Proverbs 6:13

Hebrew Bible

11 and your poverty will come like a robber, and your need like an armed man. 12 A worthless and wicked person walks around saying perverse things; 13 he winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, and points with his fingers; 14 he plots evil with perverse thoughts in his heart; he spreads contention at all times. 15 Therefore, his disaster will come suddenly; in an instant he will be broken, and there will be no remedy.

Sirach 27:22

Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon

20 Do not go after him, for he is too far off, and has escaped like a gazelle from a snare. 21 For a wound may be bandaged, and there is reconciliation after abuse, but whoever has betrayed secrets is without hope. 22 Whoever winks the eye plots mischief, and those who know him will keep their distance. 23 In your presence his mouth is all sweetness, and he admires your words; but later he will twist his speech and with your own words he will trip you up. 24 I have hated many things, but him above all; even the Lord hates him.

 Notes and References

"... The eye or eyes express a variety of dispositions stirring in the heart: hostility (Job 16:9); hatred (Job 16:9; Psalm 35:19; Proverbs 6:13); arrogance (Proverbs 6:17, 21:4; 30:13; Psalm 101:5), humble trust (Psalm 123:2), innocence (Psalm 101:2); perverseness (Psalm 101:4), mockery (Proverbs 30:17), sorrow (Job 3:10); sadness (Psalm 6:7; 31:9; 88:9; Jeremiah 9:1, 18; Lamentations 1:16, 2:11); shamelessness (Sirach 26:11); pity (Deuteronomy 7:16; 13:8; 19:13, 21; 25:12); insatiability (Ecclesiastes 1:8; 4:8; Proverbs 27:20; 30:17); desire, lust (Psalm 73:7; Proverbs 17:24; Ezekiel 6:9; Sirach 26:9), and, as we shall see, envy, miserliness, and greed as manifested in an Evil Eye. A winking eye reveals a conniving heart: “Whoever winks his eye plans evil deeds (Sirach 27:22; compare Psalm 35:19; Proverbs 6:13; 10:10). Ophthalmodoulia, literally, “eye-service,” denotes the vice of flattery and obsequiousness (Ephesians 6:6; Colossians 3:22). Blindness, the non-functioning of the eyes and result of their “dimming,” represents darkness and gloom (Isaiah 29:18) and can be regarded as caused by God or the gods as punishment for arrogance or hybris or for casting an Evil Eye. The eye thus was the organ of seeing and witnessing, but also indicator of one’s state of physical health, emotions, intentions, and moral character ..."

Elliott, John Hall Beware the Evil Eye: The Evil Eye in the Bible and the Ancient World, Volume 3 (pp. 41-42) Cascade Books, 2016

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