ὀφθαλμός

From the study of Matthew 6:23

Range of meaning

Taken one by one, ὀφθαλμός is 'eye' and πονηρός ranges from 'bad, in poor condition, worthless' to 'evil, wicked, malicious'. Put together, 'evil eye' was an established Jewish idiom, coming from the Hebrew ra' ayin / ayin ra'ah. It meant a grudging, stingy, envious, covetous way of looking at others and at goods. Its opposite was the 'good eye' (tov ayin), which meant generosity.

Against the English

KJV and WEB keep 'evil'. ESV, NASB and BSB say 'bad', and NIV and NLT say 'unhealthy'. Modern readers hear these as poor eyesight or eye disease, so the moral idiom and its money context disappear. 'Evil eye' in modern English, meanwhile, suggests a magical curse.

How it drifted

Modern translations moved toward 'bad' or 'unhealthy' to keep the eye-as-lamp picture physical, since a lamp is either working or not. Most English readers no longer know the Hebrew idiom, and popular 'evil eye' talk now suggests amulets and curses.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 15:9 (Septuagint, the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible) warns against your eye 'being evil toward your poor brother' and refusing a loan before the release year. Prov 23:6 and 28:22 speak of the man 'with an evil eye' who is stingy or grasps after wealth, and Prov 22:9 says the 'good of eye' is blessed because he gives bread to the poor. Sirach 14:8–10 says 'evil is the one with an envious eye… an evil eye begrudges bread', and Sirach 31:13 calls the evil eye a wicked thing. Tobit 4:7 and 4:16 say 'do not let your eye begrudge the alms'. Mishnah Avot 2:9 and 5:13, 5:19 contrast the good eye and the evil eye in terms of generosity versus stinginess. In the New Testament, Mark 7:22 lists 'evil eye' among the vices, and Matt 20:15 has the landowner say, literally, 'Is your eye evil because I am good?', meaning 'are you envious because I am generous?'. In the wider Mediterranean world, the Greek baskania was belief in a harmful, envious gaze.

From the study of Matthew 5:38

Range of meaning

A fixed legal formula, later called the lex talionis (Latin for "law of like-for-like"). In the Torah it appears three times: Exod 21:22–25 (injury to a pregnant woman during a fight between men), Lev 24:17–22 (bodily injury in general, with "one law for the foreigner and the native"), and Deut 19:16–21 (a false witness receives the penalty he tried to bring on another). Each time it is addressed to the community and its judges, and each time it limits the penalty to the harm done.

Against the English

Modern English uses "an eye for an eye" as shorthand for personal revenge or harsh, primitive justice. In its own setting it was a rule for courts that held punishment to the measure of the offence and applied that measure equally to everyone.

How it drifted

Over the centuries, Christian contrast between "Old Testament vengeance" and "New Testament love", together with the modern proverbial use of the phrase, turned a rule limiting legal penalties into a byword for revenge.

Used elsewhere in the period

Laws of Hammurabi (c. 1750 BC) §196: "If a man destroys the eye of a man of the noble class, they shall destroy his eye". §200 is the same for a tooth. But §§198–199 and 201 set silver payments when the victim is a commoner or a slave, so the penalty depended on class. The Torah's version makes no class distinction (Lev 24:22). Exod 21:26–27: if a master destroys his slave's eye or tooth, the slave goes free, which is compensation in kind but not literal maiming. Num 35:31 forbids taking a money ransom for a murderer's life, which implies ransom was acceptable for lesser injuries. Josephus (Antiquities 4.280) says the maimer suffers the same "unless the maimed person will accept money". Mishnah Bava Kamma 8:1 turns the injury into five payments (damage, pain, medical costs, lost time, humiliation). Babylonian Talmud Bava Kamma 83b–84a argues at length that the formula means monetary value, with one dissenting voice (R. Eliezer). Philo (Special Laws 3.181–182) praises exact equivalence. Jubilees 4:31–32 celebrates measure-for-measure justice.

From the study of Ephesians 1:18

Range of meaning

Kardia, following the Hebrew lev/levav, is the inner core of a person: thought, memory, understanding, intention and will, as well as emotion. 'Eyes of the heart' therefore means the mind's power to perceive and understand.

Against the English

Modern English splits head from heart and hears 'heart' as feelings. In biblical idiom the heart thinks (Proverbs 23:7; Mark 2:8 'reasoning in your hearts'). The KJV's 'understanding' comes from a different Greek reading (dianoias) but captures the sense well.

How it drifted

The habit of putting reason in the head and emotion in the heart became strong in Romantic-era and later popular usage. That habit was then read back into biblical 'heart' language.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek philosophy spoke of the 'eye of the soul' (Plato, Republic 533d), and Philo uses similar language. The exact phrase 'eyes of the heart' appears in early Christian writing: 1 Clement 36:2 'through him the eyes of our heart were opened' and 59:3. Behind it stands the Old Testament idea of hearts that cannot see or understand (Isaiah 6:10; Deuteronomy 29:4).