Matthew 18:9 (ASV)

Passage

And if thine eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is good for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire.

Nearby Context

Matthew 18:7 Woe unto the world because of occasions of stumbling! for it must needs be that the occasions come; but woe to that man through whom the occasion cometh!

Matthew 18:8 And if thy hand or thy foot causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee: it is good for thee to enter into life maimed or halt, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire.

Matthew 18:9 And if thine eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is good for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire.

Matthew 18:10 See that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 18:11 [For the Son of man came to save that which was lost.]

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thine", "causeth", "thee", "stumble", "pluck", "cast", and "good". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thine" and "causeth", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 8's "And if thy hand or thy foot..." into verse 10's "See that ye despise not one of...", so "thine" and "causeth" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thine" and "causeth" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.