See in Reader
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General Information:
Jesus is talking to a group of people about what they as individuals should or should not do. The instances of "you" and "your" are all singular, but in some languages they may need to be plural. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-you)
The eye is the lamp of the body ... how great is that darkness
This compares healthy eyes that allow a person to see to diseased eyes that cause a person to be blind. This is a metaphor referring to spiritual health. Often Jewish people used the phrase "bad eye" to refer to greed. The meaning is: if a person is completely devoted to God and sees things the way God does, then he is doing what is right. If a person is greedy for more, then he is doing what is evil. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)
The eye is the lamp of the body
This metaphor means the eyes allow a person to see just as a lamp helps a person see in the dark. AT: "Like a lamp, the eye allows you to see things clearly" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)
eye
You may have to translate this as plural, "eyes."
if your eye is bad
This does not refer to magic. Jewish people often used this as a metaphor for someone who is greedy. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)
if the light that is in you is actually darkness, how great is that darkness!
"Light" here is a metaphor, comparing clear thinking to a lamp. Inability to think clearly is compared to a lamp that is not lit. AT: "if the understanding that one has is wrong, how wrong one's entire life will be!" (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor)
for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other
Both of these phrases mean basically the same thing. They emphasize that a person cannot love and be devoted both to God and money at the same time. (See: rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism)
You cannot serve God and wealth
"You cannot love God and money at the same time"