Matthew 6:23

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:

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!

The World English Bible translates the passage as:

But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be

full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you

is darkness, how great is the darkness!

The Novum Testamentum Graece text is:

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.

For a collection of other versions see BibleHub Matthew 6:23.

The previous verse established a somewhat ambiguous metaphor of the generous/undivided eye being the source of light in the body. This verse presents the opposite stating that an evil eye plunges one into darkness. The evil eye was both an expression of jealousy and stinginess (cf. Matthew 20:15^[1]).

The verse puts great emphasis on the depth of darkness that a poor spiritual eye will place a person in, because placing too much focus on wealth or possessions can distort judgment.^[2] Morris feels that it implies that those who are so blinded cannot even realize that they are in darkness.^[3] John Phillips suggests that here Jesus teaches the possibility of having a "spiritual astigmatism" (failing to converge vision in one focal point), and urges the disciples to have a "single" eye to "see through the folly of laying up treasure on earth and keeps the next world in proper focus".^[4]

The metaphor of light as holiness and darkness as evil is also found in the Qumran literature and the Gospel of John.^{[citation needed]}