The Fallible Study Bible

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Matthew6:22–24

The Lamp of the Body

✦ Public-domain source — quoted & attributed⚙ AI synthesis — generated, verify

Matthew 6:22–24 — The Lamp of the Body. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

22

The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

ho ophthalmos estin Ho lychnos tou sōmatos oun ean ho sou ophthalmos ē haplous to sou holon sōma estai phōteinon

Word by word20 · parsed
ὁhoTheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
ὀφθαλμόςophthalmoseyeG3788
√ ὀφθαλμός — the eye (literally or figuratively)NounNominative Masculine Singular
ophthalmos: the eye, literal or figurative The nominative stands first for weight, and every commentator in the brief treats it figuratively as well as physically. Ellicott names it conscience or the moral sense; Geneva calls it the judgment of the mind; Pulpit narrows it sharply to the outlooking power of the soul rather than the soul itself. The clause is a proverb of the body pressed into service as a proverb of the inner man.
ἐστινestinisG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
Simple copula, present indicative: the saying is stated as a standing fact of anatomy before it is applied.
ὉHotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
λύχνοςlychnoslampG3088
√ λύχνος — a portable lamp or other illuminator (literally or figuratively)NounNominative Masculine Singular
lychnos: a portable lamp or illuminator The lamp is a borrowed and carried light, never a source. That is the load-bearing point: Pulpit insists that in the mere gaze of the soul "there is no inherent light", and Cambridge that the eye "is not itself the light, but contains the light". Ellicott hears Proverbs 20:27 behind it, where the spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD. A lamp can be lit, and it can be put out.
τοῦtouof theG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Neuter Singular
σώματόςsōmatosbodyG4983
√ σῶμα — the body (as a sound whole), used in a very wide application, literally or figurativelyNounGenitive Neuter Singular
sōma: the body as a sound whole Genitive of the thing lit. The word means the body as an integrated whole, which is why ὅλον (whole) can be piled on it in the apodosis without redundancy: one organ decides the condition of everything.
οὖνounG3767
√ οὖν — (adverbially) certainly, or (conjunctionally) accordinglyConjunction
ἐὰνeanIfG1437
√ ἐάν — a conditional particleConjunction
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ὀφθαλμόςophthalmoseyesG3788
√ ὀφθαλμός — the eye (literally or figuratively)NounNominative Masculine Singular
ophthalmos: the eye (Nominative Masculine Singular) The parse is singular, yet BSB renders it "your eyes" in both verse 22 and verse 23. The English plural is idiomatic but it quietly loses the force of the figure: the argument is about one organ deciding for a whole body, which is precisely the proportion Benson draws out from Campbell, that the other members "have no light of their own, but depend entirely on the eye".
ᾖēareG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
Present subjunctive with ἐὰν: a live condition, not a verdict already passed.
ἁπλοῦςhaplousgoodG573
√ ἁπλοῦς — properly, folded together, iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
haplous: properly, folded together, single The pivot of the unit and the point where the sources openly divide. JFB takes it as "simplicity of the mind's eye, singleness of purpose, looking right at its object, as opposed to having two ends in view", which reads forward neatly into verse 24. Gill takes it commercially, citing the Mishnah on first fruits where a "good eye" gives the fortieth part and an "evil eye" the sixtieth, so that the single eye is the generous one and the whole paragraph stays on money. Benson records Chrysostom and Theophylact treating it as equivalent to ὑγιής, whole or healthy, while Campbell objects that the contrast is with πονηρός and not with διπλοῦς, so the root sense "single" may not be in play at all. We record the dispute rather than settle it; the two readings converge in practice, since an undivided eye and an open hand are the same man.
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ὅλονholonwholeG3650
√ ὅλος — "whole" or "all", iAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
holos: whole, all Not a filler intensifier: the argument is proportional, one small organ against the entire frame.
σῶμάsōmabodyG4983
√ σῶμα — the body (as a sound whole), used in a very wide application, literally or figurativelyNounNominative Neuter Singular
ἔσταιestaiwill beG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
eimi: to be (Future Indicative Middle) The future middle ἔσται states an outcome, not a reward. Nothing is promised to be added; the body simply will be what the eye makes it, which is why Barnes can say that no other light is required than a rightly fixed eye.
φωτεινὸνphōteinonfull of lightG5460
√ φωτεινός — lustrous, iAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
phōteinos: lustrous, full of light Rare (four verses in the Verifier's count). Pulpit notes that the word chosen indicates not merely that the body is lighted through the eye, but that it "itself becomes in measure, like the eye, full of light for others": the illumination shines through. The same adjective describes the cloud at the Transfiguration.
23

But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

de ean ho sou ophthalmos ē ponēros sou holon to sōma estai skoteinon ei oun to phōs to en soi estin skotos poson to skotos

Word by word25 · parsed
δὲdeButG1161
√ δέ — but, and, etcConjunction
ἐὰνeanifG1437
√ ἐάν — a conditional particleConjunction
ἐὰν again: the second limb of a matched pair of open conditions, not a new subject.
ὁhoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Masculine Singular
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ὀφθαλμόςophthalmoseyesG3788
√ ὀφθαλμός — the eye (literally or figuratively)NounNominative Masculine Singular
ophthalmos: the eye Same noun, same position as verse 22, so that only the adjective changes. The rhetorical form is a strict antithesis in which one word carries the whole difference.
ᾖēareG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Subjunctive Active3rd Person Singular
πονηρὸςponērosbadG4190
√ πονηρός — hurtful, iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
ponēros: hurtful, evil The disputed word of the unit, and the sources genuinely pull apart. Poole lists two idioms together, covetousness and envy, and says that both "are called evil eyes in Scripture". Gill makes it flatly the sin of covetousness, "a sordid disposition, an avaricious temper". Benson reports the Greek fathers taking it as diseased or morbid, and Campbell arguing that since πονηρός and not διπλοῦς is the opposite chosen, the medical sense governs. Ellicott holds both at once: a faculty "itself diseased" which "discerns not singly but doubly". We report the dispute; the text does not adjudicate it, and both readings land the disciple in the same place in verse 24.
σουsouyourG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounGenitive 2nd Person Singular
ὅλονholonwholeG3650
√ ὅλος — "whole" or "all", iAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
σῶμάsōmabodyG4983
√ σῶμα — the body (as a sound whole), used in a very wide application, literally or figurativelyNounNominative Neuter Singular
ἔσταιestaiwill beG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
Future middle as in verse 22: the outcome is stated, not threatened.
σκοτεινὸνskoteinonfull of darknessG4652
√ σκοτεινός — opaque, iAdjectiveNominative Neuter Singular
skoteinos: opaque, dark Chosen for exact symmetry with φωτεινόν. Note what is not said: the eye is not called the source of the darkness, only the organ whose failure leaves the body without any light of its own. Benson quotes Campbell pressing precisely this, "how great will be the darkness of those members which have no light of their own".
εἰeiIfG1487
√ εἰ — if, whether, that, etcConjunction
οὖνounthenG3767
√ οὖν — (adverbially) certainly, or (conjunctionally) accordinglyConjunction
τὸtotheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
φῶςphōslightG5457
√ φῶς — compare G5316 (φαίνω), G5346 (φημί))NounNominative Neuter Singular
phōs: light The shift from λύχνος (lamp) to φῶς (light) is the argument's second step and the reason the mistranslation in verse 22 matters. The lamp has now been supposed dark, and the question asked is about the light itself. Cambridge flags the change: "Here the Greek word is correctly rendered 'light'."
τὸtoG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
ἐνenwithinG1722
√ ἐν — "in," at, (up-)on, by, etcPreposition
Preposition of location, but the location is the whole point: the failure is interior, not in the environment.
σοὶsoiyouG4771
√ σύ — thouPersonal / Possessive PronounDative 2nd Person Singular
ἐστίνestinisG1510
√ εἰμί — I exist (used only when emphatic)VerbPresent Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
σκότοςskotosdarknessG4655
√ σκότος — shadiness, iNounNominative Neuter Singular
skotos: shadiness, darkness A noun now, not an adjective. The predicate is not that the light is dimmed but that the light is darkness, a stronger and stranger claim than mere obscurity: the organ of discernment has become the source of the deception.
πόσονposonhow great [is]G4214
√ πόσος — interrogative pronoun (of amount) how much (large, long or (plural) many)Interrogative / Indefinite PronounNominative Neuter Singular
posos: how much, how great Interrogative of quantity heading a verbless exclamation. The sentence does not answer itself. JFB supplies the reason it cannot: if the regulative faculty is itself distorted, every faculty taking direction from it is distorted too, and there is no instrument left with which to measure the loss.
τὸtothatG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleNominative Neuter Singular
σκότοςskotosdarknessG4655
√ σκότος — shadiness, iNounNominative Neuter Singular
The final σκότος repeats the noun rather than resuming it with a pronoun, letting the unit end on the word itself.
24

No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Greek — tap a word ↓

Oudeis dynatai douleuein dysi kyriois gar ē misēsei ton hena kai agapēsei ton heteron ē anthexetai henos kai kataphronēsei tou heterou dynasthe ou douleuein Theō kai mamōna

Word by word27 · parsed
ΟὐδεὶςOudeisNo oneG3762
√ οὐδείς — not even one (man, woman or thing), iAdjectiveNominative Masculine Singular
oudeis: not even one Emphatic and absolute, standing first in the clause. The saying opens as a piece of common wisdom about households; Gill cites Jewish parallels ("no man is fit for two tables") and Poole calls it "a proverbial speech". Poole adds the necessary qualifier: it holds of masters who command contrary things.
δύναταιdynataicanG1410
√ δύναμαι — to be able or possibleVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive3rd Person Singular
dynamai: to be able or possible The verb is of capacity, not permission. Christ does not forbid the divided life; he denies that it exists.
δουλεύεινdouleueinserveG1398
√ δουλεύω — to be a slave to (literal or figurative, involuntary or voluntary)VerbPresent Infinitive Active
douleuō: to be a slave to Present infinitive: continuous bondservice, not an act of service. Henry draws the distinction the tense makes: "A man may do some service to two masters, but he can devote himself to the service of no more than one." Pulpit puts the impossibility on the slave rather than on the schedule, since service itself inclines him toward one master and against the other.
δυσὶdysitwoG1417
√ δύο — "two"AdjectiveDative Masculine Plural
κυρίοιςkyrioismastersG2962
√ κύριος — supreme in authority, iNounDative Masculine Plural
kyrios: supreme in authority, lord Dative plural, the ordinary household word for owner, but also the confessional title. The paragraph that began with an eye ends with a lordship, and the middle term is what the eye was looking at.
γὰρgarG1063
√ γάρ — properly, assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensificationConjunction
ἢēEitherG2228
√ ἤ — disjunctive, orConjunction
μισήσειmisēseihe will hateG3404
√ μισέω — to detest (especially to persecute)VerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
miseō: to detest Future indicative. Benson insists the word is comparative here, "to have a less value for", as love is "to have a greater regard for", citing the same usage at Matthew 10:37. Ellicott, however, allows the full force in most cases: the man who loves the world will "even in the midst of lip-homage" hate the service of God inwardly.
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ἕναhenaoneG1520
√ εἷς — oneAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
ἀγαπήσειagapēseiloveG25
√ ἀγαπάω — to love (in a social or moral sense)VerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
agapaō: to love (in a social or moral sense) Paired antithetically with μισήσει. The two futures are not predictions about a particular man but a statement of what divided service does to whoever attempts it.
τὸνtontheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleAccusative Masculine Singular
ἕτερονheteronotherG2087
√ ἕτερος — (an-, the) other or differentAdjectiveAccusative Masculine Singular
ἢēorG2228
√ ἤ — disjunctive, orConjunction
ἀνθέξεταιanthexetaihe will be devoted toG472
√ ἀντέχομαι — to hold oneself opposite to, iVerbFuture Indicative Middle3rd Person Singular
antechomai: to hold oneself opposite to, cling to The second pair softens the emotional register and hardens the volitional one: not hate and love but grip and contempt. Ellicott reads the shift as deliberate pastoral realism, since "there are natures which seem hardly susceptible of such strong emotions as love or hatred" and in them the will simply drifts. Rare verb: four verses in the Verifier's count.
ἑνὸςhenos[the] oneG1520
√ εἷς — oneAdjectiveGenitive Masculine Singular
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
καταφρονήσειkataphronēseidespiseG2706
√ καταφρονέω — to think against, iVerbFuture Indicative Active3rd Person Singular
kataphroneō: to think against, despise Literally to think down on. The same verb is used of what a believer must not do to God's kindness (Romans 2:4) and of what Christ did to the shame of the cross (Hebrews 12:2): contempt is not optional in a divided heart, only aimed.
τοῦtoutheG3588
√ ὁ — the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom)ArticleGenitive Masculine Singular
ἑτέρουheterouotherG2087
√ ἕτερος — (an-, the) other or differentAdjectiveGenitive Masculine Singular
δύνασθεdynastheYou cannotG1410
√ δύναμαι — to be able or possibleVerbPresent Indicative Middle or Passive2nd Person Plural
dynamai: to be able (2nd person plural) The turn from proverb to address. Everything up to here could be agreed to at a distance; this cannot.
οὐou. . .G3756
√ οὐ — the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverbAdverb
δουλεύεινdouleueinserve [both]G1398
√ δουλεύω — to be a slave to (literal or figurative, involuntary or voluntary)VerbPresent Infinitive Active
The infinitive repeats from the opening clause, closing the saying in the shape it opened, with only the two datives newly named.
ΘεῷTheōGodG2316
√ θεός — figuratively, a magistrateNounDative Masculine Singular
theos: God Dative, exactly parallel in form to μαμωνᾷ. The grammar grants the rival the same case and thereby exposes it: whatever is served in this slot is being served as a god.
καὶkaiandG2532
√ καί — and, also, even, so then, too, etcConjunction
μαμωνᾷmamōnamoneyG3126
√ μαμμωνᾶς — mammonas, iNounDative Masculine Singular
mamōnas: mammon, wealth A foreign word carried over untranslated, which is itself a datum: Greek had πλοῦτος. Ellicott notes it is frequent in the Chaldee Targum, absent from the Hebrew of the Old Testament, still current in Syria in Jerome's day and in Punic in Augustine's. JFB and Benson both report the most probable derivation as "what one trusts in". Pulpit adds the limit that guards the verse from asceticism: it is not the possession of wealth that is condemned but the serving of it.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The lamp that is not the light — 6:22

The first correction is lexical and it governs everything after it. The word is λύχνος (G3088), a portable oil lamp, not φῶς (G5457), light; BSB, Cambridge, JFB, Ellicott and Pulpit all render it "lamp", and Pulpit states the consequence plainly, that the Authorized "light" is "imperfect, for the gaze of the soul is not 'light', but a 'lamp'". Cambridge adds that the eye "is not itself the light, but contains the light". Ellicott hears Proverbs 20:27 underneath, the spirit of man as the lamp of the LORD, and identifies the organ as conscience, the moral sense, the inner man. Pulpit narrows it further and, in our judgment, more carefully: not the soul itself but its outlooking power, the direction of the gaze. Geneva's marginal g calls it the judgment of the mind, ruled "with the Spirit of God who gives light to us". ⚙ Put together, these named voices agree on the structural claim even where they differ on the faculty: the organ in view is derivative. It has no light of its own. Everything depends on what it is turned toward, which is why Ellicott can say that singleness of intention is what preserves us from a double treasure, and why this saying sits exactly where it does, between the treasure and the two masters.

ii. The evil eye: a dispute the sources do not settle — 6:22 to 6:23

Two families of reading run through the brief and we decline to merge them. The first is moral and volitional: JFB takes ἁπλοῦς (G573) as "singleness of purpose, looking right at its object, as opposed to having two ends in view", and Barnes builds his whole note on steadiness, the rope dancer's fixed eye. The second is economic: Gill reads ἁπλοῦς through the rabbinic idiom, citing Mishnah Terumot where a "good eye" gives the fortieth part of first fruits and an "evil eye" the sixtieth, so that a single eye is a liberal one and the paragraph never leaves the subject of money. A third strand is medical: Benson reports Chrysostom and Theophylact treating ἁπλοῦς as equivalent to ὑγιής, sound, and πονηρός (G4190) as νοσώδης, morbid, and records Campbell's objection that since the contrast chosen is πονηρός and not διπλοῦς, the root sense "single" may not be operative at all. Pulpit, weighing the Greek directly, denies the "undivided wick" reading outright, notes that the opposite of ἁπλοῦς is not division but folds, and offers instead the sense non compound, free of any foreign substance barring the light. Poole is the most restrained: he lists covetousness and envy together and claims only that Scripture calls both an evil eye. ⚙ Our own reading is that the dispute is smaller than it looks. The verse does not define the eye, it states a proportion: one organ, whole body; small failure, total dark. A grasping eye and a divided eye are the same eye described from two sides, and verse 24 names the master that makes it so. What the text will not license is a confident lexical verdict, and we do not give one.

iii. Two lords, one slave — 6:24

The saying is a household proverb pressed into a confession. Gill cites Jewish parallels ("any man is fit for two tables", "it is not proper for one man to have two governments"), and Poole calls it "a proverbial speech, and in reason to be understood of contrary masters". But the verb is δουλεύειν (G1398), and Cambridge insists on it: "Strictly, be a slave to two masters. The absolute subjection of the slave must be considered." JFB glosses the same verb "to belong wholly and be entirely under command to". Two pairs follow, and they are not a repetition. Hate and love are the emotional case; ἀνθέξεται (G472, hold fast, middle voice) and καταφρονήσει (G2706, think down on) are the volitional case, and Ellicott reads the shift as pastoral precision, because "there are natures which seem hardly susceptible of such strong emotions as love or hatred", in whom the will drifts instead. On μαμωνᾷ (G3126) the brief is unusually unanimous on the negative point: Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit all deny any evidence that mammon was ever the name of a deity, against the older conjecture Poole and Barnes report from the ancients, and Gill records Irenaeus's derivation only to reject it as neither Hebrew nor adjectival. Benson and JFB both favour the derivation "what one trusts in". Pulpit fixes the limit that keeps the verse from becoming asceticism: "it is not the possession of wealth that he condemns, but the serving it", and notes that the contrast is not God and Satan but God and the things of earth.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ This is the tool's own fallible reading, offered to be tested. Read the three verses as one argument with one hinge, and the hinge is the word λύχνος. A lamp is a thing that must be lit from outside itself; it has no light in its nature, only a capacity to carry light or to fail to. That is why the middle verse can say the impossible thing, that the light in you is darkness, and can then refuse to measure it: there is no instrument left to measure with, because the measuring organ is the one that failed. The commentators reach for conscience (Ellicott), the mind (Barnes), the judgment (Geneva, Poole), reason (Macknight in Benson); Pulpit alone holds out for the narrower and, we think, better sense, the outlooking power, the direction of the gaze. If that is right, the paragraph is not chiefly about the quality of a faculty but about the object of a look, and the three units resolve cleanly: treasure names what you look at, eye names the looking, mammon names what looks back and claims you. Verse 24 then supplies what verses 22 and 23 withhold, a diagnosis of the darkness. It is not ignorance and not weakness. It is ownership. The grammar makes the point without a word of exhortation: Θεῷ and μαμωνᾷ stand in the same case, granted identical grammatical dignity, because whatever occupies that slot is being served as a god. And the final verb is δύνασθε, an ability word, not a command word. Christ does not forbid the divided life; he says it is not one of the available lives. Nobody is standing between the two masters. Everyone is already a slave, and the only real question the paragraph asks is whose.

A lamp has no light of its own, so the question is never how bright you are, only what you are turned toward (this line is ⚙ synthesis, not Scripture).

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The Lukan form of the same saying verbal / quotation: confirmed

Luke carries this saying in a different setting, attached to the sign of Jonah discourse rather than to the treasure sayings, and with the same rare vocabulary: λύχνος (G3088) and φωτεινός (G5460), the latter occurring in only four verses in the whole New Testament, two of which are Luke 11:34 and Luke 11:36. Pulpit judges that "the excessive difficulty of Luke's ver. 36 points to Luke having preserved on the whole the more original form of the saying", while adding that "it seems quite impossible to say which is its more original position". Cambridge notes the Lukan context is instructive in its own right, since there the inference is that the spiritual perception of the Pharisees is dimmed so that they cannot recognise Christ. JFB cites Luke 11:36 as the converse statement of what the clear inward eye imparts.

Luke 11:34 · Luke 11:36

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexemes G3088 λύχνος (in 14 vv), G5460 φωτεινός (in 4 vv, rare) and G3650 ὅλος (in 97 vv), Greek to Greek. The rarity of φωτεινός plus the near-identical clause order marks this as the Synoptic parallel of the same saying, not merely a shared motif.

Mammon, the word that occurs four times verbal / quotation: confirmed

The loanword μαμωνᾶς (G3126) appears in only four verses of the New Testament: this one and three in Luke 16, where Luke 16:13 carries the two masters saying almost word for word immediately after the parable of the unjust steward. Pulpit observes that because mammon "comes twice in that parable, but nowhere else in the New Testament, it is probable that its occurrence caused the insertion of this saying in that place", which is a claim about arrangement, not authenticity. Barnes points the reader to Luke 16:9 to 16:11 for the sense of the word; Ellicott notes it is used there in the plain sense of money or riches.

Luke 16:9 · Luke 16:11 · Luke 16:13

basis: Verifier: G3126 μαμμωνᾶς (in 4 vv, rare) shared with Luke 16:9 and Luke 16:11; Luke 16:13 additionally shares G1520 εἷς (288 vv), G1417 δύο (122 vv) and G1410 δύναμαι (201 vv). Greek to Greek; Luke 16:13 is a near verbatim doublet of Matthew 6:24.

The bright cloud: the same rare adjective structural / thematic: confirmed

φωτεινός (G5460) is used of the disciple's body here and of the cloud at the Transfiguration in Matthew 17:5, and the Verifier records it in only four verses. Pulpit presses the choice of word in 6:22, arguing that it indicates not merely a lighted body but one which "itself becomes in measure, like the eye, full of light for others", so that "the illumination shines through". ⚙ We note the lexical coincidence and the shared idea of a body or medium made luminous by a light not its own; we do not claim Matthew intended a cross reference, and no commentator in the brief asserts one.

Matthew 17:5

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G5460 φωτεινός (in 4 vv, rare). The lexeme is genuinely rare, but the shared material is a single adjective inside a shared motif of a medium made luminous, with no quotation and no citation formula, so we record it as thematic rather than verbal.

Holding fast: the verb of steadfast attachment structural / thematic: confirmed

ἀνθέξεται (G472, middle voice, to hold oneself opposite to, hence to cling) is a rare verb, four verses in the Verifier's count. Pulpit explicitly sends the reader to Titus 1:9 for the sense, "in steadfast application", citing Ellicott on that verse; the same verb governs holding fast the faithful word in Titus and holding fast the weak in 1 Thessalonians 5:14. ⚙ The point of interest is that the New Testament uses one verb for the elder's grip on the trustworthy message, the church's grip on the weak, and the divided man's grip on his chosen master. The action is identical; only the object differs, which is the whole burden of Matthew 6:24.

Titus 1:9 · 1 Thessalonians 5:14

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G472 ἀντέχομαι (in 4 vv, rare), Greek to Greek. Pulpit names Titus 1:9 directly in his note on this verse. No quotation is involved, so we tier it thematic despite the rarity.

Contempt, and where it is aimed structural / thematic: confirmed

καταφρονέω (G2706, to think down on, despise) is the verb Christ says the divided man will inevitably aim at one of his two masters; the Verifier records it in nine verses. Paul uses it in Romans 2:4 of despising the riches of God's kindness, Hebrews 12:2 of Christ despising the shame of the cross, and 1 Timothy 6:2 of slaves despising believing masters, a passage which shares δουλεύω (G1398) with this verse as well. ⚙ Set side by side they say something Matthew 6:24 assumes without stating: contempt is not an optional vice but a structural necessity of allegiance. Every man despises something. Hebrews shows the one place it may be aimed without loss.

Romans 2:4 · Hebrews 12:2 · 1 Timothy 6:2

basis: Verifier: shared Greek lexeme G2706 καταφρονέω (in 9 vv) with all three refs, plus G1398 δουλεύω (in 23 vv) shared with 1 Timothy 6:2. Moderately common lexeme and no quotation, so the link is a genuine verbal overlap serving a thematic argument, not a citation.

The lamp of the LORD in the man structural / thematic: confirmed

Ellicott's note on 6:22 grounds the image in Proverbs 20:27, where the spirit of man is called the lamp of the LORD, and he draws from it the identification of the organ as "that which, under the name of 'conscience,' the 'moral sense,' the 'inner man' discerns spiritual realities". ⚙ The structural correspondence is close: in both texts the human interior is a lamp, that is, a bearer of a light belonging to another, and in both the searching function belongs finally to God and not to the lamp. Whether Matthew is alluding to Proverbs or independently using a common image, we cannot determine from the evidence in this brief, and we do not claim it.

Proverbs 20:27

basis: Cross Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so no shared Strong's number can be scored and a verbal tier is unavailable in principle, whatever the strength of the image. Recorded basis: Ellicott names Proverbs 20:27 explicitly in his comment on this verse, and both texts use the lamp of the human interior figure. This link was not returned by the Verifier's candidate list.

Covetousness, which is idolatry flagged: verify source

Both Poole and Cambridge close their notes on 6:24 by citing Colossians 3:5, where covetousness is called idolatry, Poole adding "hence the apostle calls covetousness idolatry" and Cambridge that mammon "stands here for all that mostly estranges men from God". ⚙ The connection is real and old, and it explains why the Greek grants μαμωνᾷ the same dative case as Θεῷ. We flag it rather than confirm it because the basis available to us is the commentators' citation alone: the Verifier returned no shared lexeme candidate for Colossians 3:5 against this unit, so no independent verbal or structural score stands behind it here.

Colossians 3:5

basis: Named by Poole and Cambridge in their notes on Matthew 6:24, but absent from the Verifier's computed candidate list for this unit, so no shared Strong's lexeme basis is recorded. The theological link is widely held; the verbal basis is unverified here and should be checked against the Greek of Colossians 3:5 before being upgraded.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The lamp and the Light of the world ancient/widely-held

⚙ The exegetical result of this unit is negative before it is positive: the eye is a λύχνος, a lamp, and Pulpit states flatly that "in the mere gaze of the soul there is no inherent light", Cambridge that the eye "is not itself the light, but contains the light". A lamp presupposes a source. Matthew's Gospel has already applied the same lamp word to the disciples' own shining in 5:15, which Pulpit and Cambridge both cross reference here, and John's Gospel supplies the source the figure requires when Christ names himself the light of the world and John's prologue calls him the true light that enlightens every man. Geneva's gloss reaches the same place by another road, making the illuminating agent "the Spirit of God who gives light to us". ⚙ Read this way, verse 23 is not primarily a warning about weak conscience but about a lamp that has been turned away from its only source, and the remedy in the Gospel is never a better lamp.

John 8:12 · John 1:9 · Matthew 5:15

One κύριος: the slave with a single Lord ancient/widely-held

The word Matthew uses for master is κύριος (G2962), the New Testament's confessional title, and the verb is δουλεύειν (G1398), to be owned. Pulpit sends the reader to Romans 6:16 for exactly this logic, that the one to whom a man presents himself as a slave is the one whose slave he is, and quotes Bengel that the heart of man cannot be so empty as to serve neither God nor the creature, nor serve both at once. Ellicott observes that "God or mammon, not both together, will be the ruling power with him", and Henry that "God requires the whole heart, and will not share it with the world". ⚙ The apostolic answer is not that the Christian escapes slavery but that he is bought and transferred: Paul's language of being purchased and of becoming the slave of righteousness accepts the terms of Matthew 6:24 rather than evading them. Christ is the one κύριος who owns his servants by redemption rather than by their appetite, which is why his lordship can be single where mammon's never is.

Romans 6:16 · Luke 16:13

A body full of light, and the cloud that was φωτεινή novel

⚙ This reading is our own and we mark it novel. The promise of 6:22 is that a whole body becomes φωτεινόν (G5460), an adjective Matthew uses only once more, of the bright cloud from which the Father speaks over the transfigured Son in 17:5. Pulpit, commenting on 6:22 and without reference to the Transfiguration, notes that the chosen word implies the body itself becomes "full of light for others" and cites νεφέλη φωτινή at Matthew 17:5 purely as a usage parallel. We take the parallel a step further, and readers should weigh whether it holds: the luminous body promised to the single eye is displayed once in this Gospel, on a mountain, in the person of the one whose own eye was never double, and the voice from the luminous cloud commands not imitation but hearing. If that is right, the Sermon's demand and the Gospel's gift meet at one rare word. No commentator in this brief makes the connection, and we do not claim more for it than a suggestion.

Matthew 17:5 · Matthew 6:22

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

  • Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
  • Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
  • Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
  • Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
  • John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
  • Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
  • Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
  • The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text: BSB (CC0) with the Berean interlinear and Strong's numbering; all parse data, glosses and lexeme frequencies above are taken from that apparatus and from the Verifier's computed candidates, not from machine memory.

Spelling of mammon: the interlinear surface form in verse 24 is μαμωνᾷ with one mu, while the lexicon entry is listed as G3126 μαμμωνᾶς with two. JFB notes the same variation and prefers the single mu ("better written with one m"). This is a known manuscript and lexicon spelling difference, not an emendation by us.

Source limits in this brief. Poole's entry on 6:22 is only a pointer, "See Poole on Matthew 6:23", so his substantive comment on the eye is quoted from 6:23. Matthew Henry's entry is a single block covering 6:19 to 6:24 and is not verse specific; Barnes's note is likewise repeated verbatim under both 6:22 and 6:23 in the source. The Pulpit Commentary entry on 6:22 is capped in this brief (roughly 1,778 further characters were not supplied), and our use of it is confined to the portion actually present, so his fuller treatment of Lightfoot on the evil eye is unread by us and unreported here.

What is genuinely uncertain. (1) The sense of ἁπλοῦς and πονηρός as eye words is disputed in the sources themselves, between singleness of purpose (JFB, Ellicott), liberality against covetousness on the rabbinic idiom (Gill, with Poole allowing envy as well), and soundness against disease (Chrysostom and Theophylact as reported by Benson, with Campbell arguing the contrast rules out the sense "single"). We have reported the dispute and declined to settle it. (2) The original setting of both sayings is uncertain; Pulpit holds Luke may preserve the more original form of the lamp saying while saying the original position cannot be determined. (3) Whether mammon was ever a deity's name is denied by Ellicott, Cambridge and Pulpit and reported as an ancient opinion by Poole and Barnes; we follow the denial and record the older view as a report. (4) The Colossians 3:5 thread carries only commentator provenance and is badged flagged accordingly. (5) The Matthew 17:5 christological reading is our own inference from a shared rare adjective and is marked novel.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)