Texts in Conversation
Galatians and Wisdom of Solomon refer to the evil eye and treat it as something that harms judgment and creates envy. Galatians says the community has been affected by it, and Wisdom uses the idea to show how people can be blinded to what is truly good.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Wisdom of Solomon 4:12
Deuterocanon
10 Being found well-pleasing to God, someone was loved. While living among sinners he was transported. 11 He was caught away, lest evil should change his understanding, or guile deceive his soul. 12 For the fascination of wickedness obscures the things which are good, and the whirl of desire perverts an innocent mind. 13 Being made perfect quickly, he filled a long time; 14 for his soul was pleasing to the Lord. Therefore he hurried out of the midst of wickedness. 15 But the peoples saw and didn’t understand, not considering this, that grace and mercy are with his chosen, and that he visits his holy ones;
Date: 50 BCE – 50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Galatians 3:1
New Testament
1 You foolish Galatians! Who has given you the evil eye?* Before your eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed as crucified! 2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? Although you began with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort? 4 Have you suffered so many things for nothing?—if indeed it was for nothing. 5 Does God then give you the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law or by your believing what you heard?
Date: 54–55 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Galatians 3:1 ... In his letter to the Galatians, Paul implies that a competing group of Christians who followed the Jewish law, led by James, would have been jealous of the freedom Paul had given them in not being bound to Torah: 'O uncomprehending Galatians, who has injured you with an evil eye, you before whose very eyes Jesus Christ was proclaimed as crucified?' ... Damage caused by the Evil Eye ... Mishnah Avot 2:11, Proverbs 23:6; 28:22, Sirach 18:18; 31:12-13, Wisdom of Solomon 4:12 ..."
John H. Elliott, "The Evil Eye" in Crook, Zeba A., (ed.) The Ancient Mediterranean Social World: A Sourcebook (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 2020), 7–11.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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