Here we have a verse that is consistently misinterpreted. What is this "evil eye?" Note the context of the verses before and after the term.

Matthew 6:20-21 before the verse on 'evil eye':
"But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through to steal: For where your treasure is there will your heart be also."


Matthew 6:24  after the verse on 'evil eye':
"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

 In both cases Yeshua/Jesus is talking about serving God and not being a servant to money. Why would He interrupt this discussion about "God and money" to interject something about an "evil eye?"

The answer is that the term "evil eye," in this context, is a Hebrew figure of speech for being stingy with your material wealth. ( Like our figure of speech 'green eyed monster'...we know it as a term used for jealousy!)

 Matthew 6:22-23 CJB:
"The eye is the lamp of the body. So if you have a 'good eye' [that is, if you are generous] your whole body will be full of light; but if you have an 'evil eye' [if you are stingy] your whole body will be full of darkness. If, then, the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"

This verse alone offers evidence that the book of Matthew was originally written in Hebrew as whoever translated it into the Greek was not aware of what the term "evil eye" meant. It would appear they simply copied the phrase, which loses its meaning in the Greek and English.

Proverbs 28:22 makes reference to an "evil eye" in relationship to money:
"He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him."
 

What's in your eye?

In His service, bj