In Matthew 6:22, Jesus makes the following statement: “If your eye is haplous, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye is poneros, your whole body shall be full of darkness.” English versions differ on how these two Greek words in red should be translated. The word haplous is generally translated as healthy, clear, or good. The word poneros is generally translated as unhealthy, diseased, or bad. These translations give the impression that if a person's eye is physically in good condition, then that person's whole body will be full of light, but if that person's eye is physically in bad condition, then that person's whole body will be full of darkness. I don't know about you, but I have trouble processing the meaning of those translations and applying it to my life. Does it mean that I need to be especially careful not to miss an appointment with the ophthalmologist? Since I need glasses, does that mean that my body is in danger of being full of darkness? What about people with cataracts? Are they condemned to eternal darkness!? But the translation in the King James Version set my heart at ease: “If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.” In this verse the King James Version provides a much more literal translation. And although the meaning was still not entirely clear at first glance, I realized that having to wear glasses or even having a cataract will not put me in danger of my body being full of darkness (at least not in a spiritual sense).
The Greek word haplous is the opposite of the Greek word diplous, which means twofold or double. So what Jesus is literally saying is “If your eye is single.” Personally, I like to translate it like this: “If your eye is singular in focus.” In other words, if your eye is singularly focused on God, your whole body will be full of light. So Jesus is teaching his disciples to keep their focus on God and not to allow their attention or their loyalties to be divided. In this particular context, Jesus is speaking about money, and so the more specific application is that we should not worry about how we will get money to provide for the necessities of life. Jesus is telling us to keep our eye singularly focused on God, and God will take care of the rest and provide for all of our needs. As a result, we can freely give our money and possessions to advance the work of God's kingdom, trusting that God will provide for us.
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| Is your eye evil because I am good? |
Jesus goes on to say, “If your eye is evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness.” The concept of the “evil eye” was well known in biblical times. It represents an eye that enviously covets what belongs to another. In Matthew 20:1-16, Jesus tells the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. In this parable there is a master of a house who goes to the marketplace at various times throughout the day to hire workers to work in his vineyard. And at the end of the day he pays the same wage to them all, even to the workers that had only worked for an hour. When the workers who came at the beginning of the day start complaining, the master of the house says to one of them, “Is your eye evil because I am good?” (Matthew 20:15). These workers enviously coveted more than what they had agreed to work for, and they were upset by the master's generosity. Consequently, the master of the house suggests that they have an “evil eye.” Thus, when a person has an “evil eye,” he or she is in the grips of greed and covetousness, thinking only of himself or herself. As a result, that person's whole body will be full of darkness. Again, most English translations do not translate Matthew 20:15 literally. Instead of rendering the Greek as “Is your eye evil,” it is translated as “Are you envious,” or “Are you jealous,” or something similar.
Matthew 6:22-23 provides an excellent example of why the work of Bible translation must always be done in consultation with the original Greek and Hebrew text. When we first translated this text into the Enga language, we did so from the English translations. As a result, we ended up with a translation that focused on the physical condition of the eye. However, when I reviewed the Enga translation against the original Greek, I informed the Enga translation team that the Greek actually says single and evil. After learning what the original Greek actually says, the Enga translators easily related the words of Jesus to the following equivalent expression in Enga: “If you live having only one eye burning/shining, you will live having your whole body full of light. But if you live having two eyes burning/shining, you will live having your whole body full of darkness.” They then went on to boldly declare: “People will understand this!” In Enga, the metaphor of “having two eyes burning/shining” is a close equivalent of the “evil eye.” Such a person enviously covets what belongs to others. On the other hand, a person who has “only one eye burning/shining” is sincere and generous, with no ulterior motives. It turns out that the Enga language is better equipped to handle what Jesus taught in Matthew 6:22-23 than the English language is! But we could only see that by directly consulting the original Greek text.
