Stumbling Blocks
H. M. Luckock, D. D. Mark 9:43 And if your hand offend you, cut it off: it is better for you to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell… After stating the fearful punishment in store for those who impede the spiritual progress of others, our Lord proceeds to warn men not to place stumbling blocks in their own way. He selects the chief instruments of sin — the hand, the foot, the eye — and counsels their immediate destruction, if need be, rather than allow them to work the threatened mischief. It is the hand which men lift up to do violence, as Cain did to his brother; or to appropriate what does not belong to them, like Achan. It is the feet which hurry us into forbidden paths, as they hurried Gehazi, or the old man of God whom the lion slew for his transgression. It is the eye which excites the lust to desire, in the spirit of Eve, something which God has seen fit to withhold. To hurt, to trespass, and to covet: what a common triple cord of sin it is! (H. M. Luckock, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: WEB: If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having your two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire,