Matthew 5:29

“And if thy right eye offend thee, etc.] Or “cause thee to offend”, to stumble, and fall into sin. Our Lord has no regard here to near and dear relations seeking to alienate us from God and Christ, and hinder us in the pursuit of divine things; whose solicitations are to be rejected with the utmost indignation, and they themselves to be parted with, and forsaken, rather than complied with; which is the sense some give of the words: for both in this, and the following verse, respect is had only to the law of adultery; and to such members of the body, which often are the means of leading persons on to the breach of it; particularly the eye and hand. The eye is often the instrument of ensnaring…”

“And if thy right eye--the readier and the dearer of the two. offend thee--be a "trap spring," or as in the New Testament, be "an occasion of stumbling" to thee. pluck it out and cast it from thee--implying a certain indignant promptitude, heedless of whatever cost to feeling the act may involve. Of course, it is not the eye simply of which our Lord speaks--as if execution were to be done upon the bodily organ--though there have been fanatical ascetics who have both advocated and practiced this, showing a very low apprehension of spiritual things--but the offending eye, or the eye considered as the occasion of sin; and consequently, only the sinful exercise of the organ which is meant. For as…”

“Thy right eye - The Hebrews, like others, were accustomed to represent the affections of the mind by the members or parts of the body, Romans 7:23; Romans 6:13. Thus, the bowels denoted compassion; the heart, affection or feeling; the reins, understanding, secret purpose. An evil eye denotes sometimes envy Matthew 20:15, and sometimes an evil passion, or sin in general. Mark 7:21-22; “out of the heart proceedeth an evil eye.” In this place, as in 2 Peter 2:14, the expression is used to denote strong adulterous passion, unlawful desire, or wicked inclination. The right eye and hand are mentioned, because they are of most use to us, and denote that, however strong the passion may be, or…”

“If a person as dear as a right eye, or as useful as a right hand, cause thee thus to offend, though but in heart. Perhaps here may be an instance of a kind of transposition which is frequently found in the sacred writings: so that Mat 5:29 may refer to Mat 5:27-28; and Mat 5:30 to Mat 5:21-22. As if he had said, Part with any thing, however dear to you, or otherwise useful, if you cannot avoid sin while you keep it. Even cut off your right hand, if you are of so passionate a temper, that you cannot otherwise be restrained from hurting your brother. Pull out your eyes, if you can no otherwise be restrained from lusting after women. Mat 18:8; Mar 9:43. Matthew 5:30”

“5:29-30 good eye . . . gouge it out . . . stronger hand . . . cut it off: These graphic images call for radical separation from sin. But even self-mutilation, radical as it would be, cannot stop a lustful mind. Jesus is calling for the surpassing righteousness that only he can bring. 5:29 hell (Greek Gehenna): Gehenna originally referred to a valley outside Jerusalem where some of the kings of Judah worshiped idols and performed human sacrifice by fire (2 Chr 28:3; 33:6; Jer 7:31; 32:35). The site was eventually destroyed by Josiah (2 Kgs 23:10). In the New Testament, Gehenna describes the place of punishment by God. Unless disciples have surpassing righteousness, they will not enter the…”

“if: Mat 18:8, Mat 18:9; Mar 9:43-48 offend thee: or, do cause thee to offend pluck: Mat 19:12; Rom 6:6, Rom 8:13; Co1 9:27; Gal 5:24; Col 3:5; Pe1 4:1-3 for: Mat 16:26; Pro 5:8-14; Mar 8:36; Luk 9:24, Luk 9:25 Matthew 5:30”