![]() ![]() ``he that puts out his neighbour's eye must pay him the price of his eye, according to the price of a servant sold in the market, and so of all the rest for not taking away of members strictly is meant, as our doctors here interpret it '' ] This is "lex talionis", the law of retaliation, and from whence the Heathens had theirs but whether this is to be taken strictly and literally, or only for pecuniary mulcts, is a question Josephus F4 understands it in the former sense, the Jewish writers generally in the latter and so the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it Jesus’ “good eye” teaches that generosity to the needy brings light to our lives, makes a deposit in heaven, and demonstrates that God is our master.Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. They think Jesus was talking about tithing (he wasn’t!), and they read the passage on worry without noticing its connection to the command to be generous. Jesus transforms almsgiving: generosity should be secret, so that it is for God, not humans (6:2-4) generosity is like making a deposit in heaven (6:19-21) generosity lights up our whole lives (6:22-23) we must choose God as master, not money (6:24) and we must avoid worry so that we can be generous (6:25-34).įor some reason, people often overlook this key theme of generosity in Matthew 6. It interacts with and informs Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6 about the giving of alms (a key act of piety in first-century Judaism). So Jesus’ saying is an invitation to choose generosity over stinginess. A parallel idiom is found in the Old Testament: “He who is generous (Hebrew tov ayin, good eye) will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor” (Proverbs 22:9 see also 11:25). The haplos word group is used to refer to generosity several times in the New Testament (Romans 12:8, 2 Corinthians 8:2, 9:11, 9:13, James 1:5). Although haplos (and its cognate forms, haplous and haplotetos) can also refer to singleness or simplicity, neither of those meanings makes as much sense in this context. In contrast, “good eye” (Greek ophthalmos haplos) refers to generosity. ![]() ![]() The Law commands the person with wealth not to have an “evil eye” and thus withhold help from a needy brother (Deuteronomy 15:9). The Old Testament warns against the man with an “evil eye” (Hebrew raa ayin), who is selfish and greedy (Proverbs 23:6, 28:22). Jesus later uses the phrase to describe the laborers in the vineyard who begrudge full pay to those who work less (Matthew 20:15). The evidence is good that “evil eye” (Greek ophthalmos poneros) refers to stinginess or greediness. More importantly, once the passage is understood clearly, it illuminates a key kingdom principle.įirst, we need to look at the two key phrases that make Jesus’ saying so mysterious. It’s an interesting saying to study, because it requires us to look carefully at the context, at the Old Testament background, and at some unusual Greek and Hebrew idioms. ![]() Students often ask me about a saying from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: “… if your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness” (Matthew 6:22-23). ![]()
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