Language Studies

Greek Thoughts

katharos - καθαρος (Strong's #2513)
Free from the admixture or adhesion of any thing that soils, adulterates or corrupts

This week our word study comes from the sixth beatitude of the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). The Greek word καθαρος (Strong's #2513) translated pure, literally means: "free from the admixture or adhesion of any thing that soils, adulterates or corrupts,"^F1 hence, "clean, pure." The lexicographers define the term as: "pure or clean," i.e. "unsoiled or unalloyed."^F2 Some believe this verse has reference to "the moral blamelessness of the inner life, the center of which is the heart."^F3 Others believe Jesus is referring to one who is "clean, pure, in a spiritual sense, from the pollution and guilt of sin."^F4 However, "the pure in heart" of this beatitude does not have reference to freedom from impurity, lust or vice. The "heart" in both the Old and New Testament stands for one's innermost soul, and so the purity here required is not the ceremonial cleanness of the Levitical law, nor the blamelessness of outwardly correct conduct, but rather complete purity of inward thought (enlightenment) and understanding. A thing is "pure" when it contains no admixture or other substances. To illustrate this fact: benevolence is pure when it contains no admixture of self-seeking; justice is pure when it contains no admixture of partiality; love is pure when it contains no admixture of lust; and one's heart is pure when it loves only the good, when all its motives are right, and when its aspirations follow only that which is noble and true. Therefore, the word 'katharos' is not used here in the moral sense by Christ. Jesus uses the term 'katharos' in heart in this kingdom principle in reference to the enlightened heart, the eye of the heart that is unsoiled and unblemished from anything that would cloud its vision and impede its understanding in the pursuit of truth. The heart is not only the seat of our affections or sensibilities but it is also the center of our understanding. Within this sermon Jesus explains the pure heart as the eye single to the truth. He declared: "The lamp of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness! No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:22-24; cp. Luke 11:33-36).

The single eye is the eye that sees straight; pure vision is straight vision. The "pure in heart" are those who possess a heart with single vision, a heart that sees straight; an enlightened, understanding, knowing heart, thus, a heart that recognizes, understands and comprehends the truth of the gospel. We all know that the eye is the organ of light and without it the physical body would dwell in darkness. When the eye is single, the vision is pure and the eye sees straight and the body is full of light. Every object is seen in its true colors, true proportions, and accurate position. Thus, single vision is pure vision and it is the opposite of double vision, which blurs the eye and darkens the body. We have all at some point in time had dirt or an abrasion in our eyes. Some have even had a cataract in the eye, or malformation of the lens, or color blindness and when such is the case the whole body is full of darkness or distorted light. If an abrasion is in our eyes then they tear up and our vision is doubled and blurry until the abrasion is removed. So it is with the eye of heart of man. Figuratively, the eye of the heart is the organ of the mind that apprehends God and hears, perceives and understands "the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation" (Ephesians 1:13), for it is only through walking in "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:4) that we serve God and not the mammon of the world. Paul made a similar reference to the "eyes of the heart enlightened" that recognizes, understands and "knows what is the hope of His (Christ's) calling" and "what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints" (Ephesians 1:18), whereas, James made the opposite application in the "double-minded man who is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8). The double-minded man has blurred vision or an adhesion that clouds his vision and darkness envelopes his way because his ways are the ways of the world. The mind that understands gives pure light to the heart of man through spiritual perception, and the eye of the heart is single. But Jesus said, the evil eye is the soiled imperfect vision, the mind of man lacking in knowledge. The application depicts a darkening within which brought forth the Messiah's exclamation: "If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the darkness!" Spiritual darkness in the soul is infinitely greater in the comparison with physical darkness in the body. It is only through pure vision of the eyes of the heart that the soul can perceive and receive the spiritual light of the truth of gospel, and therefore see God. The Psalmist declared, "The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart: The commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes" (Psalms 19:8).

The illustration of this beatitude and of Christ's explanation of the single eye (Matthew 6:22,23) belongs to one trying to serve two masters: "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24). God requires a singleness of service in all things and it is only the gospel that guides us in our service to God. In the affirmation of Jesus that "no man can serve two masters" there is an illustration of an application by the Messiah which the audience needed to perceive but which does not at once catch the eye, thus the necessity for possessing the pure heart that sees straight and comprehends the truth. The Sermon on the Mount is the gospel of the kingdom. Jesus was alluding to the fact that an old age of the world was ending and a new age was beginning. An old dispensation was closing and a new dispensation was opening. An old covenant was being abrogated and a new covenant was being inaugurated. An old Law was being annulled and a new law was being enacted. Humanity could not be under both and the disciples of the Lord could not be servants to both. The Law of Moses had fulfilled its purpose as being a schoolmaster or tutor to bring mankind to the new Law of the Gospel. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was revealing that an old service was being terminated and new service was being originated and initiated to those entering into the Messiah's kingdom.

The idiom "see God" means to enter into the relation with God in the kingdom, for in the Messiah's kingdom God reveals Himself and His glory to all humanity. To the Pharisee Nicodemus, Jesus said: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). To "see the kingdom of God" meant to "enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5), and in this beatitude to "see God" means to enter the same state. The sixth beatitude, therefore, refers to the heart that is single to the truth of the gospel, unmixed with the alien elements of the teachings of the world or of other dispensations, thus, an unclouded vision which bestows obedience and brings one into Christ's kingdom. Jesus affirmed that those "pure in heart," whose eyes of understanding are enlightened to the precepts of the Messiah's kingdom "see God," for in the church, the kingdom of heaven, we are all in the presence of God standing before Him in the Most Holy place and looking upon Him even as He is (1 John 3:2). Paul told the Corinthians: "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:5,6).

FOOTNOTES:
F1: Joseph Henry Thayer, D.D., Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1901), pg., 312.
F2: Robert Young, LL.D., F.E.S.L., Concise Critical Comments on the Holy Bible (London: Pickering & Inglis), New Testament, pg., 5.
F3: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer, TH.D., Critical and Exegetical Handbook To The Gospel of Matthews, vol. 1 (Peabody, Massachusetts, 1983 reprint of 6th edition of 1884), pg., 115.
F4: John Parkhurst, M.A., A Greek And English Lexicon To The New Testament (London: T. Davison, Whitefriars, 1812), pg., 326.

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