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:
If your hand is causing you to mess up and sin, get rid of it. It's way better to go through life missing a hand than to have both hands and end up in hell, where the fire never goes out.
Sometimes you have to cut off what's hurting you to save yourself, even if it costs you something important.
📚 Historical Context
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is teaching his disciples about the extreme measures needed to avoid sin, following his warnings about the dangers of leading others astray and his predictions of his own suffering. This verse uses vivid, hyperbolic language to stress that eternal consequences far outweigh temporary losses, emphasizing the urgency of dealing with personal temptations. The reference to hell as an unquenchable fire draws from Jewish cultural ideas of Gehenna, a valley associated with judgment and destruction.
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