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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

EY


EYE

i (`ayin; ophthalmos):

(1) The physical organ of sight, "the lamp of the body" (Mt 6:22), one of the chief channels of information for man. A cruel custom therefore sanctioned among heathen nations the putting out of the eyes of an enemy or a rival, because thus his power was most effectually shattered (Jdg 16:21; 2 Ki 25:7; Jer 39:7). Such blinding or putting out of the "right eye" was also considered a deep humiliation, as it robbed the victim of his beauty, and made him unfit to take his part in war (1 Sam 11:2; Zec 11:17).

The eye, to be useful, was to be "single," i.e. not giving a double or uncertain vision (Mt 6:22 = Lk 11:34). Eyes may grow dim with sorrow and tears (Job 17:7), they may "waste away with griefs" (Ps 6:7; 31:9; 88:9). They may "pour down" (Lam 3:49), "run down with water" (Lam 1:16; 3:48). Eyes may "wink" in derision (Ps 35:19; Prov 6:13; 10:10; compare also Prov 16:30; 30:17), and the harlot takes the lustling "with her eyelids" (Prov 6:25). To `lift up the eyes' (Gen 13:10 et passim) means to look up or around for information and often for help; to `turn away the eye' or `hide the eyes' indicates carelessness and lack of sympathy (Prov 28:27); to `cast about the eyes,' so that they "are in the ends of the earth" (Prov 17:24) is synonymous with the silly curiosity of a fool, and with the lack of attention of him who is everywhere but at his work. In the execution of justice the "eye shall not pity," i.e. not be deflected from the dictates of the law by favorable or unfavorable impressions (Dt 19:13 et passim), nor spare (Ezek 5:11 et passim), and the lexicon talionis demanded "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot" (Ex 21:24; Dt 19:21).

(2) Figurative: The eye of the heart or mind, the organ of spiritual perception, which may be enlightened or opened (Ps 119:18). This is done by the law of God (19:8) or by the spirit of God (Eph 1:18), or it may be "darkened" and "holden" (Lk 24:16; compare Mt 13:13; 2 Cor 4:4).

(3) The eye as an index of the mind and disposition of man. The Bible speaks of the "good" margin, or "bountiful" eye, i.e. the kindly, disposition (Prov 22:9); of "proud," haughty," "lofty eyes" (Ps 18:27; 131:1; Prov 6:17); of the `lowly eyes' of the humble (Job 22:29 margin; compare also Lk 18:13); of `adulterous eyes,' "eyes which play the harlot" (Ezek 6:9, in the sense of idolatrous inclinations; 2 Pet 2:14). Rage or anger is shown by the "sharpening" of the eyes (Job 16:9).

(4) The eyes of God, as well as the "seven eyes" of the Lamb (Rev 5:6) and the `many eyes' of the four living creatures of the Apocalypse (Rev 4:6; also Ezek 1:18; 10:12) are figurative expressions for the omniscience of God (compare Heb 4:13; Ps 139:16) and of His watchfulness and loving care (Jer 32:19). As the human eye may, with the slightest glance or motion, give an indication, a command, so God is able to "guide" or "counsel" His obedient child "with his eye" (Ps 32:8).

(5) Three Hebrew expressions are translated by "apple of the eye": (a) 'ishon, literally, "the little man," which probably means the "pupil of the eye," it being the part of the eye in which the close onlooker may see his image reflected en miniature. Several oriental languages have very similar expressions (Dt 32:10; Ps 17:8; Prov 7:2). (b) babhah, literally, "the gate of the eye" (Zec 2:8). (c) bath-`ayin, literally, "the daughter of the eye" (Ps 17:8; Lam 2:18). All these three phrases seem to indicate the pupil rather than the "apple of the eye," and designate the most sensitive part of the eye, which we protect with the greatest care. Thus the Scriptures declare, for our great comfort, that God will protect and care for those that are His own.

To eye (`awan, "to watch closely," "to look maliciously at"): "Saul eyed David from that day and forward" (1 Sam 18:9).

See ENVY ;EVIL EYE .

H. L. E. Luering


EYELID

i'-lid: Eyes and eyelids in Hebrew are sometimes used synonymously, as in the parallelism of Prov 4:25 (compare 6:4; 30:13):

"Let thine eyes look right on,

And let thine eyelids look straight before thee."

(Compare Job 41:18; Ps 11:4; Jer 9:18.) The alluring power of the wanton woman is conceived of as centered in her eyes (Prov 6:25; Isa 3:16): "Neither let her take thee with her eyelids." Painting the eyelids was resorted to to intensify the beauty, antimony (which see) being used for darkening the lashes (2 Ki 9:30; Jer 4:30; Ezek 23:40).

George B. Eager


EYEPAINT

i'-pant.

See ANTIMONY ;EYELID ;KEREN-HAPPUCH .


EYES, BLINDING OF THE

blind'-ing.

See EYE ;PUNISHMENTS .


EYES, COVERING, OF THE

kuv'-er-ing: In Gen 20:16, means forgetfulness of the past, a willingness to overlook the wrong to which Sarah had been exposed.


EYES, DISEASES OF THE

di-zez'-is: Blindness, defects of sight and diseases of the eye are frequently mentioned in the Scriptures, but usually in general terms. It is probable that in the period covered by the Bible, ophthalmia was as common in Palestine and Egypt as it is now. See BLINDNESS . The commonest of the diseases at present is the purulent conjunctivitis which is a highly infectious malady affecting people of all ages, but especially children, and whose germs are carried from eye to eye by the flies, which are allowed to walk freely over the diseased eyes. This is one of the most disgusting sights in a Palestine village, but I have been told by mothers that it is esteemed unlucky to drive off the flies. In this manner the disease is propagated. The number of persons in any Palestine village whose eyes are more or less blemished by disease is on this account phenomenally large.

Blindness incapacitated a man from serving in the priesthood (Lev 21:16,18); even a blemish of the eye was regarded as a disqualification (Lev 21:20).

The cases in the New Testament of persons blind from their birth (as Jn 9:1) were probably the results of this ophthalmia, but may have been due to congenital malformation. The interesting psychological record of the difficulty of interpreting the new visual sensations by the blind man healed by our Lord (Mk 8:22) indicates that it was probably not a case of congenital blindness, as the evangelist uses the word apokatestathe ("restored"), but he had been so long blind that he had lost the power of appreciating the sense-impressions. This condition has been often discussed as a psycho-physical problem since the days of Molyneux and Locke (Essay on the Human Understanding, II, 9, 8).

The blindness of Paul was probably a temporary paralysis of the retina from the shock of a dazzling light accentuated by the intense emotion which accompanied his vision on the road to Damascus. The "scales" mentioned in Acts 9:18 were not material, but his sight was restored as if (hosei) scales had fallen from his eyes. How far this left his eyes weak we do not know, but from his inability to recognize the high priest (Acts 23:5) and from his employing an amanuensis for transcribing his epistles (Rom 16:22), as well as from his writing in characters of large size (pelikos; Gal 6:11), it is probable that his vision was defective, and this it has been conjectured was the "thorn in the flesh" of 2 Cor 12:7.

Senile blindness, the result either of cataract or retinal degeneration, is mentioned in the cases of Isaac (Gen 27:1), Jacob (Gen 48:10) and Eli (1 Sam 4:15). The frequency of such senile dimness of sight made the case of Moses the more remarkable that at the age of 120 his eye was not dim (Dt 34:7).

Tobit's blindness, caused by the irritation of the sparrow's dung (Tobit 2:10), was a traumatic conjunctivitis which left an opacity. It is not said that the whiteness was itself sufficiently large to destroy vision. There was with it probably a considerable amount of conjunctival thickening, and it is possible that the remedy might have removed this. It certainly could not remove a cicatricial white spot of the nature of an albugo. The conjecture of a recent commentator that the gall, by coloring the spot, made the eye look as if sight was restored when it really was not, seems ludicrously inept. In any case the historical accuracy of the narrative is so problematical that explanation is unnecessary.

See BLINDNESS .

Alexander Macalister


EYES, TENDER

See BLINDNESS .


EYESALVE

i'-sav (kollourion; collyrium; Rev 3:18): A Phrygian powder mentioned by Galen, for which the medical school of Laodicea seems to have been famous (see Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia), but the figurative reference is to the restoring of spiritual vision.


EYESERVICE

i'-sur-vis (ophthalmodouleia): A term coined by Paul to express the conduct of slaves, who work only when they are watched, and whose motive, therefore, is not fidelity to duty, but either to avoid punishment or to gain reward from their masters (Eph 6:6; Col 3:22). "A vice which slavery everywhere creates and exhibits. Hence, the need for drivers and overseers" (Eadie).



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