Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 5:29
And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, 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.
29. thy right eye ] suggested by the preceding verse. The eye and the hand are not only in themselves good and serviceable, but necessary. Still they may become the occasion of sin to us. So pursuits and pleasures innocent in themselves may bring temptation, and involve us in sin. These must be resigned, however great the effort implied in “cast it from thee.”
offend thee ] “cause thee to fall.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thy right eye – The Hebrews, like others, were accustomed to represent the affections of the mind by the members or parts of the body, Rom 7:23; Rom 6:13. Thus, the bowels denoted compassion; the heart, affection or feeling; the reins, understanding, secret purpose. An evil eye denotes sometimes envy Mat 20:15, and sometimes an evil passion, or sin in general. Mar 7:21-22; out of the heart proceedeth an evil eye. In this place, as in 2Pe 2:14, the expression is used to denote strong adulterous passion, unlawful desire, or wicked inclination. The right eye and hand are mentioned, because they are of most use to us, and denote that, however strong the passion may be, or difficult to part with, yet that we should do it.
Offend thee – The noun from which the verb offend, in the original, is derived, commonly means a stumbling-block, or a stone placed in the way, over which one might fall. It also means a net, or a certain part of a net against which, if a bird strikes, it springs the net, and is taken. It comes to signify, therefore, anything by which we fall, or are ensnared; and applied to morals, means anything by which we fall into sin, or by which we are ensnared. The English word offend means now, commonly, to displease; to make angry; to affront. This is by no means the sense of the word in Scripture. It means to cause to fall into sin. The eye does this when it wantonly looks upon a woman to lust after her.
Pluck it out … – It cannot be supposed that Christ intended this to be taken literally. His design was to teach that the dearest objects, if they cause us to sin, are to be abandoned; that by all sacrifices and self-denials we must overcome the evil propensities of our nature, and resist our wanton imaginations. Some of the fathers, however, took this commandment literally. Our Saviour several times repeated this sentiment. See Mat 18:9; Mar 9:43-47. Compare also Col 3:5.
It is profitable for thee – It is better for thee. You will have gained by it.
One of thy members perish – It is better to deny yourself the gratification of an evil passion here, however much it may cost you, than to go down to hell forever.
Thy whole body should be cast into hell – Thy body, with all its unsubdued and vicious propensities. This will constitute no small part of the misery of hell. The sinner will be sent there as he is, with every evil desire, every unsubdued propensity, every wicked and troublesome passion, and yet with no possibility of gratification. It constitutes our highest notions of misery when we think of a man filled with anger, pride, malice, avarice, envy and lust, and with no opportunity of gratifying them forever. This is all that is necessary to make an eternal hell. On the word hell, see the notes at Mat 5:22.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 29. – 30. Pluck it out – cut it off] We must shut our senses against dangerous objects, to avoid the occasions of sin, and deprive ourselves of all that is most dear and profitable to us, in order to save our souls, when we find that these dear and profitable things, however innocent in themselves, cause us to sin against God.
It is profitable for thee that one of thy members] Men often part with some members of the body, at the discretion of a surgeon, that they may preserve the trunk, and die a little later; and yet they will not deprive themselves of a look, a touch, a small pleasure, which endanger the eternal death of the soul. It is not enough to shut the eye, or stop the hand; the one must be plucked out, and the other cut off. Neither is this enough, we must cast them both from us. Not one moment’s truce with an evil passion, or a sinful appetite. If you indulge them, they will gain strength, and you shall be ruined. The rabbins have a saying similar to this: “It is better for thee to be scorched with a little fire in this world, than to be burned with a devouring fire in the world to come.”
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The sum of these two verses is, that the salvation of our immortal souls is to be preferred before all things, be they never so dear and precious to us; and that if mens ordinary discretion teacheth them for the preservation of their bodies to cut off a particular member, which would necessarily endanger the whole body, it much more teacheth them to part with any thing which will prejudice the salvation of their souls. Not that any person is by this text obliged to cut off any bodily member, (as some have done), because there can be no such necessity; but only to mortify their members, Col 3:5, the deeds of the body, Rom 8:13, their inward lusts, which being mortified there will be no need of mutilating ourselves; for the members of the body are but commanded and animated to their motions from the inward lusts of the heart: but if there could happen such a case, as that a man must voluntarily part with the most useful member of his body, or sin against God to the damnation of his soul, he ought rather to choose the former than the latter. How much more then ought Christians to mortify their inward lusts and unlawful desires, which can be of no profit nor advantage to them; but will certainly make them to offend God, and so run them upon the danger of hell fire!
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
29. And if thy right eyethereadier and the dearer of the two.
offend theebe a “trapspring,” or as in the New Testament, be “an occasion ofstumbling” to thee.
pluck it out and cast it fromtheeimplying a certain indignant promptitude, heedless ofwhatever cost to feeling the act may involve. Of course, it is notthe eye simply of which our Lord speaksas if execution wereto be done upon the bodily organthough there have been fanaticalascetics who have both advocated and practiced this, showing a verylow apprehension of spiritual thingsbut the offending eye,or the eye considered as the occasion of sin; and consequently, onlythe sinful exercise of the organ which is meant. For as onemight put out his eyes without in the least quenching the lust towhich they ministered, so, “if thine eye be single, thy wholebody shall be full of light,” and, when directed by a holy mind,becomes an “instrument of righteousness unto God.” At thesame time, just as by cutting off a hand, or plucking out an eye, thepower of acting and of seeing would be destroyed, our Lordcertainly means that we are to strike at the root of suchunholy dispositions, as well as cut off the occasions which tend tostimulate them.
for it is profitable for theethat one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole bodyshould be cast into hellHe who despises the warning to castfrom him, with indignant promptitude, an offending member, will findhis whole body “cast,” with a retributive promptitude ofindignation, “into hell.” Sharp language, this, from thelips of Love incarnate!
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And if thy right eye offend thee,…. Or “cause thee to offend”, to stumble, and fall into sin. Our Lord has no regard here to near and dear relations seeking to alienate us from God and Christ, and hinder us in the pursuit of divine things; whose solicitations are to be rejected with the utmost indignation, and they themselves to be parted with, and forsaken, rather than complied with; which is the sense some give of the words: for both in this, and the following verse, respect is had only to the law of adultery; and to such members of the body, which often are the means of leading persons on to the breach of it; particularly the eye and hand. The eye is often the instrument of ensnaring the heart this way: hence the Jews have a z saying,
“whoever looks upon women, at the end comes into the hands of transgression.”
Mention is only made of the right eye; not but that the left may be an occasion of sinning, as well as the right; but that being most dear and valuable, is instanced in, and ordered to be parted with:
pluck it out, and cast it from thee: which is not to be understood literally; for no man is obliged to mutilate any part of his body, to prevent sin, or on account of the commission of it; this is no where required, and if done, would be sinful, as in the case of Origen: but figuratively; and the sense is, that persons should make a covenant with their eyes, as Job did; and turn them away from beholding such objects, which may tend to excite impure thoughts and desires; deny themselves the gratification of the sense of seeing, or feeding the eyes with such sights, as are graceful to the flesh; and with indignation and contempt, reject, and avoid all opportunities and occasions of sinning; which the eye may be the instrument of, and lead unto:
for it is profitable for thee, that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. This is still a continuation of the figure here used; and the meaning is, that it will turn to better account, to lose all the carnal pleasures of the eye, or all those pleasing sights, which are grateful to a carnal heart, than, by enjoying them, to expose the whole man, body and soul, to everlasting destruction, in the fire of hell.
z T. Bab. Nedarim, fol. 20. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Causeth thee to stumble ( ). This is far better than the Authorized Version “Offend thee.” Braid Scots has it rightly “ensnare ye.” It is not the notion of giving offence or provoking, but of setting a trap or snare for one. The substantive (, from ) means the stick in the trap that springs and closes the trap when the animal touches it. Pluck out the eye when it is a snare, cut off the hand, even the right hand. These vivid pictures are not to be taken literally, but powerfully plead for self-mastery. Bengel says: Non oculum, sed scandalizentem oculum. It is not mutilating of the body that Christ enjoins, but control of the body against sin. The man who plays with fire will get burnt. Modern surgery finely illustrates the teaching of Jesus. The tonsils, the teeth, the appendix, to go no further, if left diseased, will destroy the whole body. Cut them out in time and the life will be saved. Vincent notes that “the words scandal and slander are both derived from . And Wyc. renders, ‘if thy right eye slander thee.'” Certainly slander is a scandal and a stumbling-block, a trap, and a snare.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Offend [] . The word offend carries to the English reader the sense of giving offense, provoking. Hence the Rev., by restoring the picture in the word, restores its true meaning, causeth to stumble. The kindred noun is skandalon, a later form of skandalhqron, the stick in a trap on which the bait is place, and which springs up and shuts the trap at the touch of an animal. Hence, generally, a snare, a stumbling – block. Christ ‘s meaning here is : “If your eye or your hand serve as an obstacle or trap to ensnare or make you fall in your moral walk.” How the eye might do this may be seen in the previous verse. Bengel observes : “He who, when his eye proves a stumbling – block, takes care not to see, does in reality blind himself.” The words scandal and slander are both derived from skandalon; and Wyc. renders, “If thy right eye slander thee.” Compare Aeschylus, “Choephori,” 301, 372.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And if thy right eye offend thee,” (ei de ho ophthaimos sou ho deksios skandalizei se) “So if your right eye (good eyesight) should cause you to stumble or fall,” in a moral sense. The right eye is the most valued organ of sense; yet, it may become an instrument of a curse, if abused or wrongly used, Mr 9:47,48.
2) “Pluck it out, and cast it from thee:” (eksele auton kai bale apo sou) “Cast or cut it out and cast it from you:” “Do not yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin,” Rom 6:13. It is the sinful exercise of the eye of lust that is to be uprooted, cast away, not the literal dismemberment of an organ of the body. The root of unholy dispositions are to be cut off or halted for protection of the whole life influence.
3) “For it is profitable for thee,” (sumpherei gar soi) “Because it is expedient for you, for your best interest morally, as an individual.
4) “That one of thy members should perish,” (hina apoletai en ton melon sou) “in order that one of your body members should perish,” Even from usefulness altogether, rather than be led by its lustful enticement to destroy the entire influence of your life, of your whole body, 1Co 9:27.
5) “And not that thy whole body, (kai me holon to soma sou) “And not all of your body,” your entire life’s influence for good, 1Co 6:19-20.
6) “Should be cast into hell.” (blethe eis geennan) “Should come to be cast into hell,” the gehenna fire, where physical refuse of man and beast is tossed, so that one’s life’s works, as a child of God may be burned up, as he suffers loss or rewards, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire, 1Co 3:15; 2Jn 1:8.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
29. If thy right eye shall be a stumbling-block to thee. It might be thought that, considering the weakness of the flesh and of nature, Christ pressed too severely on men, and therefore he anticipates all such complaints. The general meaning is, that however difficult, or severe, or troublesome, or harsh, any commandment of God may be, yet no excuse ought to be pleaded on those grounds, because the justice of God ought to stand higher in our estimation, than all that we reckon most precious and valuable. “You have no right to object to me, that you can scarcely turn your eyes in any direction, without being suddenly drawn away by some temptation: for you ought rather to part with your eyes, than to depart from the commandments of God.” And yet Christ does not mean, that we must mutilate our body, in order to obey God: but as all would readily wish, that they should not be restrained from the free use of their senses, Christ employs an exaggerated (407) form of speech to show, that whatever hinders us from yielding that obedience to God which he requires in his law, ought to be cut off. And he does so expressly, because men allow themselves too much liberty in that respect. If the mind were pure, the eyes and hands would be obedient to it; for it is certain, that they have no movement of their own. But here we are deeply to blame. We are so far from being as careful as we ought to be, to avoid allurements, that we rather provoke our senses to wickedness by allowing them unbounded liberty.
(407) “ Par une facon de parler hyperbolique, (c’est a dire, excessive :”) — “by a hyperbolical, that is, an excessive mode of speaking.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(29) If thy right eye offend thee.The Greek verb means, strictly, to cause another to stumble or fall into a snare, and this was probably the sense in which the translators used the word offend. It is doubtful, however, whether it ever had this factitive sense in English outside the Authorised version, and the common use of the word gives so different a meaning that it cannot be regarded as a happy rendering. The difficulty of finding an equivalent is shown by the variations in the successive English versions: offend, in Tyndals; hinder thee, in Cranmers; cause thee to offend, in the Geneva; scandalise, in the Rhemish; offend, again in the Authorised version. Of these the Geneva is, beyond doubt, the best.
Pluck it out.The bold severity of the phrase excludes a literal interpretation. The seat of the evil lies in the will, not in the organ of sense or action, and the removal of the instrument might leave the inward taint unpurified. What is meant is, that any sense, when it ministers to sin is an evil and not a good, the loss of which would be the truest gain. Translated into modern language, we are warned that taste, culture, sthetic refinement may but make our guilt and our punishment more tremendous. It were better to be without them than
Propter vitam vivendi perdere causas.
[ And for lifes sake to lose lifes noblest ends.]
It is profitable.The element of prudential self-love, of a calculation of profit and loss, is not excluded from Christian motives. As addressed to a nation immersed in the pursuit of gain, it conveys the stern, yet pertinent, warningIf you must think of profit, make your calculations wisely.
Hell.Gehenna, as in Mat. 5:22. The language is still symbolical. The horrid picture of a human body thrown into the foul, offal-fed flame of the Valley of Hinnom is again a parable of something more terrible than itself.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
29. Offend thee Seduce thee, entrap thee to sin; for such is the meaning of the word offend in the Greek. Eye members body Symbolical terms again. We have a corrupt inner system; a depraved hidden man, within the outer man, with all its members, eye, hand, and foot, in which resides our appetency for sin. And yet it is ourself, and cannot be cast into perdition without taking the whole being. Now if this corrupt eye seduce us to adultery, if the itching palm contract theft, if the foot tend to blood, let spiritual amputation be performed. This may bring the whole corrupt man to health. One of thy members perish The adventurous figure is boldly carried out. It is as if some bystander had endeavoured to push our Lord’s simile into absurdity by saying, If we amputate as you advise, we should go to heaven maimed. Our Lord virtually replies, Very well; better go to heaven maimed, than to hell whole.
The sentiment, therefore, is affections and lusts for forbidden objects must be sacrificed at whatever expense of feeling.
Upon this passage Roberts remarks, “This metaphor is in common use to this day; hence people say of anything which is valuable, ‘It is like my right eye!’ ‘Yes, yes, that child is the right eye of his father.’ ‘That fellow forsake his sins! never; they are his right eye.’“
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Christ’s advice to the tempted:
v. 29. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out 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.
v. 30. 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. The right eye and the right hand are named as prominent members in the actual committing of sin, through which the evil desire of the heart finds its expression. They are represented as the organs of temptation. According to popular view, they are the members that offend, that incite to the actual commission of sin. Therefore, symbolically speaking, these members and all the members of the body must be controlled, if necessary, by an absolute and painful renunciation. Better to be without individual organs and members of the body than have the whole body condemned. Christ speaks figuratively, and His words must be understood in the spiritual sense; for mutilation evidently may prevent the outward act, but will not kill the desire. Every member of the body shall be so controlled and governed by the sanctified will that it will not yield to sin, thus bringing the whole body into condemnation. Jesus again uses the figure of the perpetual fires of the valley of Hinnom, where the waste and refuse of the city of Jerusalem was burned, for the punishment of hell. “This, then, is the meaning: If you feel that you look upon a woman with evil lust, then pluck that eye or vision out as being contrary to God’s commandment, not of the body, but of the heart from which the burning and desire proceeds, then have you torn it out rightly. For when the evil lust is out of the heart, then the eye will also not sin nor offend you, and you will look upon the same woman with the same eyes of your body, but without desire, and it will be as though you had not seen her. For no longer is that eye there which was there before, which is called an eye of burning or desire, although the eye of the body remains uninjured. “
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 5:29-30. And if thy right eye offend thee, &c. The word rendered offend thee, , signifies to be a stumbling-block in a person’s way, or the occasion of his fall; and so implies much more than merely to displease; a remark which deserves attending to, because the sense of many texts depends upon it. We may read, make thee offend, or insnare thee. We may just note, that the greatest part of Christ’s auditors being people who lived by their daily labour, to these the loss of a right hand would be a much greater calamity than that of a right eye; so that there is a gradation and force in this passage, beyond what has been generally observed. Every one knows that the expressions in these verses are figurative,and not to be literally understood. The general meaning is, “Denythyself the use of thy senses, though ever so delightful, in all cases where the use of them ensnares thy soul. Turn away thine eye, and keep back thy hand from the alluring object.” This, says Chrysostome, is a most mild and easy precept: it would have been much more hard, had he given commandment to converse with and look curiously on women, and then to abstain from farther commission of uncleanness with them. Figurative and proverbial speeches, which may have great beauty and force in one language, often lose their grace and energy when translated into another tongue, wherein the novelty and exotic air of the expression may greatly obscure the sense intended by it. All our translations of the Scripture must labour under this difficulty. A superficial reader will find his imagination shocked at the bare proposal of pulling out an eye, or cutting off an hand, being not aware, that by the eye is meant the intention, and by the hand the execution of it. In the very next chapter we have the eye again in this sense, namely, to denote the intention, view, or design: and to express performance by the hand, is so agreeable to the general tenor of Scripture-language, that it is needless to insist upon it. With this explanation, it appears not only that the precept is reasonable and expedient, but also that the terms by which our Lord chose to express it, are peculiarlyproper to the occasion. The occasion was the prohibition of impure desires, and the mental adultery; an odious subject, which requires great reserve, and a covering of darkness, even in reproving it. But it is known how those who are possessed with that criminal passion, are apt to be transported by it; and that the exaggerating metaphors in which they delight to express their infatuation, amply justify the sacred language of pulling out the right eye, and casting it away, to express the extremeviolencewhichtheyoughttodothemselves,whowould preserve their purity. See Heylin and Ostervald on uncleanness.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 5:29 . [409] Unconditional self-denial , however, is required in order not to stumble against the prohibition of adultery in its complete meaning, and thereby to fall into hell. Better for thee that thou decidedly deprive thyself of that which is so dear and indispensable to thee for the temporal life, and the sacrificing of which will be still so painful to thee, than that thou, seduced thereby, and so on. In the typical expression of this thought (comp. on Col 3:5 ) the eye and hand are named, because it is precisely these that are the media of lust; and the right members, because to these the popular idea gave the superiority over the left, Exo 29:20 ; 1Sa 11:2 ; Zec 11:17 ; Aristotle, de animal. incessu , 4. The non-typical but literal interpretation (Pricaeus, Fritzsche, likewise Ch. F. Fritzsche in his Nov. Opusc . p. 347 f., Arnoldi) is not in keeping with the spirit of the moral strictness of Jesus; and to help it out by supplying a limitation (perhaps in the extreme case , to which, however, it cannot come; comp. Tholuck) is arbitrary. The view, however, which is, indeed, also the proper one, but hyperbolical , according to which the plucking, out is said to represent only the restraining or limiting the use , does not satisfy the strength of the expression. So Olshausen, comp. already Grotius. Only the typical view, which is also placed beyond doubt by the mention of the one eye, satisfies the words and spirit of Jesus. Yet, having regard to the plastic nature of the figures, it is not the thought “as is done to criminals ” (Keim), but merely that of thoroughgoing, unsparing self-discipline (Gal 5:24 ; Gal 6:14 ; Rom 8:13 ).
] a typical designation, borrowed from a trap ( and , the trap-spring), of the idea of seducing to unbelief, heresy, sin, etc. Here it is the latter idea. The word is not found in Greek writers, but in the LXX. and Apocrypha, and very frequently in the N. T. Observe the present . What is required is not to take place only after the completion of the seduction.
, , . . .] not even here, as nowhere indeed, does stand instead of the infinitive (comp. Mat 18:6 ), but is to be taken as teleological: “ it is of importance to thee (this plucking out of the eye), in order that one of thy members may be destroyed, and not thy whole body be cast into hell .” Thus Fritzsche alone correctly; comp. Kuffer. The alleged forced nature of this explanation is a deception arising from the customary usage of the infinitive in German.
] namely, at the closely impending establishment of the kingdom; comp. Mat 10:28 . Mat 5:30 is the same thought, solemnly repeated, although not quite in the same words (see the critical remarks). “Sane multos unius membri neglecta mortificatio perdit,” Bengel.
[409] Comp. Mat 18:8 f.; Mar 9:43 ff. Holtzmann assigns the original form to Mark. On the other hand, see Weiss.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 1304
THE NECESSITY OF MORTIFYING EVERY SIN
Mat 5:29-30. If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, 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. 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.
MANY of the precepts of our holy religion are so strict, that persons indisposed to obey them are ready to turn away from them in despair, exclaiming, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? But must we on that account keep back the truth, or lower the commands of God to the habits and inclinations of men? Must we not rather declare the whole counsel of God, and enforce to the uttermost the authority of his word? Our blessed Lord has set us an example in this respect; an example which all his servants must follow. He had declared, that an impure look was, in Gods estimation, constructive adultery. To this it might be objected, that our constitution, rather than our will, was chargeable with this offence. But our Lord shuts out at once all objections of this kind, by saying, that even a right eye or a right hand must be parted with, rather than that we should suffer them to lead us to the commission of any sin; and that, if we refuse to sacrifice any thing for his sake, eternal misery will be our merited and inevitable portion.
In his words there are two things to be noticed:
I.
The alternative proposed
It is here supposed, that we have, both within us and without, many things which may operate as incitements to sin. And experience proves that this is really the case: there is not a faculty of our minds, or a member of our bodies, which may not become an occasion of evil; nor is there any thing around us which may not administer fuel to the flames of corruption that are within us. Beauty has a tendency to create unhallowed desires; splendour, to call forth envy and ambition; and plenty, to promote intemperance.
But our Lord sets before us an alternative, either to turn away from those things which are occasions of evil, or to suffer the displeasure of an angry God in hell.
Now this is,
1.
An only alternative
[Nothing leas will suffice on our part; nor will any diminution of punishment be admitted on Gods part. It is to no purpose to urge, that the evil disposition which we harbour is but small, or that it is in a manner necessary to our happiness: if it is as dear as a right eye, or as necessary as a right hand, it must be sacrificed. Nor is there any intermediate state, like that of purgatory, to which small offenders can be consigned. As there is no medium between the renunciation of sin and the allowance of it, so there is no middle state between heaven and hell. The alternative is clear, definite, irreversible [Note: Rom 8:13.]. You cannot be Christs, unless you crucify the flesh, with the affections and lusts [Note: Gal 5:24.].
It is worthy of observation, that our Lord does not affirm that the retaining of a right hand or eye will ensure eternal punishment; but he takes it for granted; he considers it as an acknowledged truth: yea, even before the resurrection of the body had been fully revealed, he considers that also as acknowledged; he takes for granted that the body, as well as the soul, shall be a subject of happiness or misery in the eternal world; and he assumes this truth as the ground of his argument. There can be no doubt therefore but that the whole body will be cast into hell, if any one member of it be made an instrument or occasion of sin.]
2.
A desirable alternative
[It may seem strange to represent such an alternative as desirable: but it is really so: for a permission to harbour one unmortified lust would be like a permission to drink so much poison, or to retain one disorder preying upon our vitals. But this is not all. Sin, if allowed any part in our affections, will strive for mastery, and never cease, till it has attained an undisputed dominion. It is a leprosy which will overspread the whole man; a canker which will eat, till it has consumed us utterly. Is it not desirable then to have it altogether eradicated, and to be compelled to wage incessant war against it? Were there any other alternative allowed us, we should want a sufficient stimulus to exertion: we should be apt to side with the traitor, and, for the sake of present ease or gratification, to neglect our true interests. But, when there is no other choice given us, but either to mortify every sinful propensity, or to suffer eternal misery in hell, we are constrained to gird ourselves to the battle, and to fight without intermission the good fight of faith.]
3.
A necessary alternative
[This alternative is no arbitrary imposition to which we are subjected without necessity: it arises out of the very nature of things. God himself could not alter it consistently with his own perfections: he could no more give license to his creatures to harbour sin, or decline punishing it if harboured, than he could cease to be holy, or to have a due respect for the honour of his law. But supposing he were to cancel this alternative, and to admit to the regions of bliss a person who retained one bosom lust, it would be of no avail; for heaven to such a person would not be heaven. Place a man here at a royal banquet; set before him every thing that can please the appetite; let him hear the sweetest melody that ever charmed the ear; let all around him be as full of happiness as their hearts can hold; what enjoyment of it would he have, whilst a thorn was in his eye? We do not hesitate to say, that darkness and solitude would to him be far preferable to all this gaiety and splendour. And precisely thus would it be to one who should be admitted into heaven, whilst one unmortified sin was yet rankling in his bosom.]
What to do under such circumstances we learn from,
II.
The advice given
The advice is simply this, To mortify sin without reserve
[It is here allowed, that the mortification of sin is a difficult and painful work, like the destruction of an eye, or the excision of a hand. But still it must be done. Of course, the language of our text is not to be taken literally: the maiming of the body, though it might incapacitate that individual member for the commission of sin, would effect nothing towards the eradicating of sin from the heart. We must understand the text as referring to the dispositions of the mind, and to the things which cull forth those dispositions into exercise. Do our connexions draw us aside from the path of duty? Are we beguiled by their example, or intimidated by their authority? We must learn to withstand their influence, and to submit either to their hatred or contempt, rather than be betrayed by them into any thing that is displeasing to God. Doubtless, we should do every thing in our power to conciliate them; but if nothing but a dereliction of duty will satisfy them, we must be prepared with meekness to reply, Whether it be right to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. Do our interests betray us into sin? Are we engaged in a trade which we cannot carry on without doing things which our consciences condemn? Or have we prospects in life which must be sacrificed, if we will follow the Lord fully? There must be no hesitation on this point: we must pluck out the right eye, and cut off the right hand, and cast them from us with abhorrence, rather than suffer them to warp our judgment, and defile our conscience.
Are our passions the occasions of sin? We must learn to subdue them by fasting and prayer, and to restrain the gratification of them to the limits which God himself has assigned. We must mortify our members upon earth, and crucify the whole body of sin [Note: Col 3:5. Rom 6:6.].
Let it not be said, We require too much. It is not man, but God, that requires these things: and he has promised that his grace shall be sufficient for us; so that, however the work may exceed all human power, we need not be discouraged: we are authorized, every one of us, to say with the Apostle, I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. Only walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh [Note: Gal 5:16.].]
The argument with which this advice is enforced, is such as no human being can withstand
[We have before observed, that our Lord assumes this as an acknowledged and indisputable truth, namely, that eternal misery in hell must be the consequence of indulging one single sin. From hence he argues, that it is expedient to part with sin, rather than incur that tremendous punishment. The pleasure of sin will surely be too dearly purchased at such a price as this. Whatever we design to procure, we always consider what its value is: no man would give a large estate for a worthless insignificant bauble: nor would any man gratify his palate with a poisonous draught, which he knew would fill him with excruciating agony to the latest hour of his life. We grant then that sin is pleasant, just for the moment: but will that momentary enjoyment repay an eternity of misery, of such misery too as no imagination can conceive? We grant too that something may be gained by sin: but can the gain ever equal the loss that will be sustained? If a man should gain the whole word, what would it profit him, if by that means he lost his own soul?
Moreover, the pain of mortifying sin can never be compared with that which will follow from the indulgence of it. Be it so, the mortifying of sin is painful; but what are the sufferings of hell fire? Were the pain of self-denial a million times greater than it is, it is but for a moment: whereas the pains of hell are everlasting. Alas! who can think of them, and not tremble? Who can think of them, and hesitate one moment about the mortifying of sin? See what we do when informed that the retaining of a limb will endanger our lives: we suffer amputation, however painful it may be; and are glad to pay the person that will perform the operation for us. O let us be equally wise in relation to our souls!
From the contemplation of this argument then we most heartily concur in our Lords advice: If your connexions ensnare you, renounce them; if your interests, sacrifice them; if your passions, get them subdued and mortified. Having your choice given you, learn, with Mary, to choose the better part.]
We cannot conclude the subject without pointing out to you the importance,
1.
Of ministerial faithfulness
[It can be no pleasure to us to speak of hell fire, and to alarm you with denouncing it as the portion of so great a multitude of our fellow-creatures. But what are we to do? What did our Lord himself do in the words before us? If we are silent, we cannot alter Gods determinations: whether we tell you of it or not, this is the alternative which God has given you: we cannot reverse it; we cannot soften it; we cannot lower it to your wishes or attainments. We may deceive and ruin you by our silence; but we cannot benefit you at all: we shall only involve ourselves in your ruin. If indeed we have put a wrong construction on our text, then we are blameable for alarming you without reason: but yet, as long as we believe this to be the mind and will of God, we must declare it: knowing, as we do, the terrors of the Lord, we must persuade men; and you may at least derive this advantage from our warnings, namely, to be stirred up to a diligent inquiry after truth. But suppose our interpretation of the passage to be just, of what infinite importance to you is it to be rightly informed respecting it! How many of you may now escape the miseries of hell, who, but for this warning, might have been subjected to them for ever! Surely then, brethren, you are indebted to us for our fidelity. You cannot but know that such faithfulness is the parent of contempt and obloquy. But we would gladly endure infinitely more than ever we have endured, if only you would take heed to our words, and flee from the wrath to come. To all of you then we say, Be thankful for the ministry that probes you to the quick, and that consults your benefit rather than your approbation.]
2.
Of personal integrity
[Self-love inclines us always to view ourselves more favourably than we ought. If we are conscious of some secret evil, we excuse ourselves as much as possible, in order to dissipate all fear of future punishment. If we hear that evil exposed, we are rather led to contemplate it in others, than to view it in ourselves: or if constrained to advert to our own case, we condemn the minister, either as personal, or as too severe. But what folly is this! If we had reason to apprehend that we had caught the plague, should we not be anxious to ascertain the truth, in order that we might counteract the infection, and escape its baneful effects? Why then are we not equally solicitous to know the state of our souls before God? Why will we shut our eyes against the light? What harm can arise from knowing what God has said concerning us? O put not from you, brethren, the word of life! Rather come hither, in order that you may be probed; in order that there may be no evil in you undiscovered. Examine yourselves with all imaginable care. Be afraid of nothing so much as being left in ignorance, and deceiving your own souls. When we speak the severest truths, apply them, not to others, but yourselves: take them as a light wherewith to search your own hearts: and beg of God to aid you by his Holy Spirit. Let Davids prayer be ever on your lips: Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me; and lead me in the way everlasting.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, 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.
Ver. 29. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out ] That is, if it be either so natural or habitual to thee to go after the sight of thine eyes (which Solomon assigneth for the source of all youthful outrages, Ecc 11:9 ) that thou hadst as dear to me lose thy right eye as not look at liberty; out with such an eye (though a right eye): pull it out, and rake in the hole where it grew, rather than that any filth should remain there. Pluck it out of the old Adam, and set it into the new man. Get that oculum irretortum, that may look forth right upon the mark, without idle or curious prying into, or poring upon, forbidden beauties, Pro 4:25 . A praetor (said the heathen) should have continent eyes as well as hands. And the Greek orator wittily and worthily upbraided a certain wanton, that he had not pupils but punks in his eyes. a And Archesilaus the philosopher, observing one to have wanton eyes, told him that the difference was not great, whether he played the naughty pack with his upper parts or his nether. Lot might not look toward Sodom. And Peter Martyr observeth out of Nathan’s parable, that lust, though it once prevailed over David, yet it was but a stranger to him; he had enough of that once, for it cost him hot water. His eye became a fountain, he washed his bed which he had defiled (yea, his pallet, or underbedding) with tears. b So did Mary Magdalen, once a strumpet: her hands were bands, her words were cords, her eyes as glasses whereinto while silly larks gazed they were taken as in a clap net. She therefore made those eyes a fountain to bathe Christ’s feet in, and had his blood a fountain to bathe her soul in, Zec 13:1 . To conclude, the sight is a deceitful sense, therefore bind it to the good abearance; call it from its straying, check it, and lay God’s charge upon it for the future. Chaste Joseph would not once look on his immodest mistress; she looked, and caught hold on him, and that when she was in bed; but her temptation fell like fire upon wet tinder, and took not. c It must be our constant care that no sparkle of the eye flee out to consume the whole by a flame of lust: but upon offer of wanton glances from others beat them back as the north wind driveth away rain, Pro 25:23 . A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment (and so any other man that sets seriously upon this practice of mortification) scattereth away all evil with his eyes, Pro 20:8 . And this is to pluck out and cast away the right eye that offendeth us, as being an occasion of offence unto us. He that shall see God to his comfort, shuts his eyes from seeing of evil. For wanton and wandering eyes (like spiders) gather poison out of the fairest flowers: and (like Jacob’s sheep) being too firmly fixed on beautiful objects, they make the affections often times bring forth spotted fruits, Isa 33:14-15 .
For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members perish ] An eye is better lost than a soul. For every (unmortified) one shall be salted with fire, pickled up, as it were, and preserved for eternal torment: and every sacrifice (acceptable to God) shall be salted with salt of mortification and self-denial, Mar 9:49 .
And not that thy whole body should be cast into hell ] As otherwise it will be: “For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die,” &c., Rom 8:13 . In Barbary, it is present death for any man to see one of the Zeriff’s concubines; and for them too, if when they see a man, though but through a casement, they do not suddenly screech out. So here, a loose and lewd eye hazards the whole to hell fire. And is it nothing to lose an immortal soul? to purchase an everliving death? A man would be loth to fetch gold out of a fiery crucible, because he knows it will burn him. Did we as truly believe the everlasting burning of that infernal fire we dare not offer to fetch either pleasures or profits out of those flames. d Bellarmine is of the opinion that one glimpse of hell’s horror were enough to make a man not only turn Christian and sober, but anchorite e and monk, to live after the strictest rule that can be. And there is a story of one, that being vexed with fleshly lusts, laid his hands upon hot burning coals to mind himself of hell fire that followeth upon fleshly courses.
a , . puellam et pupillam oculi significat. Plut.
b In 2Sa 12:4 , there came a traveller to the rich man, &c., signifies both an eye and a fountain: as it is the spring of sin, let it be of tears.
c Iisdem quibus videmus oculis flemus. Josephus saith that Potiphar and his servants were at a feast; she was at home as feigning herself sick.
d Apuleius cum amicam dissuaviaretur, ab illa hoc modo monitus est: heus tu scholastice, dulce et amarum gustulam carpis: cave ne nimia mellis dulcedine diutinam bilis amaritudinem trahas. Lascivis contrectationibus animi adulterium saepe contrahitur. The archers shot at Joseph, but his bow abode in strength, Gen 49:24 . Castus erat, non solum continens, ut Bellerophon.
e A person who has withdrawn or secluded himself from the world; usually one who has done so for religious reasons, a recluse, a hermit. D
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
29. ] An admonition, arising out of the truth announced in the last verse, to withstand the first springs and occasions of evil desire, even by the sacrifice of what is most useful and dear to us . , , . , . Chrys. Hom. xvii. 3, p. 225: and to the same effect Euthymius, who adds , . , , . Philo Judus reports that he had heard an interpretation of Deu 25:12 , singularly agreeing with this verse: . , , . De Spec. Legibus ad 6 Est 7 decal. cap. 32, vol. ii. p. 329. We may observe here, that our Lord grounds His precept of the most rigid and decisive self-denial on the considerations of the truest self-interest , . See ch. Mat 18:8-9 , and notes.
belongs to . (see Joh 16:7 ); and not (Meyer) to the foregoing, making . parenthetical.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 5:29-30 . Counsel to the tempted , expressing keen perception of the danger and strong recoil from a sin to be shunned at all hazards, even by excision, as it were, of offending members; two named , eye and hand, eye first as mentioned before. . : the right eye deemed the more precious (1Sa 11:2 , Zec 11:17 ). Similarly Mat 5:30 the right hand, the most indispensable for work. Even these right members of the body must go. But as the remaining left eye and hand can still offend, it is obvious that these counsels are not meant to be taken literally, but symbolically, as expressing strenuous effort to master sexual passion ( vide Grotius). Mutilation will not serve the purpose; it may prevent the outward act, but it will not extinguish desire. , cause to stumble; not found in Greek authors but in Sept [25] Sirach, and in N. T. in a tropical moral sense. The noun is also of frequent occurrence, a late form for , a trap-stick with bait on it which being touched the trap springs. Hesychius gives as its equivalent . It is used in a literal sense in Lev 19:14 (Sept [26] ). .: with subjunctive instead of infinitive ( vide on ch. Mat 4:3 ). Meyer insists on having here as always its telic sense and praises Fritzsche as alone interpreting the passage correctly. But, as Weiss observes, the mere destruction of the member is not the purpose of its excision. Note the impressive solemn repetition in Mat 5:30 of the thought in Mat 5:29 , in identical terms save that for is substituted, in the true reading, . This logion occurs again in Matthew (Mat 18:8-9 ). Weiss (Marc.-Evang., 326) thinks it is taken here from the Apostolic document, i.e. , Matthew’s book of Logia, and there from Mar 9:43-47 .
[25] Septuagint.
[26] Septuagint.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
thy right eye: i.e. thy choicest possession. Figure of speech Hypocatastasis. App-6.
offend = causeth thee to stumble (morally). Compare Mat 18:6. 1Co 1:23.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
29.] An admonition, arising out of the truth announced in the last verse, to withstand the first springs and occasions of evil desire, even by the sacrifice of what is most useful and dear to us. , , . , . Chrys. Hom. xvii. 3, p. 225: and to the same effect Euthymius, who adds , . , , . Philo Judus reports that he had heard an interpretation of Deu 25:12, singularly agreeing with this verse: . , , . De Spec. Legibus ad 6 et 7 decal. cap. 32, vol. ii. p. 329. We may observe here, that our Lord grounds His precept of the most rigid and decisive self-denial on the considerations of the truest self-interest,- . See ch. Mat 18:8-9, and notes.
belongs to . (see Joh 16:7); and not (Meyer) to the foregoing, making . parenthetical.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 5:29. , the right) The right, strictly speaking in the case of the hands, is most useful and most precious, thence also, it is mentioned in the case of the eyes, feet, etc.-See Zec 11:17; Exo 29:20.-, is a stumbling-block to) so that you should see wrongly; as in the case of your hand, so that you should act wrongly.- , pluck it out) not the eye absolutely, but the eye which is a stumbling-block, i.e., make all things hard to thyself, until it cease to be a stumbling-block to thee. Not the organ itself, but the concupiscence which animates the eye or hand is meant: for this is the soul of the eye where that organ proves a stumbling-block; in like manner as soon afterwards the body is said for the [whole] man [soul as well as body]. He who, where his eye proves a stumbling-block, takes care not to see, does in reality blind himself. On the other hand, a man might pluck out his material eye, and yet cherish concupiscence within. A similar mode of expression occurs in Coloss. Mat 3:5, where the apostle says-Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth; fornication, etc. A negative maxim is frequently expressed by affirming the opposite.-See Mat 5:39-40, and ch. Mat 6:17.-, cast) with earnestness. The expression , be cast) in the next verse has reference to this.-, it is profitable) to thy salvation. Not only is it not hurtful, but also it will be glorious.-, should perish) True self-abnegation is not of less amount than the loss of an eye, etc.: and it is so necessary that it is better to be deprived of an eye itself, than to sin with the eye, unless the sin may be separated from the eye. An eye which is actually plucked out, as in the case of a martyr, will be restored in the resurrection.- , one of thy members) Many, indeed, have been destroyed by neglecting the mortification of one member, as, for example, the gullet.- , thy whole body) If one member sin, the whole man sins and pays the penalty.-, hell) of eternal fire.-See ch. Mat 18:8, etc.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
if: Mat 18:8, Mat 18:9, Mar 9:43-48
offend thee: or, do cause thee to offend
pluck: Mat 19:12, Rom 6:6, Rom 8:13, 1Co 9:27, Gal 5:24, Col 3:5, 1Pe 4:1-3
for: Mat 16:26, Pro 5:8-14, Mar 8:36, Luk 9:24, Luk 9:25
Reciprocal: Jos 7:21 – I saw Job 20:13 – spare it Job 22:2 – as he that Job 31:1 – a covenant Job 31:7 – mine heart Job 36:21 – regard Psa 18:23 – I kept Mal 2:15 – take Mat 5:22 – hell Mar 8:34 – Whosoever Mar 9:47 – thine Luk 16:23 – in hell Act 19:19 – and burned 2Co 4:16 – though 2Co 7:11 – revenge
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5:29
A physical operation will not cure a moral evil of the mind. If a man were deprived of his natural eyes it would not prevent him from thinking of the woman towards whom he had been looking with evil intent. But the loss of so valuable an organ as the eye is used to illustrate the extent of sacrifice that one should make in order to rid himself of an evil action of body or mind. A friend or an occupation may seem to be as valuable as the eye, yet one should better go on through life without it rather than enjoy it a few years and then he be lost entirely.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 5:29. An application by direct address.
Thy right eye, etc. Comp. chap. Mat 18:8-9; Mar 9:43-48, where the order is different. Here the eye is placed first, on account of the connection with the lustful look (Mat 5:28). The right eye, in popular esteem the better one.
Cause (or is causing) thee to offend, to stumble, to fall into sin.
Pluck it out. Not: as soon as thine eye causeth thee to sin, pluck it out; rather: should it appear that the sight is an incurable cause of sin, then pluck it out; but such bodily mutilation would not of itself cure sin. We should resist the first springs and occasions of evil desire, even by the sacrifice of what is most useful and dear to us.
Cast it from thee, as something hateful, because given over to sin. The surgeon does not hesitate to amputate a limb, if he hopes thereby to save a life; no earthly sacrifice is too great where eternal life is concerned.
Profitable. Such self-denial is true self-interest, as all virtue is, could we but so understand it. However profitable, the overcoming of sin is painful.
Body, standing for the whole life here, because the sin referred to is a sin against the body.
Hell, Gehenna, not Hades; the place of punishment, not the place of the dead; hence spiritual, not physical death is referred to.
Mat 5:30 repeats the same thought, instancing the right hand. The eye is the symbol of delight in looking (sense of beauty); the hand, the symbol of converse and intercourse (social feeling, friendship); but in any case here represented as organs of temptation.
Go (or, go away) into hell. The change in expression perhaps marks a development of lust inevitably tending toward hell. Here, too, we must avoid a slavish literalism, and remember the main thought, which is to spare nothing which hinders our salvation. A literal execution would turn the Church into a house of invalids, since every Christian is more or less tempted to sin by his eye or hand; nor would the cutting off of all the members, of itself, destroy lust in the heart. Here, too, the rule applies: The letter killeth, the spirit maketh alive.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Our Saviour had condemned ocular adultery in the foregoing verse, or the adultery of the eye; He that looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her in his heart.
Whence note, That the eye is an inlet to sin, especially the sin of uncleanness: list enters the heart at the window of the eye.
Now in these verses Christ prescribes a remedy for the cure of this eye-malady: If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: which is not to be understood literally, as if Christ commanded any man to maim his bodily members; but spiritually, to mortify the lusts of the flesh, and the lusts of the eye, which otherwise would prove a dangerous snare to the soul.
Learn, 1. That sin may be avoided: it is our duty to avoid whatsoever leads to it, or may be an occasion of it; if we find the view of an ensnaring object will inflame us, we must, though not put out our eye, yet make a covenant with our eye that we will not look upon it.
Note, 2. That the best course we can take to be kept from the outward acts of sin, is to mortify our inward affection and love to sin. This is to kill it in the root; and if once our inward affections be mortified, our bodily members may be spared and preserved; for they will no longer be weapons of sin but instruments of righteousness unto holiness.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 5:29-30. If thy right eye offend thee If any person or thing, as pleasant and as dear to thee as thy right eye, should be a stumbling-block in thy way, and an occasion of thy falling, or should be a means of insnaring thee, and leading thee into sin, pluck it out With inexorable resolution: that is, give up and part with the beloved object. For it is profitable for thee It will be to thine advantage, that one of thy members should perish To suffer an apparent temporary loss of pleasure or profit, rather than that thy whole soul and body should perish eternally, which yet would be the fatal consequence of thy indulging a favourite lust. And if thy right hand offend, or insnare thee Though it be so useful and necessary a part, do not spare it, but immediately cut it off and cast it from thee The greatest part of Christs auditors were poor people, who lived by their daily labour; and to these the loss of a right hand would be a much greater calamity than that of a right eye: so that there is a gradation and force in this passage beyond what has generally been observed. Doddridge. There is an allusion, in both instances, to the practice of surgeons, who, when any member of the body happens to be mortified, cut it off, to prevent the sound part from being tainted. And the meaning of the passage, stripped of the metaphor, is this: By the force of a strong resolution, founded on the grace of God, deny thyself the use of thy senses, though ever so delightful, in all cases where the use of them insnares thy soul. Turn away thine eye, and keep back thy hand from the alluring object. This, says Chrysostom, is a most mild and easy precept. It would have been much more hard, had he given commandment to converse with and look curiously on women, and then abstain from further commission of uncleanness with them. Upon the whole, we learn from these two verses, that the salvation of our immortal souls is to be preferred beyond all things, be they never so dear and precious to us; and that, if mens ordinary discretion teaches them, for the preservation of their bodies, to cut off a particular member, which would necessarily endanger the whole body, it much more teaches them to part with any thing which would prevent the salvation of their souls.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
5:29 And if thy {r} right eye {s} offend thee, pluck it out, 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.
(r) He names the right eye and the right hand, because the parts of the right side of our bodies are the chiefest, and the most ready to commit any wickedness.
(s) Literally, do cause you to offend: for sins are stumbling blocks as it were, that is to say, rocks which we are cast upon.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
As before (Mat 5:23-26), two illustrations aid our understanding. The eye is the member of the body initially responsible for luring us into an immoral thought or deed (cf. Num 15:39; Pro 21:4; Eze 6:9; Eze 18:12; Eze 20:8). The right eye is the best eye, the common metaphorical use of the "right" anything. A literal interpretation of this verse would have Jesus crippling every member of the human race. Should not one pluck out his left eye as well? Furthermore disposing of the eye would not remove the real cause of the offense, a lustful heart. Clearly this is a hyperbolic statement designed to make a point by overstatement. The early church father Origen took it literally and castrated himself. Jesus’ point was that His disciples must deal radically with sin. We must avoid temptation at all costs. Clearly this is not a condition for salvation but for discipleship. [Note: See Robert N. Wilkin, "Self-Sacrifice and Kingdom Entrance: Mat 5:29-30," The Grace Evangelical Society News 4:8 (August 1989):2; 4:9 (September 1989):2-3.]
The reference to cutting off the "right hand" (Mat 5:30) is also metaphorical, but how symbolic is it? Some take the "right hand" as a euphemism for the penis (cf. Isa 57:8). [Note: Brown, Driver, and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, s.v. "yad," p. 390; S. T. Lachs, "Some Textual Observations on the Sermon on the Mount," Jewish Quarterly Review 69 (1978):108-9.] This view has the context in its favor. Others take the right hand literally and view it as the instrument of stealing another man’s wife. "Hell" is Gehenna, the final place of punishment for all the wicked. [Note: Scharen, p. 337.] Its mention here does not imply that believers can go there. It represents the worst possible destiny. It, too, is hyperbole. The loss of any body part is preferable to the loss of the whole person is the point.
"Imagination is a God-given gift; but if it is fed dirt by the eye, it will be dirty. All sin, not least sexual sin, begins with the imagination. Therefore what feeds the imagination is of maximum importance in the pursuit of kingdom righteousness (compare Php 4:8). Not everyone reacts the same way to all objects. But if (Mat 5:28-29) your eye is causing you to sin, gouge it out; or at very least, don’t look . . .!" [Note: Carson, "Matthew," p. 151.]