en_tn_condensed/mat/05/29.md

1.9 KiB

If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you

The irony here is that people use their eyes in part to keep from stumbling. Here "eye" is a metonym for what a person chooses to look at or learn about, "stumble" is a metaphor for "sin," and "pluck it out and throw it away from you" is a hyperbolic metaphor for doing everything possible to avoid sinning. Alternate translation: "if what you are interested in causes you to want to sin, do everything you can to stay away from it" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-irony and rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metonymy and rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-hyperbole and rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)

If your

Jesus is talking to a group of people about what they as individuals should or should not do. All instances of "you" and "your" are singular, but in some languages they may need to be translated as plural. (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-you)

right eye

This refers to the eye on the right-hand side of the face. The Jews thought of the right hand as more important than the left, so the phrase "right eye" was a metaphor for the most important eye. You may need to translate "right" as "better" or "stronger." (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-metaphor)

pluck it out

This is an exaggerated command for a person to do whatever he needs to do to stop sinning. It means "forcefully remove it" or "destroy it." If the right eye is not specifically mentioned, you may need to translate this "destroy your eyes." If eyes have been mentioned, you may need to translate this "destroy them." (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-hyperbole)

throw it away from you

"get rid of it"

one of your members should perish

"you should lose one part of your body"

than that your whole body should be thrown into hell

This can be stated in active form. Alternate translation: "than for God to throw your whole body into hell" (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-activepassive)