Matthew 6:23 BSB — MannaFest

Matthew 6:23

But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

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!

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!

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Commentary

2 voices

Jerome

Catena Aurea by Aquinas (420)

This is an illustration drawn from the senses. As the whole body is in darkness, where the eye is not single, so if the soul has lost her original brightness, every sense, or that whole part of the soul to which sensation belongs, will abide in darkness. Wherefore He says, If then the light which is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! that is, if the senses which are the soul's light be darkened by vice, in how great darkness do you suppose the darkness itself will be wrapped?

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

Thomas Aquinas

Commentary on Matthew (1274)

Consequently, he adapts: If then the light that is in thee be darkness, namely, the light of reason, the darkness itself how great shall it be! Of this light, the Psalm says: "The light of your countenance is signed upon us" (Ps 4:6). He means …

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

J.C. Ryle

1816–1900

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew (1856)

There are three subjects brought before us in this part of our Lord’s sermon on the mount. These three are fasting, worldliness, and singleness of purpose in religion. Fasting, or occasional abstinence from food in order to bring the body into subjection to the spirit, is a practice frequently mentioned in the Bible, and generally in connection with prayer. David fasted when his child was sick; Daniel fasted when he sought special light from God; Paul and Barnabas fasted when they appointed elders; Esther fasted before going in to Ahasuerus.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

25 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ἐὰν	ean	If	G1437 →
δὲ	de	however	G1161 →
ὁ	ho	the	G3588 →
ὀφθαλμός	ophthalmos	eye	G3788 →
σου	sou	of you	G4771 →
πονηρὸς	ponēros	evil	G4190 →
ᾖ,	ē	shall be,	G1510 →
ὅλον	holon	all	G3650 →
τὸ	to	the	G3588 →
σῶμά	sōma	body	G4983 →
σου	sou	of you	G4771 →
σκοτεινὸν	skoteinon	full of darkness	G4652 →
ἔσται.	estai	will be.	G1510 →
εἰ	ei	If	G1487 →
οὖν	oun	then	G3767 →
τὸ	to	the	G3588 →
φῶς	phōs	light	G5457 →
τὸ	to	that [is]	G3588 →
ἐν	en	within	G1722 →
σοὶ	soi	you	G4771 →
σκότος	skotos	darkness	G4655 →
ἐστίν,	estin	is,	G1510 →
τὸ	to	that	G3588 →
σκότος	skotos	darkness	G4655 →
πόσον.¶	poson	how great!	G4214 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Matthew 6:22
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
leads to
- Luke 11:34–36
  Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body is full of darkness.
- 2 Corinthians 11:3
  I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.
Through
Jeremiah 4:22
“For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”
leads to
- 1 Corinthians 14:20
  Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.
- Romans 16:19
  Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil.
- Jeremiah 5:21
  “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.
Through
Proverbs 26:12
Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
leads to
- Proverbs 29:20
  Do you see a man who speaks in haste? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- 1 Corinthians 3:18–19
  Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.
Through
1 John 2:11
But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
leads to
- John 12:35
  Then Jesus told them, “For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the…