Chronological timeline of texts tagged with Extramisssion Theory of Vision
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The extramission theory of vision—the idea that the eyes emit rays or a form of light to perceive the world—was widely accepted in ancient thought and appears in various literary and philosophical traditions. Greek thinkers like Plato and Euclid supported versions of this theory, and it influenced medical and optical theories for centuries. In biblical texts, echoes of this concept can be found in passages that describe the eyes as sources of light or radiance.
Note: Dates shown in this timeline are approximate and based on scholarly estimates.
Back to Tag2nd Century B.C.E.
Daniel 10:6
Hebrew Bible
4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month I was beside the great river, the Tigris. 5 I looked up and saw a man clothed in linen; around his waist was a belt made of gold from Ufaz. 6 His body resembled yellow jasper, and his face had an appearance like lightning. His eyes were like blazing torches; his arms and feet had the gleam of polished bronze. His voice thundered forth like the sound of a large crowd. 7 Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men who were with me did not see it. On the contrary, they were overcome with fright and ran away to hide. 8 I alone was left to see this great vision. My strength drained from me, and my vigor disappeared; I was without energy.
195-175 B.C.E.
Sirach 23:19
Deuterocanon
17 To a fornicator all bread is sweet; he will never weary until he dies. 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.
200-50 B.C.E.
1 Enoch 106:3
Pseudepigrapha
1 And after some days my son Methuselah took a wife for his son Lamech, and she became pregnant and bore a son. 2 He said to him: 'Behold, here I am, my son, why have you come to me?' 3 His body was white as snow and red as a blooming rose, and the hair of his head and his long locks were white as wool, and his eyes beautiful. When he opened his eyes, he lit up the whole house like the sun, and the whole house was very bright. 4 Thereupon he arose in the hands of the midwife, opened his mouth, and conversed with the Lord of righteousness.
100 B.C.E. - 100 C.E.
Testament of Dan 2:4
Pseudepigrapha
For whether it be a father or mother, he treats them as enemies; whether it be a brother, he no longer knows him; whether it is a prophet of the Lord, he disobeys him; whether a righteous man, he disregards him; whether a friend, he fails to acknowledge him. For the spirit of anger entangles him in a web of deceit, blinds his eyes, darkens his mind with falsehood, and forces upon him its own distorted vision. And how does it blind his eyes? By filling his heart with hatred, so that he grows envious of his own brother.
30 B.C.E - 70 C.E.
2 Enoch 1:6
Pseudepigrapha
4 On the first day of the month, I was alone in my house, resting on my bed, and fell asleep. 5 While asleep, great distress filled my heart, and I wept, unable to understand the cause of this distress or what would happen to me. 6 Two large men appeared to me, unlike any I had ever seen on earth; their faces shone like the sun, their eyes like burning lights, and fire came from their lips, along with clothing and songs of various kinds in purple appearance; their wings were brighter than gold, their hands whiter than snow.
30 B.C.E - 70 C.E.
2 Enoch 39:4
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.
50 C.E.
Apocalypse of Zephaniah 6:11
Pseudepigrapha
10 I was unable to stand, and I prayed before the Lord Almighty, “You will save me from this distress. You are the one who saved Israel from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. You saved Susanna from the hand of the elders of injustice. You saved the three holy men, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, from the furnace of burning fire. I beg you to save me from this distress.” 11 Then I arose and stood, and I saw a great angel standing before me with his face shining like the rays of the sun in its glory since his face is like that which is perfected in its glory. 12 And he was girded as if a golden girdle were upon his breast. His feet were like bronze which is melted in a fire.
100 C.E.
Joseph and Aseneth 14:9
Pseudepigrapha
7 And the man said, “I am the commander of the Lord’s house and chief captain of all the host of the Most High: stand up, and I will speak to you.” 8 And she looked up and saw a man like Joseph in every respect, with a robe and a crown and a royal staff. 9 But his face was like lightning, and his eyes were like the light of the sun, and the hairs of his head like flames of fire, and his hands and feet like iron from the fire. 10 And Aseneth looked at him, and she fell on her face at his feet in great fear and trembling.
20-50 C.E.
Philo On Abraham 1:150
Classical
150 But there are two of these outward senses which have something philosophical and preeminent in them, namely, sight and hearing. But the ears are in some degree more slow and more effeminate than the eyes, since the latter go with promptness and courage to what is to be seen, and do not wait until the objects themselves are in motion, but go forward to meet them, and desire to move themselves so as to face them. But the sense of hearing inasmuch as that is slow and more effeminate, may be classed in the second rank, and the sense of seeing may be allowed an especial pre-eminence and privilege: for God has made this sense a sort of queen of the rest, placing it above them all, and stationing it as it were on a citadel, has made it of all the senses in the closest connection with the soul;
77 C.E.
Pliny Natural History 5.2.16
Classical
16 Isogonus and Nymphodorus report that there are families in the same part of Africa that practise sorcery, whose praises cause meadows to dry up, trees to wither and infants to perish. Isogonus adds that there are people of the same kind among the Triballi and the Illyrians, who also bewitch with a glance and who kill those they stare at for a longer time, especially with a look of anger, and that their evil eye is most felt by adults; and that what is more remarkable is that they have two pupils in each eye. 17 Apollonides also reports women of this kind in Scythia, who are called the Bitiae, and Phylarchus also the Thibii tribe and many others of the same nature in Pontus, whose distinguishing marks he records as being a double pupil in one eye and the likeness of a horse in the other, and he also says that they are incapable of drowning, even when weighed down with clothing. Damon records a tribe not unlike these in Ethiopia, the Pharmaces, whose sweat relieves of diseases bodies touched by it.
54-55 C.E.
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?
70-90 C.E.
Matthew 6:22
New Testament
20 But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and devouring insect do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
70-90 C.E.
Matthew 6:23
New Testament
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
92-96 C.E.
Revelation 1:14
New Testament
13 and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man. He was dressed in a robe extending down to his feet, and he wore a wide golden belt around his chest. 14 His head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.