Matthew 6:22 says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore, if your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick by one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
The literal Greek of Matthew 6:22 (ean oun ê ho ophthalmos sou haplous) "if therefore your eye is single" has been translated variously. The Greek word only occurs in this saying of Jesus and literally means 'single'. Other translations have rendered it 'unclouded, sound, clear, healthy' or 'good''
The problem with understanding this statement from Yeshua is that the phrase is a Hebrew idiom. During the time of Messiah and before, a passage of scripture was referenced by quoting a phrase from it; chapters and verse numbers didn’t exist in the scriptures and wouldn’t for over a millennium. With that phrase, the entire meaning was supposed to also be conveyed. These phrases are idioms and they are packed throughout the New Covenant scriptures. The Book of Revelation contains more idiomatic material then original material. Shaul (Paul) and the other New testament writers relied heavily on simple and complex idioms to convey ideas. Some idioms, instead of being based on scripture, were based on the culture or on the traditional teaching practices of the Rabbinic schools.
Although many of these idioms can be understood due to the context of scripture, often these idiomatic references to the Tanach (Old Testament) and to the culture need to be explained to today's Western mindset to understand the context properly.
“Evil Eye” and “Good Eye” are just such idiomatic expressions. “Good Eye” is for generosity as 'evil eye' is for 'selfishness'. The Hebrew phrase (tôwbh-`ayîn) 'good eye' is used in Proverbs 22:9 where it is sometimes translated "a generous man". A good eye 'sees' a need and meets it. In modern English these idioms might be paralleled by the phrases "open handed" and "tight fisted".
Other Hebrew sources such as the Jewish Mishnah and Talmud speak of 'good, middling and evil' eyes. For example, in the offerings of the first fruits: "'a good eye' gave the fortieth, the house Shammai say, the thirtieth part; a middling one, the fiftieth; and an evil one, the sixtieth part." (Mishnah, Trumot, 4.3)
The Jewish commentators say, a 'good eye' means one that is liberal in their generosity, and an 'evil eye' the contrary. Elsewhere one reads of 'trading, dedicating' and 'giving with a good' or 'an evil eye', that is, either generously, liberally, or in a grudging manner.
"A good eye and a humble spirit and a lowly soul, those who have these are disciples of Abraham our Father" (Mishnah, Abôth, 5.19)
In accordance with these thoughts, Jesus' meaning is that if a man is not covetous but is generous, he will be blessed and righteous in all areas of life. "Your whole body" is simply a Hebrew metaphor for 'your whole person', 'you yourself'.
In conclusion, Messiah simply states that generosity, not just the action, but a generous spirit, brings blessings and “light” to a person and is also an indicator of the status of the person in general. Whereas a person that is not just stingy in action, but in his person itself, brings darkness and indicates the darkness already in him. I can testify to this myself. Many years ago, I was always very close-fisted and not willing to help my neighbor. In retrospect, I was very closed to the finer points of scripture and stingy with other aspects of my life; light could not enter my person. It was like a veil had been drawn across my eyes regarding scripture. As years wore on, I cam e to see the need in my life to be open to others needs and how I could help. My whole life changed. It’s not that generosity and stinginess were the sole contributing factors, but these factors revealed what was in the heart. Similarly, Scripture supports this and states that if the eye is good, the body will fill with light. Now, I know several very generous people that are not believers, so I am not trying to state that scripture teaches “filled with light” translates to “believing” or “saved”; it does not. But, darkness can certainly make it harder for a person to accept the Gospel and light can make it easier. This goes along with Jacob (James) 2:20, that teaches that “faith without works is dead”. Indeed, having a generous spirit allows a person to perform works out of love of God and others, which is the only way in which they should be carried out. The entire section of Jacob needs to be read, however.
Jacob (James) 2:14-17
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can such faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in shalom, keep warm and well fed,” but you do not give them what the body needs, what good is that? 17 So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.
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