On its own, it’s hard to make sense of Jesus’ eye-lamp metaphor. However, the ambiguity fades when our interpretation of “the eye is the lamp of the body” involves reading Jesus’ words in context. He’s using imagery from the Hebrew Bible to say that one's spiritual health can be assessed in part by observing the way one uses material possessions.

First, this single sentence belongs to a large body of teaching found in Matthew 5-7, known as the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus talks about the body’s eye-lamp in a section of the sermon (1) that focuses on the dangers involved with wealth. This context helps us see that his metaphor specifically speaks to our relationship with money and possessions.

Second, as a Jewish teacher, Jesus appeals to common idioms in the Hebrew Bible. Seeing how biblical authors use the metaphorical language of “light-filled” versus “dim” eyes—or “good” versus “bad” eyes—can help us gain a deeper understanding of Jesus’ intended message. For Jesus, the eye becomes an image related to either generosity or stinginess. The sincere or good eye represents a generous person who imitates God’s generosity to others, while the bad eye symbolizes a self-consumed person who takes instead of gives and neglects the needs of others.

Let’s dig into the context of the Sermon on the Mount and the Hebrew Bible to add more clarity to Jesus' famous (yet perplexing) words:

The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, 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 that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! (2)

Biblical Interpretation of the Eye and Its Quality

“Good eye!” a friend says when you find the missing puzzle piece. “Good eyes!” an optometrist says when test results reveal your 20/20 vision. Having a good eye can mean many things, but Jesus uses the idea more specifically.

The “good eye” Jesus alludes to finds its root in the Hebrew Bible, where authors use it idiomatically to talk about generosity. The Hebrew phrase tov ‘ayin literally means “good eye,” but English translations often use the word “generous” to communicate its deeper meaning. Consider Proverbs 22:9:

“One who is generous [tov ‘ayin] will be blessed, because he gives some of his food to the poor.” (NASB)

The opposite of tov ‘ayin (good eye) in Hebrew is ra’ ayin (bad eye). This example from Proverbs 23:6-7 shows both the “bad” and “duplicitous” nuances conveyed in this idiom:

“Do not eat the bread of a selfish [ra’ ayin or “bad eye”] person or desire his delicacies. For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, ‘Eat and drink!’ But his heart is not with you.”

Notice how the proverb warns against wanting anything from this double-minded person. Even if what they give has material value, it’s tied to corruption and best to avoid altogether. The bad eye represents the way of pretending to care for others’ needs while staying self-obsessed—publicly posturing as generous when the true agenda is all about personal gain.

Jesus appeals to this “bad eye” idiom in Matthew 6:23, using the Greek poneros (“bad”) to describe the eye. But it’s interesting that Matthew doesn’t use an equivalent Greek word like “good” to provide a contrast to the bad eye (see Matt. 6:22-23). Instead he uses the Greek word haplous, which can communicate ideas like healthy, single, sincere, and clear.

“... if therefore thine eye be single [haplous], thy whole body shall be full of light.” (3) (KJV)

Haplous often describes a person’s motivation, conveying the idea that people with single or sincere motivations are genuine in action—they have the good eye. The opposite of haplous is diplous, which means “double.” People with double motives speak or act in one way while hiding their real agenda—they have the bad eye. So rather than using “good versus bad,” Jesus uses “sincere or single versus bad.”

Another helpful note for interpretation is that the noun related to haplous, which is haplotes, occurs often in the New Testament to convey ideas like simplicity, sincerity, and generosity:

“... if [your gift] is giving, then give [haplotes] generously.” (4)

“... their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich [haplotes] generosity.” (5)

“You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous [haplotes] on every occasion …” (6)

With these wordplays and idioms in mind, it looks like Jesus is using this eye-lamp metaphor to say that one's spiritual health can be assessed in part by observing the way one uses material possessions. Or as New Testament scholar R.T. France says, “This rather obscure little saying seems to be using a wordplay … in order to commend both single-mindedness (in pursuing the values of the Kingdom of Heaven) and generosity … as a key to the effective life of a disciple.” (7)

How Eyes Relate to Light and Darkness in the Bible

Jesus appears to develop his eye as a lamp metaphor from the Hebrew Bible, where the authors often describe eyes as either a source of light or a place where light resides. Having eyes full of light can refer to a person’s liveliness, like a lamenting David who cries out to God for help in Psalm 13:3:

“Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; enlighten my eyes [ha’irah einai], or I will sleep the sleep of death.” (8)

Proverbs 15:30 gives an example of light-filled or bright eyes being a mark of happiness:

“Bright eyes [me’or einayim] gladden the heart; good news refreshes the bones.” (9)

And at times, the authors describe spiritual beings with eye and lamp language. In Zechariah 4:10, an angel tells Zechariah that the seven golden lamps on the lampstand symbolize God’s eyes:

“But these seven … they are the eyes [einei] of the LORD roaming throughout the earth.” (10)

Conversely, other Hebrew Bible literature also describes the dim or dull eye, which often refers to a person’s decline in health due to old age:

“Now it came about, when Isaac was old and his eyes [einav] were too dim to see …” (11)

“Now the eyes [ve’einei] of Israel were so dim from age that he could not see.” (12)

Dimmed eyes can even symbolize a person’s extreme suffering, like David’s experience described in Psalm 38:10:

“My heart throbs, my strength fails me; and the light of my eyes [ve’or-einai], even that has gone from me.” (13)

Jesus appeals to these various depictions of light and dark eyes to convey at least two main points in his teaching. First, he says that generous people remain full of light like a lamp—vibrant and even happy with love for their neighbors. Second, he connects the concept of unloving stinginess to dim or dark eyes, suggesting that the stingy person has dim or darkened eyes and will experience a continuous decline into lonesome isolation and painful darkness.

Isn't Wealth a Gift from God?

The bad-eyed, stingy way of life is full of darkness, Jesus says, and he uses his parable about the rich man and Lazarus as an illustration (see Luke 16:19-31). The rich man has a bad eye because he lives solely for himself and the comforts of his wealth, while neglecting to care for Lazarus’ needs.

But wait. Isn’t wealth a sign of God’s favor?

Some listening to Jesus’ story surely think that the rich man’s luxurious possessions display clear evidence of God’s favor and blessing. But in the biblical narrative, prosperity and wealth are often signs of brutal injustice toward the vulnerable.

Way back, (14) before the Assyrian exile, the shepherd-prophet Amos rebukes wealthy Israelites for thinking their prosperity is evidence of God’s favor. Amos says their wealth actually proves their own stinginess, greed, and abuse of the poor. While their actions may be viewed as socially acceptable, they’re in opposition to God. (15)

The exact same thing happens several centuries later, just before the Babylonian exile. Like Toto pulling the Wizard of Oz’s curtain back to reveal his weakness, the prophet Ezekiel uncovers Israel’s extreme vulnerability, one masked behind wealth and power. (16)

Ezekiel declares that Israel’s wealth and power no longer have anything to do with God’s blessing. Worse, Ezekiel explains that God’s presence has long departed from the temple and from their midst. (17) By normalizing oppression, Israel’s wealth is actually blood money, not God’s favorable blessing. (18)

In telling the Lazarus story, Jesus may or may not be suggesting that the rich man gained his wealth through oppression. But he’s likely working with the same themes, inviting us to honestly evaluate our relationship to wealth and reasons for hanging onto it. In the end, things turn out poorly for the rich man due to his selfishness.

Throughout his teaching, Jesus tells us that true, wonderful experiences of life have almost nothing to do with owning stuff. Jesus lived in poverty and experienced the good life at its fullest because the good life God offers is found in love for one’s neighbor.

Wealth itself is neither light nor darkness, but loving wealth is darkness. And to love wealth instead of neighbor is to switch off the eye-lamp. When we see the metaphor through this lens, we can more clearly understand the Matthew 6:22-23 meaning.

People focused on their material possessions may believe they are experiencing the best life has to offer. But a stingy way of living snuffs out the light of God’s own image within us. God created humans for loving, peaceful community, and we are designed to freely share with one another.

Two Approaches to Possessions

Based on the larger biblical context, we can see the connection between Jesus’ metaphor, “the eye is the lamp of the body,” and the Hebrew Bible idiom about the good eye versus bad eye. It’s all about generosity or stinginess. With this striking image, he warns people that a smidgen of stinginess can spoil the whole heart:

“If your eye is bad … if the light that is in you is darkness, then how great is the darkness!” (19)

Thankfully, the opposite is also true:

“If your eye is clear [or single (20), good (21), healthy (22), etc.], then your whole body will be full of light!” (23)

Why does Jesus use this complex and layered picture? Why not directly teach: “Don’t be stingy; be generous”?

Perhaps it’s because metaphors make us think. They get behind our defenses and force us to wonder. Maybe Jesus is artfully saying that he wants his listeners to meditate more deeply within their own hearts, over long periods of time, in order to slowly but surely become people who do not merely follow his instruction but who genuinely want to follow.

When we ponder the picture of the eye-lamp and its connection to selfishness or generosity, we cannot help but wonder: Do I use others for personal gain, or do I live with generosity toward others, showing real love for them and tangible concern for their well-being? The self-serving approach corrupts and isolates us into darkness. But Jesus says that the loving-others approach builds everyone up and leads to a healthy, bright life.

1. Matthew 6:19-34
2. Matthew 6:22-23, NASB
3. Matthew 6:22, KJV
4. Romans 12:8, NIV
5. 2 Corinthians 8:2, NIV
6. 2 Corinthians 9:11, NIV
7. R. T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007), 262.
8. NASB
9. NASB
10. NASB
11. Genesis 27:1, NASB
12. Genesis 48:10, NASB
13. NASB
14. Likely during the first half of the 8th century B.C.E., around 760-755 B.C.E.
15. See Amos, esp. 2:6-8; 4:1-3; 5:10-27; 6:1-14.
16. See Ezekiel 13:1-23.
17. See Ezekiel 19
18. See Ezekiel 22:1-31 for one of several examples.
19. Matthew 6:23, NASB
20. King James Version; American Standard Version
21. New King James Version; Berean Standard Bible
22. New English Translation; New Living Translation
23. Matthew 6:22, NASB