Matthew 6:22-23

The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

Note: Definition of “healthy” eye. These verses continue the theme of the prior verses about “treasures on earth” as a transition towards verse 24 about money. The phrase “healthy eye” meant generous, i.e. having mercy on the poor. This usage is clarified by the use of its opposite in Matthew 20:15, in which the phrase “bad eye” is used to describe one jealous about God’s generosity to others.

Similar Old Testament Verses

Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed,
for he shares his bread with the poor.

Proverbs 22:9

For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

Deuteronomy 15:11

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered

Proverbs 21:13

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to your husbands, ‘Bring, that we may drink!’

Amos 4:1

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 5:10

One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

Proverbs 11:24

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.

Proverbs 19:17

Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with the man who deals generously and lends…
He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor…. The wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the desire of the wicked will perish!

Proverbs 112:4-5, 9, 10

Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.