Hebrew word · H380

אִישׁוֹן

ke'ishon

pupil

Literally 'little man' (ʾish 'man' plus the ending -on, which makes things small). It means the pupil of the eye, from the tiny reflected figure you see in another person's eye.

Appears 5 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) pupil of the eye

2) middle of the night (that is the deepest blackness)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Deuteronomy 32:10

Range of meaning

Literally 'little man' (ʾish 'man' plus the ending -on, which makes things small). It means the pupil of the eye, from the tiny reflected figure you see in another person's eye. By extension it means the dark centre of something, as in 'the ishon of night' (Prov 7:9; 20:20), the blackest middle of the night.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB and YLT have 'apple of his eye'. NASB has 'pupil of His eye'. NLT turns it into plain language about guarding his own eyes.

How it drifted

'Apple of the eye' is an Old English idiom (from the ninth century). People then thought of the pupil as a solid round ball, an 'apple'. The KJV made it standard. Today the phrase means 'favourite' or 'darling', and the original picture of the most vulnerable, most protected point of the body has faded.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same image appears in Ps 17:8 ('keep me as the ishon, the daughter of the eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings'), Prov 7:2, and in other words in Lam 2:18 and Zech 2:8. Greek and Latin use the same kind of picture: Greek korē 'girl' (the Septuagint here has κόρα ὀφθαλμοῦ) and Latin pupilla 'little doll'.

From the study of Proverbs 20:20

Range of meaning

Literally 'little man', the tiny reflection a person sees in someone else's eye, so 'pupil of the eye' (Deut 32:10; Ps 17:8; Prov 7:2, the 'apple of the eye'). Figuratively, the dark centre of something: 'in the pupil of night and darkness' = the dead of night (Prov 7:9).

Against the English

No English version keeps the image. They give its effect: 'obscure' (KJV), 'blackness of' (WEB, YLT), 'deepest' (BSB), 'utter' (ESV), 'pitch' (NIV), 'total' (NLT). NASB's 'in time of darkness' follows the alternative reading.

Used elsewhere in the period

Prov 7:9 is the closest parallel. The Septuagint's 'the pupils of his eyes will see darkness' shows the Greek translators read the word as 'pupil'. The Vulgate's 'in the midst of darkness' (in mediis tenebris) gives the 'centre' sense.

From the study of Proverbs 7:2

Range of meaning

The pupil or eyeball. Literally 'little man', from ish ('man') plus a 'little' ending, naming the tiny reflection of oneself seen in another person's eye. By extension, the darkest centre of something (Prov 7:9; 20:20).

Against the English

'Apple of your eye' is an old English name for the pupil, which was thought of as a solid round object. Today the phrase mostly means 'my favourite, my darling'. The Hebrew stresses that the pupil is precious because it is so vulnerable, and that it is guarded constantly and by reflex.

How it drifted

Old English used æppel for the pupil. Tyndale and the KJV kept 'apple of the eye' in Deut 32:10, Ps 17:8, Prov 7:2 and Zech 2:8. Over time the phrase became an affectionate idiom for a cherished person, and the physical picture of guarding a delicate eye dropped away.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deut 32:10, where God guarded Israel 'like the ishon of his eye'; Ps 17:8, 'guard me like the ishon, the daughter of the eye'; Prov 7:9, be'ishon laylah, 'in the pupil of the night' (the pitch-black middle of the night); Prov 20:20. Greek (korē, 'girl, doll') and Latin (pupilla, 'little girl') use the same 'little person in the eye' picture.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 32:10 כְּאִישׁ֥וֹן like [the] pupil of

    He found him in a desert land, in a barren, howling wilderness; He surrounded him, He instructed him, He guarded him as the apple of His eye.

    Here: 'Like the pupil of…' Literally it is 'little man', the tiny figure you see reflected in someone else's eye. The pupil is the eye's most delicate point, and the body shields it by reflex.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 17:8 כְּאִישׁ֣וֹן like [the] pupil of

    Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings

    Here: 'Like the pupil.' The word looks like a diminutive of ʾîsh, 'man', so 'little man': the tiny figure of yourself you see reflected when you look into someone's eye. The pupil is the part of the body everyone protects by reflex.

Proverbs · 3

  1. Proverbs 7:2 כְּאִישׁ֥וֹן like [the] pupil of

    Keep my commandments and live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

    Here: 'Like the pupil of.' The word is ish ('man') with a 'little' ending: the tiny figure of yourself you see when you look into someone's eye. It stands for the most delicate, most guarded spot on the body.

  2. Proverbs 7:9 בְּאִישׁ֥וֹן in [the] middle of

    at twilight, as the day was fading into the dark of the night.

  3. Proverbs 20:20 בֶּאֱשׁ֥וּן in a time of

    Whoever curses his father or mother, his lamp will be extinguished in deepest darkness.

    Here: 'In the pupil of'. The word means the dark centre of the eye, so 'the pupil of darkness' is darkness at its blackest centre (compare 7:9, 'the pupil of night' = the dead of night). The supplied gloss 'in a time of' follows an alternative reading of the vowels (see textual notes).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.