And if thy right hand causeth thee to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body go into hell.
The right hand here means any touch, embrace, or handling that draws you into sexual sin, just as the eye condemns unchaste looks. Cut it off and cast it away, as you would amputate a mortified limb to save the body. Better to lose one member than have your whole self cast into hell.
AI summary
I came not to sweep away the foundation of the Old Testament but to fulfill it, establish it, unfold it, embody it in living form. Fear not that I will subvert God's living oracles; rather, enshrine them in reverence, affection, and character.
AI summary
Commenting on Matthew 5:17-48
And if thy right hand--the organ of action, to which the eye excites. offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee; for it is profitable, &c.--See on Mat 5:29. The repetition, in identical terms, of such stern truths and awful lessons seems characteristic of our Lord's manner of teaching. Compare Mar 9:43-48.