Incantation against the Evil Eye

KTU 1.96

The eye goes and […]
It sees its brother, how fair its brother is […]⁠
how handsome. It devours his flesh⁠
without a sword, it drinks his blood
without a cup. It turns back the eye
of the sorcerer, the eye of the sorceress, it turns back
the eye of the warrior, the eye of the assembly,
the eye of the gatekeeper. The eye of the gatekeeper
to the gatekeeper let it return. The eye of the assembly
to the assembly let it return. The eye of the warrior
to the warrior let it return. The eye of the sorcerer
to the sorcerer let it return. The eye of the [sorceress]
to the sorceress let it [return] […]

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.96:3 and Deuteronomy 28:54

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

Summary

Deuteronomy shares Ugaritic language for an evil eye turned against one's own people, making siege hunger a force that can destroy even family loyalty.

Passages

KTU 1.96:3

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit

The eye goes and […] It sees its brother, how fair its brother is […] how handsome. It devours his flesh without a sword, it drinks his blood without a cup. It turns back the eye of the sorcerer, the eye of the sorceress, it turns back the eye of the warrior, the eye of the assembly, the eye of the gatekeeper. The eye of the gatekeeper to the gatekeeper let it return. The eye of the assembly to the assembly let it return. The eye of the warrior to the warrior let it return. The eye of the sorcerer to the sorcerer let it return. The eye of the [sorceress] to the sorceress let it [return] […]

1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Deuteronomy 28:54

Hebrew Bible

54 The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will look with an evil eye^* against his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children. 55 He will withhold from all of them his children’s flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages. 56 Likewise, the most tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting even the sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness, will turn against her beloved husband, her sons and daughters, 57 and will secretly eat her afterbirth and her newborn children (since she has nothing else), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages.

750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

References

“... The “Eye” of line one (‘nn) stands as a synecdoche for the entire Evil-Eyed person, as lines 2–12 make clear. This same pars pro toto usage appears in other Mesopotamian incantations and also in later biblical Evil Eye texts as well (Prov 23:6 [HT]; Sir 14:10). The Evil Eye/Evil-Eyed person can strike not only external enemies but also a “brother,” a member of one’s own social group. This is a theme also found in Greek and Roman sources and numerous biblical Evil Eye texts (Deut 15:7–11; 28:54–57; Sir 14:8; Tob 4:5–19; Matt 6:22–23/Luke 11:34–35; Matt 20:1–15). The “loveliness” of the brother is thought to attract the attention of the Evil Eye (lines 2–3). This notion that beauty and handsomeness arouse an Evil Eye remains for centuries a regular feature of the Evil Eye belief complex. The damage caused by the Evil Eye here is gruesome: the devouring of a neighbor’s flesh and blood. Deuteronomy 28:54–57 presents an equally gruesome biblical scenario involving the devouring of placenta by the Evil-Eyed husband and Evil-Eyed wife. ...”

John Hall Elliott, Beware the Evil Eye: The Evil Eye in the Bible and the Ancient World, Volume 1: Introduction, Mesopotamia, and Egypt (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2015), PDF 84.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Incantation against the Evil Eye

KTU347 chapters

Compare KTU 1.96:3 and Deuteronomy 28:54

Summary

Passages

KTU 1.96:3

Deuteronomy 28:54

References

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