Matthew 5:29
New International Version
If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

New Living Translation
So if your eye—even your good eye—causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

English Standard Version
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.

Berean Standard Bible
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Berean Literal Bible
And if your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast it from you. For it is better for you that one of your members should perish and not that your whole body should be cast into Gehenna.

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

New American Standard Bible
Now if your right eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you; 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.

NASB 1995
“If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; 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.

NASB 1977
“And if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Legacy Standard Bible
But if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; 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.

Amplified Bible
If 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.

Christian Standard Bible
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

American Standard Version
And if thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But if your right eye subverts you, pluck it out and cast it from you, for it is profitable for you that your one member be lost, and not that your whole body should fall into Gehenna.

Contemporary English Version
If your right eye causes you to sin, poke it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body, than for your whole body to end up in hell.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And if thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. For it is expedient for thee that one of thy members should perish, rather than that thy whole body be cast into hell.

English Revised Version
And if thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body be cast into hell.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"So if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose a part of your body than to have all of it thrown into hell.

Good News Translation
So if your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away! It is much better for you to lose a part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell.

International Standard Version
So if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your body parts than to have your whole body thrown into hell.

Literal Standard Version
But if your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast from you, for it is good to you that one of your members may perish, and not your whole body be cast into Gehenna.

Majority Standard Bible
If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

New American Bible
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.

NET Bible
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into hell.

New Revised Standard Version
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

New Heart English Bible
And if your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you.[note: idiom meaning to stop doing a sin] For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Webster's Bible Translation
And if thy right eye shall cause thee to sin, 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.

Weymouth New Testament
If therefore your eye, even the right eye, is a snare to you, tear it out and away with it; it is better for you that one member should be destroyed rather than that your whole body should be thrown into Gehenna.

World English Bible
If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna.

Young's Literal Translation
'But, if thy right eye doth cause thee to stumble, pluck it out and cast from thee, for it is good to thee that one of thy members may perish, and not thy whole body be cast to gehenna.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Adultery
28But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to depart into hell.…

Cross References
Matthew 5:22
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' will be subject to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be subject to the fire of hell.

Matthew 5:30
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to depart into hell.

Matthew 11:6
Blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me."

Matthew 17:27
"But so that we may not offend them, go to the sea, cast a hook, and take the first fish you catch. When you open its mouth, you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for My tax and yours."

Matthew 18:9
And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

Mark 9:47
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,


Treasury of Scripture

And if your right eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: for it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body should be cast into hell.

if.

Matthew 18:8,9
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…

Mark 9:43-48
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: …

offend thee.

Matthew 19:12
For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

Romans 6:6
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Romans 8:13
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

for.

Matthew 16:26
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Proverbs 5:8-14
Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: …

Mark 8:36
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

Jump to Previous
Better Body Cast Cause Causes Causeth Destroyed Eye Gehenna Gouge Hell Loss Member Members Offend Part Perish Pluck Profitable Rather Right Sin Snare Stumble Tear Throw Thrown Trouble Undergo Whole
Jump to Next
Better Body Cast Cause Causes Causeth Destroyed Eye Gehenna Gouge Hell Loss Member Members Offend Part Perish Pluck Profitable Rather Right Sin Snare Stumble Tear Throw Thrown Trouble Undergo Whole
Matthew 5
1. Jesus' sermon on the mount:
3. The Beattitudes;
13. the salt of the earth;
14. the light of the world.
17. He came to fulfill the law.
21. What it is to kill;
27. to commit adultery;
33. to swear.
38. He exhorts to forgive wrong,
43. to love our enemies;
48. and to labor after perfection.














(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 Tyndal's; "hinder thee," in Cranmer's; "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, aesthetic 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 life's sake to lose life's 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, warning--"If you must think of profit, make your calculations wisely."

Hell.--Gehenna, as in Matthew 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.

Verses 29, 30. - Also in Matthew 18:8, 9 (parallel passage, Mark 9:43-47); the chief differences being

(1) that they are there adduced with reference to "offences" generally;

(2) that the foot is mentioned, as well as the eye and the hand. It seems not improbable that this saying was spoken twice.

The reason why our Lord did not mention the foot here may be either that that member is less immediately connected with sins of the flesh than the other two (cf. Wetstein, in loc., "Averte oculum a vultu illecebroso: arce manum ab impudicis contrectationibus"), or, as seems more probable, that the eye and the hand represent the two sets of faculties receptive and active, and together express man's whole nature. The insertion of the foot in ch. 18:8, 9, only makes the illustration more definite. "The remark in ver. 29f treats of what is to be done by the subjects of the kingdom when, in spite of themselves, evil desires are aroused" (Weiss, 'Life,' 2:149). Verse 29. - Right. Not in ch. 18, and parallel passage. Inserted to enhance the preciousness of the members spoken of (cf. Zechariah 11:17; cf. ver. 39). Offend thee; Authorized Version, do cause thee to offend; Revised Version, cause thee to stumble (σκανδαλίζει σε). Perhaps the verb originally referred to the stick of a trap (σκάνδαλον, a Hellenistic word, apparently equivalent to σκανδάληθρον) striking the person's foot, and so catching him in the trap; but when found in literature (almost solely in the New Testament) it has apparently lost all connotation of the trap, and only means causing a person to stumble (for an analysis of its use in the New Testament, vide especially Cremer, s.v.). Pluck it out, and cast it from thee. The second clause shows the purely figurative character of the sentence. Our Lord commands . . .

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
If
εἰ (ei)
Conjunction
Strong's 1487: If. A primary particle of conditionality; if, whether, that, etc.

your
σου (sou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

right
δεξιὸς (dexios)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1188: On the right hand, right hand, right. From dechomai; the right side or hand.

eye
ὀφθαλμός (ophthalmos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3788: The eye; fig: the mind's eye. From optanomai; the eye; by implication, vision; figuratively, envy.

causes you to sin,
σκανδαλίζει (skandalizei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 4624: From skandalon; to entrap, i.e. Trip up (transitively) or entice to sin, apostasy or displeasure).

gouge it out
ἔξελε (exele)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 1807: From ek and haireomai; actively, to tear out; middle voice, to select; figuratively, to release.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

throw [it]
βάλε (bale)
Verb - Aorist Imperative Active - 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 906: (a) I cast, throw, rush, (b) often, in the weaker sense: I place, put, drop. A primary verb; to throw.

away.
ἀπὸ (apo)
Preposition
Strong's 575: From, away from. A primary particle; 'off, ' i.e. Away, in various senses.

It is better
συμφέρει (sympherei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 4851: From sun and phero; to bear together, i.e. to collect, or to conduce; especially advantage.

for you
σοι (soi)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

to
ἵνα (hina)
Conjunction
Strong's 2443: In order that, so that. Probably from the same as the former part of heautou; in order that.

lose
ἀπόληται (apolētai)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 622: From apo and the base of olethros; to destroy fully, literally or figuratively.

one
ἓν (hen)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 1520: One. (including the neuter Hen); a primary numeral; one.

part of your body
μελῶν (melōn)
Noun - Genitive Neuter Plural
Strong's 3196: A bodily organ, limb, member. Of uncertain affinity; a limb or part of the body.

[than for]
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

your
σου (sou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Singular
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

whole
ὅλον (holon)
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3650: All, the whole, entire, complete. A primary word; 'whole' or 'all', i.e. Complete, especially as noun or adverb.

body
σῶμά (sōma)
Noun - Nominative Neuter Singular
Strong's 4983: Body, flesh; the body of the Church. From sozo; the body, used in a very wide application, literally or figuratively.

to be thrown
βληθῇ (blēthē)
Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 906: (a) I cast, throw, rush, (b) often, in the weaker sense: I place, put, drop. A primary verb; to throw.

into
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

hell.
γέενναν (geennan)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1067: Of Hebrew origin; valley of Hinnom; ge-henna, a valley of Jerusalem, used as a name for the place of everlasting punishment.


Links
Matthew 5:29 NIV
Matthew 5:29 NLT
Matthew 5:29 ESV
Matthew 5:29 NASB
Matthew 5:29 KJV

Matthew 5:29 BibleApps.com
Matthew 5:29 Biblia Paralela
Matthew 5:29 Chinese Bible
Matthew 5:29 French Bible
Matthew 5:29 Catholic Bible

NT Gospels: Matthew 5:29 If your right eye causes you (Matt. Mat Mt)
Matthew 5:28
Top of Page
Top of Page