“See that you do not despise or think less of one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven [are in the presence of and] continually look upon the face of My Father who is in heaven.
Read all of Matthew 18Matthew 18:8 word by word
εἰ δὲ ἡ χείρ σου ἢ ὁ πούς σου σκανδαλίζει σε, ἔκκοψον αὐτὸν καὶ βάλε ἀπὸ σοῦ· καλόν σοί ἐστιν εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ζωὴν κυλλὸν ἢ χωλὸν ἢ δύο χεῖρας ἢ δύο πόδας ἔχοντα βληθῆναι εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ αἰώνιον.Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Whereforeδέde · thenG1161
- ifεἰei · ifG1487
- thyσύsu · youG4771
- handχείρcheir · handG5495
- orἤē · orG2228
- footπούςpous · footG4228
- offendσκανδαλίζωskandalizō · to cause to stumbleG4624
- cutἐκκόπτωekkoptō · to preventG1581
- themαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- castβάλλωballō · to throw: throwG906
- fromἀπόapo · away fromG575
- it isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- betterκαλόςkalos · goodG2570
- to enterεἰσέρχομαιeiserchomai · to enterG1525
- intoεἰςeis · towardG1519
- lifeζωήzōē · lifeG2222
- haltχωλόςchōlos · lameG5560
- maimedκυλλόςkullos · crippledG2948
- havingἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
- twoδύοduo · twoG1417
- everlastingαἰώνιοςaiōnios · eternalG166
- fireπῦρpur · fireG4442
Cross-references for Matthew 18:8
- Matthew 5:29If your right eye makes you stumble and leads you to sin, tear it out and throw it away [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
- Matthew 14:3For Herod had John arrested and bound him and put him in prison [at the fortress of Machaerus, east of the Jordan, to keep him away] because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip,
- Deuteronomy 13:6“If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as [precious to you as] your own life (soul), entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (gods whom neither you nor your fathers have known,
- Mark 9:43If your hand causes you to stumble and sin, cut it off [that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation]! It is better for you to enter life crippled, than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,
- Luke 14:26“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God]—he cannot be My disciple.
- Luke 18:22When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “You still lack one thing; sell everything that you have and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have [abundant] treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me [becoming My disciple, believing and trusting in Me and walking the same path of life that I walk].”
- Isaiah 2:20In that day men will throw away to the moles and to the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves [as objects] to worship,
- Isaiah 30:22And you will defile your carved images overlaid with silver, and your cast images plated with gold. You will scatter them like a bloodstained cloth, and will say to them, “Be gone!”
- Ezekiel 18:31Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed [against Me], and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why should you die, O house of Israel?
- Romans 13:12The night [this present evil age] is almost gone and the day [of Christ’s return] is almost here. So let us fling away the works of darkness and put on the [full] armor of light.
- Philippians 3:8But more than that, I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him—a joy unequaled]. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ,
- Matthew 15:30And great crowds came to Him, bringing with them the lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they put them down at His feet; and He healed them.
- Matthew 25:41“Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Leave Me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (demons);
- Isaiah 33:14The sinners in Zion are terrified; Trembling has seized the godless. [They cry] “Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?”
- Mark 9:48where their worm [that feeds on the dead] does not die, and the fire is not put out.
- Luke 16:24And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in severe agony in this flame.’
Commentaries on Matthew 18:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8If thy hand, etc. - See the notes on Matthew 5:29-30; (note).Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8If thy hand - See the notes at Matthew 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…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-14Verses 7-14 Considering the cunning and malice of Satan, and the weakness and depravity of men's hearts, it is not possible but that there should be offences. God permits them for wise and holy ends, that those who are sincere, and those who are not, may be made known. Being told before, that there will be seducers, tempters, persecutors, and bad examples, let us stand on our guard. We must, as far as lawfully we may, part with what we cannot keep without…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 8-9Jesus shifts his concern to the person. You must remove anything that leads you to sin (see Matthew 5:29–30; Colossians 3:5–17).Read the comment
Topics related to Matthew 18:8
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Matthew 18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Catena Aurea
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- John Lightfoot Commentary
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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