Sirach 23:19

Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon

18 The one who sins against his marriage bed says to himself, "Who can see me? Darkness surrounds me, the walls hide me, and no one sees me. Why should I worry? The Most High will not remember sins." 19 His fear is confined to human eyes and he does not realize that the eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun; they look upon every aspect of human behavior and see into hidden corners 20 Before the universe was created, it was known to him, and so it is since its completion.

2 Enoch 39:4

Secrets of Enoch
Pseudepigrapha

3 The Lord has allowed me to come to you. Hear my words, though I am but a man, for I have seen the Lord's face, glowing like iron from fire, sparking and burning. 4 You look upon my eyes, filled with meaning for you, but I have seen the Lord's eyes, shining like the sun, filling man's eyes with awe. 5 You see my helping hand, but I have seen the Lord's right hand filling heaven as it aided me. 6 You observe my work's scope, like your own, but I have witnessed the Lord's boundless and perfect compass without end.

 Notes and References

"... At first blush Jesus appears to be making a physiological claim about the role of the eye, but the saying is sandwiched between two sayings that set pursuit of money and pursuit of God in opposition to each other. Moreover, the word ἁπθμῦξ was rarely used in physiological descriptions, but it was frequently used in an ethical sense. Thus it would appear that, as in 5:25-26, the humdrum imagery of the saying conceals a deeper theological claim. Much has been written about this saying and its Lukan parallel (11:34-36). There are two key exegetical questions. The first is the meaning of ὁ θύπκμξ ημῦ ζώιαηόξ ἐζηζκ ὁ ὀθεαθιόξ. Allison notes that modern exegetes have incorrectly assumed that this refers to the eye acting as a window that allows light into the body. Ancient Jews, however, thought that the eye contained its own light, hence the metaphor of a lamp, which is a source, not a channel, of light. (Examples include 2 Samuel 12:11; Sirach 23:19; Daniel 10:6; Testament of Job 18:3) Allison goes on to read the conditionals in 6:22b-23 so that the apodosis entails the realization of the protasis, rather than the reverse as is usually the case ..."

Eubank, Nathan Paul Wages of Righteousness: The Economy of Heaven in the Gospel According to Matthew (pp. 90-91) Duke University, 2012

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.