Fragment on Matthew · §1 · Gregory Thaumaturgus

The eye as lamp and love as light

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Gregory opens by quoting Matthew 6:22-23, then begins explaining the saying's terms.

The eye is the lamp of the body (Matthew 6:22). So if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. And if the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness (Matthew 6:23)? The sound eye is sincere love, through which, when the whole body is enlightened, love brings forth through the outward parts the same things as the things thought within. The evil eye, on the other hand, is pretended love, which is also called hypocrisy, and through it the whole body of a person is darkened.

Greek

Ὁ λύχνος τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν ὁ ὀφθαλμός.

Ἐὰν οὖν ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου ἁπλοῦς ᾖ, ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου φωτεινὸν ἔσται. Ἐὰν

δὲ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου πονηρὸς ᾖ, ὅλον τὸ σῶμά σου σκοτεινὸν ἔσται. Εἰ δὲ τὸ φῶς τὸ

ἐν σοὶ, σκότος ἐστὶ, τὸ σκότος πόσον; Ἀπλοῦς ὀφθαλμὸς, ἡ ἀνυπόκριτός ἐστιν ἀγάπη,

δι' ἧς ὅταν τὸ σῶμα φωτίζηται, τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς ἔσωθεν νοούμενοις, καὶ διὰ τῶν ἔξωθεν

μερῶν προφέρουσα; ὁ δὲ πονηρὸς ὀφθαλμός ἐστιν ἡ προσποίητος ἀγάπη, ἥτις καὶ

ὑπόκρισις καλεῖται· δι' ἧς ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα σκοτίζεται τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.

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About this text

Gregory Thaumaturgus on Matthew 6:22–23 — single eye, hypocrisy, and false love.

Gregory Thaumaturgus (c. 213–c. 270) wrote this brief exposition of a saying from the Gospel of Matthew. It is addressed to no named recipient and survives only as a fragment. He wrote to explain the meaning of Jesus' words about the eye as the lamp of the body, applying them to the difference between sincere and pretended love.

The passage under discussion is Matthew 6:22-23, where Jesus says that if the eye is sound, the whole body is full of light, but if the eye is evil, the whole body is full of darkness.

A reader should know that Gregory interprets the 'sound eye' as sincere love, through which a person's outward words match inward thoughts. The 'evil eye' is pretended love, which he equates with hypocrisy. Such hypocrites are wolves who have put on sheep's clothing, washing only the outside of the cup and dish while leaving the inside unclean. The Savior convicts them by asking: if the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? Gregory explains this as meaning that if what you think is love is actually a work deserving darkness because of hidden hypocrisy, your open transgressions are far worse.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 10 (Greek)

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