Text -- Luke 11:33-36 (NET)

Internal Light

11:33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a hidden place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in can see the light. 11:34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is diseased, your body is full of darkness. 11:35 Therefore see to it that the light in you is not darkness. 11:36 If then your whole body is full of light, with no part in the dark, it will be as full of light as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Luk 11:33

¹ tn Or perhaps “in a cellar” (L&N 28.78). The point is that the light of Jesus’ teaching has been put in public view.

² tc The phrase “or under a basket” is lacking in some important and early mss (Ì^45,75 L Γ Ξ 070 ˹ 700* 1241 2542 pc sy^s sa). It is hard to decide in this case, since the inclusion of “or under a basket” is widely attested by some early and decent witnesses, as well as the overwhelming majority of mss (א A B C D W Θ Ψ Ë¹³ Ï latt). The parallel passage in Luke 8:16 does not include “under a basket.” If the phrase “under a basket” were added as a harmonization with Mark 4:21 and Matt 5:15, it is perhaps surprising that scribes did not add the phrase at Luke 8:16 as well. It seems somewhat more likely that a scribe copying Luke would be inclined to harmonize 11:33 with 8:16 by omitting the phrase here. Thus, the words “or under a basket” seem to have the marks of authenticity.

tn Or “a bowl”; this refers to any container for dry material of about eight liters (two gallons) capacity. It could be translated “basket, box, bowl” (L&N 6.151).

NET Notes: Luk 11:34

¹ tn Or “sound” (so L&N 23.132 and most scholars). A few scholars take this word to mean something like “generous” here (L&N 57.107), partly due to the immediate context of this saying in Matt 6:22 which concerns money, in which case the “eye” is a metonymy for the entire person (“if you are generous”).

² tn Or “when it is sick” (L&N 23.149).

sn There may be a slight wordplay here, as this term can also mean “evil,” so the figure uses a term that points to the real meaning of being careful as to what one pays attention to or looks at.

NET Notes: Luk 11:35

¹ tn This is a present imperative, calling for a constant watch (L&N 24.32; ExSyn 721).

² sn Here you is a singular pronoun, individualizing the application.

NET Notes: Luk 11:36

¹ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text, so the example ends on a hopeful, positive note.

² tn Grk “Therefore”; the same conjunction as at the beginning of v. 35, but since it indicates a further inference or conclusion, it has been translated “then” here.

³ tn Grk “not having any part dark.”

⁴ tn Grk “it will be completely illumined as when a lamp illumines you with its rays.”