Jesus' Strange Teaching About a 'Single Eye'

by Lois Tverberg, En-Gedi Resource Center

The Bible is an ancient book, and the honest reader will admit that often, passages are difficult to understand. Sometimes Jesus' words can be the most difficult, and prone to speculation and even misinterpretation. A case in point is this saying from the sermon on the mount:

This saying is obscure, and every Bible translation attempts to make the phrases about the "eye" clearer. Various translations use terms like clear eye/bad eye (NASB), healthy eye/unhealthy eye (NRSV), eyes are good/eyes are bad (NIV). None of these give a meaning to the phrase that clearly explains Jesus' point to us.

This opens the door for all sorts of interpretations. John Wesley, who lived in the 1700's, interpreted the "single eye" as being utterly devoted to pleasing God, and the "evil eye" as having our interests devoted anywhere else, to distract us from God.(1) While his interpretation is well within traditional understanding, others have come to different conclusions. Some in the New Age movement believe that Jesus was speaking of the "single eye" as the "third eye" or inner eye of enlightenment. They say that when humans were first created perfect, they were enlightened by this third eye, but after the fall, it is now only reached through meditation.(2) One author believes that Jesus was talking about a medical condition called "polyopia", which results in multiple visual images and astigmatism, which was was Jesus meant by the "bad eye" that does not have single vision.(3) While Wesley's interpretation is more in line with the rest of the scriptures than these others, we still have to admit that he was guessing at the meaning of the strange phrase, without knowing any of its cultural context. Christians then have the frustrating task of defending one interpretation over another, when are all based in subjective interpretation.


A Cultural Perspective - A Good Eye

A better way to discern what Jesus was saying is to look at his words in the context of his first century culture. All languages have idioms - figures of speech that don't make sense literally, like "raining cats and dogs", "beating around the bush" or "pulling someone's leg". We should expect that Jesus' sayings may contain cultural idioms that we don't understand. Indeed, in the Greek gospels we find many idiomatic phrases that sound awkward or don't even make sense in Greek, even though they make perfect sense in Hebrew (4). By looking at the Semitic idioms in the Old Testament and in Jewish literature of Jesus' day, we can get a much clearer understanding of Jesus' teaching, and have more confidence about Jesus' message.

One interesting hypothesis is that Jesus may have been using a Hebraic idiom that contrasts a "good eye" (ayin tovah) and a "bad eye" or "evil eye" (ayin ra). The Hebraic understanding of "seeing" goes beyond taking in visual information in the eyes - it refers to one's outlook on life and attitude toward others. It can even mean to respond according to a need that is seen. For example, the phrase "Jehovah Jireh" is often translated "God will provide", but literally it means, "God will see", meaning that when God sees our need, he will respond. An idiom that comes from it is that a person with a "good eye" is generous - he sees the needs of others and wants to help them. In contrast, one with an "bad eye" or "evil eye" is blind to the needs of others and is greedy and focused on his own self-gain. We see these idioms used in Proverbs:

In fact, Jesus uses the idiom of "evil eye" for greed elsewhere in the gospels. At the end of the parable of the landowner who pays all the laborers the same, the landowner says to the workers, `Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye evil because I am generous?' (Matt. 20:15). The Greek phrase there, "opthalmous sou ponerous" is identical to that in Matt 6:23, the passage that we are examining.

Interestingly, if this is our interpretation of the passage in Matthew 6, Jesus' saying suddenly fits into the larger context of this passage. Here is the longer context of that saying:

Right before it in Matt 6:21, Jesus tells his listeners to "store up treasures in heaven", which is an idiom for giving money to the poor found other places in the gospels (5). Afterward he says, "No one can serve two masters ... you cannot serve God and wealth." (Matt 6:24). If Jesus is using the idioms "good eye" and "evil eye" to mean generosity and greed with money, the teaching about your "eye" appears to be part of a longer saying about how to use money in a way that honors God.


Having a Single Eye

Any hypothesis needs to be re-evaluated in light of new evidence, and one scholar suggests that Jesus may actually be using a slightly different phrase than "good eye", even though he is still contrasting it with a "bad eye" (6). The Greek of the passage does not say "good" (kalos) but "single, simple" (haplous). But, the idea of "singleness of eye" as a virtue is also found in other documents of around Jesus' time, and "singleness"(haplotes) as a virtue is used several other places in the New Testament. This can also give us insight on Jesus' meaning in this passage. One document reads:

Here the idea of "singleness of eye" means sincerity, simplicity, and a freedom from envy for money. It is the opposite of having a "double heart" as in Psalm 12:2: "They speak falsehood to one another; with flattering lips and with a double heart they speak." A person with a "single eye" is one of integrity who does not have a secret agenda of self-advancement. Along with sincerity of spirit, he also has an integrity toward money that keeps him from covetousness and greed. Another passage from about the same time also gives insight:

Interestingly this passage talks about a man's "eye" in terms of his caring for the needs of others, and contrasts an "eye of darkness" to a disposition of "singleness". The contrast seems to be between pretending to care about others with an inward attitude of self-advancement, compared to having a genuine concern for others, without hidden motives. Some phrases in it are very similar to the book of James (9).


Reading Jesus' Words Again

In light of the idioms of a "single eye" meaning integrity and a sincere attitude toward others, and "bad eye" meaning a greedy and self-centered outlook, now Jesus' words have much more clarity in their context. Here is my dynamic translation of Matthew 6:21-24, incorporating the idiomatic language he appears to be using:

In this entire passage, Jesus seems to be equating how we use our money with our basic attitude on life, and says that it is the true measure of us as persons. When you get right down to it, if money rules us, God doesn't. It is one of Jesus' many teachings on money and what our attitude should be towards it. Especially in our materialistic culture, his words hit home.

This cultural study of the phrase "single eye" and "bad eye" can shed a lot of light on Jesus' teachings. It should make us eager to learn more when we see that the strange phrases that we sometimes find in the Bible had parallels in other ancient texts that can help explain them. Our interpretation of Jesus' words can be much more solid, so that we have confidence that we are hearing Jesus' ideas and not just our own. Otherwise, our interpretations are based on speculation from personal experience that can lead us down all sorts of strange paths, as some have gone on in understanding Jesus' words about "the single eye".

But, as important as it is to read the Bible accurately, it is even more important that once we understand Jesus' teaching, we take it to heart and change our lives because of it. Are we people of sincerity and integrity? Do we use our money to help others, and find ways to meet their needs? Or, in our hearts, is our own comfort and wealth our number one priority? Jesus is saying that we can't be both greedy and self-centered, and followers of him - we need to choose who we will serve - God or ourselves.

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(1) John Wesley, On A Single Eye - Sermon available at this link.

(2) The Third Eye Chakra - Available at this link

(3) Robert Zilver The New Evil Eye Theory - Electronic book available from http://www.polyopiestichting.nl/

(4) This is the subject of the book "Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus: New Insights from a Hebraic Perspective" by Bivin & Blizzard, 1994, Destiny Image Publishers, available through the En-Gedi Online Resource Center.

(5) See Matthew 19:2, Mark 10:21, Luke 18:22 and "The Best Long-Term Investment: Making Loans to God" at www.jerusalemperspective.com. (Premium Content)

(6) See "If Your Eye Be Single" by Steven Notley at www.jerusalemperspective.com.

(7) Testament of Issachar, 3:4, 4:1-2, 5-6; 5:1 (quoted in the article Notley article above). The Testament of Issachar is of the body of literature called the "pseudepigrapha" - Jewish writings from 200 B.C. to 200 A.D. that are not canonical, but show the cultural expressions and religious understandings of that time.

(8) Testament of Benjamin 4:2-3 (quoted in the article Notley article above). Also of the pseudepigrapha.

(9) James speaks about the wrongness of having a "double mind" in vs. 1:8 and 4:8 and the importance of sincerity of the tongue in 3:9-12. He uses a very similar phrase as in this passage in 3:9 - having a tongue of "blessing and cursing" - which should not be the case. A related word to "haplous" used in the gospels, "haplotes", meaning "singleness", is used often in the New Testament for sincerity, especially in exhortations to have a "single heart" (See 2 Cor. 1:12, 11:3, Eph. 6:5, Col. 3:22).

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