Matthew 6:23

Matthew 6:23 in other versions

• King James Version (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!
• New International Version (NIV)But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
• English Standard Version (ESV)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!
• New King James Version (NKJV)But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Context of Matthew 6:23

21for where your treasure is, there your heart [your wishes, your desires; that on which your life centers] will be also. 22“The eye is the lamp of the body; so if your eye is clear [spiritually perceptive], your whole body will be full of light [benefiting from God’s precepts]. But if your eye is bad [spiritually blind], your whole body will be full of darkness [devoid of God’s precepts]. So if the [very] light inside you [your inner self, your heart, your conscience] is darkness, how great and terrible is that darkness! 24“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord]. 25“Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Matthew 6:23 word by word

ἐὰν δὲ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου πονηρὸς ᾖ, ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου σκοτεινὸν ἔσται. εἰ οὖν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἐν σοὶ σκότος ἐστίν, τὸ σκότος πόσον.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• ifἐάνean · ifG1437
• thineσύsu · youG4771
• eyeὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• eyeὀφθαλμόςophthalmos · eyeG3788
• beεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• evilπονηρόςponēros · evil/badG4190
• wholeὅλοςholos · allG3650
• bodyσῶμαsōma · bodyG4983
• full of darknessσκοτεινόςskoteinos · darkG4652
• Ifεἰei · ifG1487
• thereforeοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
• the lightφῶςphōs · lightG5457
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• darknessσκότοςskotos · darknessG4655
• how greatπόσοςposos · how much/many?G4214

Cross-references for Matthew 6:23

• Matthew 20:15Am I not lawfully permitted to do what I choose with what is mine? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?’
• Isaiah 44:18They do not know, nor do they understand, for God has muddied their eyes so that they cannot see, and their hearts (minds) as well so that they cannot understand.
• Mark 7:22acts of greed and covetousness, wickedness, deceit, unrestrained conduct, envy and jealousy, slander and profanity, arrogance and self-righteousness and foolishness (poor judgment).
• Ephesians 4:18for their [moral] understanding is darkened and their reasoning is clouded; [they are] alienated and self-banished from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the [willful] ignorance and spiritual blindness that is [deep-seated] within them, because of the hardness and insensitivity of their heart.
• Ephesians 5:8For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of Light [live as those who are native-born to the Light]
• 1 John 2:11But the one who habitually hates (works against) his brother [in Christ] is in [spiritual] darkness and is walking in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
• Matthew 23:16“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears [an oath] by the sanctuary of the temple, that is nothing (non-binding); but whoever swears [an oath] by the gold of the temple is obligated [as a debtor to fulfill his vow and keep his promise].’
• Proverbs 26:12Do you see a man [who is unteachable and] wise in his own eyes and full of self-conceit? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
• Isaiah 5:20Woe (judgment is coming) to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
• Isaiah 8:20[Direct those people] to the law and to the testimony! If their teachings are not in accord with this word, it is because they have no dawn.
• Jeremiah 4:22“For My people are stupid and foolish,” [says the Lord to Jeremiah]; “They do not know Me; They are foolish children And have no understanding. They are shrewd [enough] to do evil, But they do not know [how] to do good.”
• Jeremiah 8:8“How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the Lord is with us [and we are learned in its language and teachings]’? Behold, [the truth is that] the lying pen of the scribes Has made the law into a lie [a mere code of ceremonial observances].
• Luke 8:10And He said, “To you [who have been chosen] it has been granted to know and recognize the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that though seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.
• John 9:39Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment [to separate those who believe in Me from those who reject Me—to declare judgment on those who choose to be separated from God], so that the sightless would see, and those who see would become blind.”
• Romans 1:22Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
• Romans 2:17But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely on the Law [for your salvation] and boast in [your special relationship to] God,

Commentaries on Matthew 6:23

• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 19-24Verses 19-24 Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a profession of religion. Something the soul will have, which it looks upon as the best thing; in which it has pleasure and confidence above other things. Christ counsels to make our best things the joys and glories of the other world, those things not seen which are eternal, and to place our…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. But if thine eye be evil--distempered, or, as we should say, If we have got a bad eye. thy whole body shall be full of darkness--darkened. As a vitiated eye, or an eye that looks not straight and full at its object, sees nothing as it is, so a mind and heart divided between heaven and earth is all dark. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!--As the conscience is the regulative faculty, and a man's inward…Read the comment

Topics related to Matthew 6:23

• Blindness
• Commandments
• Conscience
• Darkness
• Religion
• Wicked (People)
• Wisdom

In the dictionaries

• Add
• Appear
• Closet
• Consider
• Corrupt
• Countenance
• Darkness
• Despise
• Fast
• Forgive

Commentaries on Matthew 6

• 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