Fragment on Matthew · §1 · Gregory Thaumaturgus

The lamp of the body is the eye

The lamp of the body is the eyeIf your eye is single, the whole body is full of light; if evil, the whole body is dark — and if the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness. A single eye is unfeigned love, by which the body is lit when outer parts match what is thought within; the evil eye is pretended love, also called hypocrisy, through which the whole body is darkened — dark deeds conceived inside, while the outer members put forward words that seem to be light.

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. Ἄξια μὲν σκότους πράγ-ματα ἐννοούμενον ἔσωθεν· διὰ δὲ τῶν ἔξωθεν μερῶν, φωτὸς εἶναι