Andκαὶifεἰyour eyeὁ ὀφθαλμός σουcausesσκανδαλίζειyouσεto stumble,σκανδαλίζειtearἔξελεitαὐτὸνoutἔξελεandκαὶthrow itβάλεfromἀπὸyou;σοῦit isἐστινbetterκαλόνfor youσοίto enterεἰσελθεῖνintoεἰςlifeτὴν ζωὴνwith one eyeμονόφθαλμονthanἢhavingἔχονταtwoδύοeyesὀφθαλμοὺςto be thrownβληθῆναιintoεἰςfieryτοῦ πυρόςGehenna.τὴν γέενναν
Matthew 18:9
Study it in the app“And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter into life with one eye than having two eyes to be thrown into fiery Gehenna.”
With the Greek beneath
Matthew 18:9, word by word
- your eyeὀφθαλμόςophthalmos
eye
The organ of sight, in the face.
Where else “ophthalmos” appears- causesσκανδαλίζειskandalizei
cause to stumble
To make someone fall into sin or lose faith.
Where else “skandalizei” appears- tearἔξελεexele
tear out
To take out completely, like an eye.
Where else “exele” appears- throw itβάλεbale
throw
To hurl something or someone away from oneself.
Where else “bale” appears- it isἐστινestin
be
To be: says who or what something is.
Where else “estin” appears- betterκαλόνkalon
beautiful
Lovely to look at.
Where else “kalon” appears- to enterεἰσελθεῖνeiselthein
enter
To go into a house, a town or a place.
Where else “eiselthein” appears- lifeζωὴνzōēn
eternal life
What God gives to live with him without end.
Where else “zōēn” appears- with one eyeμονόφθαλμονmonophthalmon
one-eyed
One-eyed.
Where else “monophthalmon” appears- havingἔχονταechonta
have
To count something or someone as one's own: goods, family, faith, power.
Where else “echonta” appears- twoδύοdyo
two
Two.
Where else “dyo” appears- fieryπυρόςpyros
fire
Fire.
Where else “pyros” appears- Gehennaγέεννανgeennan
Gehenna
Gehenna: the Valley of Hinnom beside Jerusalem, a cursed place because children were sacrificed there to idols; an image of final punishment.
Where else “geennan” appears
Parallel passages
Other books that tell the same thing or quote these words.
Causes of stumbling
A similar saying; scholars discuss whether it is the same saying in another setting or a repeated one.
See them side by side
Matthew 18:6-9
6But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it is better for him that a donkey’s millstone be hung around his neck and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! For it is necessary that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the person through whom the stumbling block comes! 8And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter into life maimed or lame than having two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter into life with one eye than having two eyes to be thrown into fiery Gehenna.
42And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be far better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life maimed than having the two hands to go away into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. 44where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. 45And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter into life lame than having the two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. 46where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. 47And if your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, 48where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. 49For everyone will be salted with fire. 50Salt is good; but if the salt becomes saltless, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
1And he said to his disciples, “It is impossible that stumbling blocks should not come; but woe to the one through whom they come! 2It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.
The context
8And if your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter into life maimed or lame than having two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.
9 · This verse (above)
10See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
To study Matthew 18 in a group
1. What it says
What did Jesus put in the middle of the disciples when they asked who is greatest (vv. 1–3)?
2. What it means
Why does Jesus tell the parable of the slave who was forgiven a huge debt (vv. 23–35)?
3. How I live it
Peter asked how many times to forgive (v. 21). Whom do you find hard to forgive, and what small first step can you take?