Texts in Conversation
Proverbs shares Ugaritic fear of a harmful look, using the evil-eye image to warn that a stingy host's invitation can hide hostility.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
KTU 1.96:2
Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
Ancient Near East
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] […]
Proverbs 23:6
Hebrew Bible
5 When you gaze upon riches, they are gone, for they surely make wings for themselves and fly off into the sky like an eagle! 6 Do not eat the food of a stingy person, do not crave his delicacies; 7 for he is like someone who has calculated the cost in his mind. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you; 8 you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten and will have wasted your pleasant words. 9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words. 10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or take over the fields of the fatherless, 11 for their Protector is strong; he will plead their case against you. 12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to the words of knowledge.
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Notes and References
“... The “Eye” of line one (‘nn)81 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.82 This is
a theme83 also found in Greek and Roman sources84 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.85 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.86 ...”
Elliott, John Hall
Beware the Evil Eye: The Evil Eye in the Bible and the Ancient World, Volume 1: Introduction, Mesopotamia, and Egypt
(p. PDF 84) Cascade Books, 2015
* 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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