Mark 9:47 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Mark 9:47
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
to hold (used in very various applications · verb — present active participle, accusative singular masculine
two
δύοduo
G1417
"two" · adjective — numeral, indeclinable
eyes
ὀφθαλμοὺςophthalmous
G3788
the eye (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative plural masculine
to be cast
βληθῆναιblēthēnai
G906
to throw (in various applications · verb — aorist passive infinitive
into
εἰςeis
G1519
to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
hell
γέεννανgeennan
G1067
valley of (the son of) Hinnom · noun — accusative singular feminine, a title
fire
πυρόςpuros
G4442
"fire" (literally or figuratively · noun — genitive singular neuter
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 18:9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having…
Matthew 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to…
Matthew 5:28-29 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she…
Job 31:1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?
Psalms 119:37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
Mark 9:43 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 fi…
Philippians 3:7-8 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Mark 9:41–end
Here, I. Christ promiseth a reward to all those that are any way kind to his disciples (Mar 9:41); "Whosoever shall give you a cup of water, when you need it, and will be a refreshment to you, because ye belong to Christ, and are of his family, he shall not lose his reward." Note, 1. It is the honour and happiness of Christians, that they belong to Christ, they have joined themselves to him, and are owned by him; they wear his livery and retainers to his family; nay, they are more nearly related, they are members of his body. 2. They who belong to Christ, may sometimes be reduced to such straits as to be glad of a cup of cold water. 3. The relieving of Christ's poor in their distresses, is a…
Thy hand - foot - eye - cause thee to offend; - See the notes on Mat 5:29-30 (note).
The fire that never shall be quenched - That is, the inextinguishable fire. This clause is wanting in L, three others, the Syriac, and later Persic. Some eminent critics suppose it to be a spurious reading; but the authorities which are for it, are by no means counterbalanced by those which are against it. The same clause in Mar 9:45, is omitted in BCL, seven others, Syriac, later Persic, Coptic, and one Itala. Eternal fire is the expression of Matthew.
John Gill on Mark 9:47
And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out,.... Than which, nothing is dearer to man, it being very tender, and exceeding useful: this metaphor the Lord sometimes makes use of, to show how dear his people are unto him, and what a tender concern he has for them, Deuteronomy 32:10. And here it may design such, as are most beloved by men, and are their most intimate acquaintance, and bosom friends; and yet these are to be parted with, when they prove snares and stumbling blocks, or give offence, by endeavouring to draw into sin, and from Christ:
it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye; that kingdom, which God has prepared for his people, from the foundation of the w…
(ubi sup.) And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. A friend who is useful, and anxious, and sharp in perception, is called an eye.
Knowing that the lights of the eyes are like windows to our hearts, and that all corrupt desires enter us through the eyes, as if through a natural crevice, our Lord asks us to veil them from wandering about, in order to resist the spreading of their toxic illusions, so those illusions will not take ever firmer root in our hearts, having first budded in the eye.
And if your eye scandalizes you, cast it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire. In plucking out the eye because of scandal, our same carnal friends, truly spiritual adversaries, are meant. But when we need their counsel and provision, and they try to deceive us with bad advice and turn us onto the path of error, their company must be entirely abandoned by us. Indeed, the Greek word "scandal" refers to what we might call a stumbling block or ruin and an occasion of being tripped. Some say "scandal" in Greek, in Latin "scruple". Therefore, he offends his brother who gives him an occasion of ruin by a less correct word or deed. It can also simply be said: If someone seems as necessary to us as a hand, foot, or eye, being useful, diligent, and sharp-sighted, yet causes us scandal and drags us into hell through discordant morals, we should not use or be refreshed by his temporal benefits, to the danger of our souls. Because the Lord has mentioned the worm and eternal fire thrice, it remains to say how we can avoid the stench of the worm and the torment of the fire. It continues:
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Gehenna — (originally Ge bene Hinnom; i.e., “the valley of the sons of Hinnom”), a deep, narrow glen to the south of Jerusalem, where the idolatrous Jews offered their children in sacrifice to Molech (2 Chr.…
Commandments · DISCOURSE — DISCOURSE
Hell · the following scriptures — the following scriptures
Offence · Saints should: Cut off what causes, to themselves — Saints should: Cut off what causes, to themselves
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Calvin on Mark 9:42-48
Mark 9:42-48
Matthew 18:6-10
Mark 9:42-48
Luke 17:1-2
6. But whosoever shall offend one of those little ones who believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were sunk to the bottom of the sea. 7. Woe to the world on account of offenses! for offenses must come; but woe to the man by whom the offense cometh! 8. But if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee; [501] for it is better for thee to enter lame or maimed into life, than that, having two hands or two feet, thou shouldst be cast into the everlasting fire. 9. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee; [502] for it is better that tho…
hell: Greek Gehenna, referring to the Valley of Hinnom, which bordered Jerusalem on the southwest. It was a garbage dump for the city, and the continual burning of refuse there became a metaphor for the final place of judgment for the wicked.
9:43-48 Most of the best manuscripts do not include 9:44, 46, but a few include them. These two verses were almost certainly copied from 9:48 and were not in the original text of Mark.
