ὀφθαλμός

ὀφθαλμός, οῦ, ὁ (Hom.+)

① eye as organ of sense perception, eye Mt 5:29, 38 (Ex 21:24; s. DDaube, JTS 45, ’44, 177–89.—The principle ἐάν τίς τινος ὀφθαλμὸν ἐκκόψῃ, ἀντεκκόπτεσθαι τὸν ἐκείνου in early Gk. legislation in Diod S 12, 17, 4; Diog. L. 1, 57 [Solon]); 6:22; 7:3ff (s. δοκός); Mk 9:47; Lk 6:41f; 11:34; J 9:6; 1 Cor 12:16f; Rv 1:14; 2:18; 7:17; 19:12; 21:4; 1 Cl 10:4 (Gen 13:14) and oft.; GJs 19:2. More than two eyes in the same creature (Artem. 1, 26 p. 28, 13ff) Rv 4:6, 8 (after Ezk 1:18; 10:12); 5:6 (cp. Lucian, Dial. Deor. 3 and 20, 8: Argus w. many eyes, who sees w. his whole body, and never sleeps; Ath. 20, 1 [of Athena]).—εἶδον οἱ ὀφ. μου (cp. Sir 16:5) Lk 2:30; cp.4:20; 10:23; 1 Cor 2:9 (=1 Cl 34:8; 2 Cl 11:7; MPol 2:3. On possible Gnostic associations s. UWilcken, Weisheit u. Torheit, ’59, 77–80 and Hippolytus 5, 26, 16); Rv 1:7.—ἰδεῖν τοῖς ὀφ. Dg 2:1 (Philo, Sacr. Abel. 24). ὸ̔ ἑωράκαμεν τοῖς ὀφ. ἡμῶν 1J 1:1 (cp. Zech 9:8 A). βλέπειν ἐν τοῖς ὀφ. GJs 17:2. ὀφ. πονηρός an evil eye i.e. one that looks w. envy or jealousy upon other people (Sir 14:10; Maximus Tyr. 20:7b) Mt 6:23 (opp. ἁπλοῦς; s. this entry, the lit. s.v. λύχνος b and πονηρός 3a, and also PFiebig, Das Wort Jesu v. Auge: StKr 89, 1916, 499–507; CEdlund, Das Auge der Einfalt: ASNU 19, ’52; HCadbury, HTR 47, ’54, 69–74; JHElliott, The Evil Eye and the Sermon on the Mt: Biblical Interpretation 2, ’94, 51–84). Cp. 20:15. By metonymy for envy, malice Mk 7:22 (but the mng. stinginess, love for one’s own possessions is upheld for all the NT pass. w. ὀφ. πον. by CCadoux, ET 53, ’41/42, 354f, esp. for Mt 20:15, and w. ref. to Dt 15:9 al. Envy, etc. is preferred by CSmith, ibid. 181f; 54, ’42/43, 26 and JPercy, ibid. 26f).—ἐν ῥιπῄ ὀφθαλμοῦ in the twinkling of an eye 1 Cor 15:52. ἀγαπήσεις ὡς κόρην τοῦ ὀφ. σου you are to love as the apple of your eye 19:9 (s. κόρη).—Used w. verbs: αἴρω ἄνω (αἴρω 1b). ἀνοίγω (q.v. 5b). ἐξαιρέω (q.v. 1). ἐξορύσσω (q.v.). ἐπαίρω (q.v. 1). κρατέω (q.v. 5). ὑπολαμβάνειν τινὰ ἀπὸ τῶν ὀφ. τινός take someone up out of sight of someone Ac 1:9.—ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν 1J 2:16 (Maximus Tyr. 19, 21m ἐπιθυμία goes through the ὀφθαλμοί). ὀφθαλμοὶ μεστοὶ μοιχαλίδος 2 Pt 2:14 (on the imagery cp. Sir 26:9; s. μεστός 2b).—It is characteristic of the OT (but s. also Hes., Op. 267 πάντα ἰδὼν Διὸς ὀφθαλμός; Polyb. 23, 10, 3 Δίκης ὀφ.; Aristaen, Ep. 1, 19 at the beginning, the pl. of the eyes of Tyche. ὄμματα is also found of a divinity: Alciphron 3, 8, 2; 4, 9, 4) to speak anthropomorphically of God’s eyes Hb 4:13; 1 Pt 3:12; 1 Cl 22:6 (the last two Ps 33:16). A transference is readily made to

② mental and spiritual understanding, eye, understanding, ὀφθαλμοὺς ἔχοντες οὐ βλέπετε Mk 8:18.—Mt 13:15b; J 12:40b; Ac 28:27b (all three Is 6:10); Mt 13:16. ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ὁ θεὸς ὀφθαλμοὺς τοῦ μὴ βλέπειν the kind of eyes with which they do not see (s. B-D-F §393, 6; 400, 2; Rob. 1061; 1076) Ro 11:8 (cp. Dt 29:3). οἱ ὀφ. τῆς καρδίας the eyes of the heart (s. καρδία 1bβ and cp. Herm. Wr. 7, 1 ἀναβλέψαντες τοῖς τῆς καρδίας ὀφθαλμοῖς; 10, 4 ὁ τοῦ νοῦ ὀφθαλμός; Just., D. 134, 5 οἱ τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμοί.—Sir 17:8) Eph 1:18; 1 Cl 36:2; 59:3; MPol 2:3. Cp. also the entries καμμύω, σκοτίζω, τυφλόω.—W. a prep.: ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφ. τινος s. ἀπέναντι 1bβ. ἐκρύβη ἀπὸ ὀφθαλμῶν σου it is hidden from the eyes of your mind Lk 19:42 (cp. Sir 17:15). ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς (LXX; s. Thackeray 43): ἔστιν θαυμαστὴ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν it is marvelous in our sight (=in our judgment) Mt 21:42; Mk 12:11 (both Ps 117:23), but ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἡμῶν GJs 16:1 (as Lucian, Tox. 39) means ‘before our eyes’ (likew. Apollon. Rhod. 4, 1619 τέρας ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἰδόντες=gaze with their eyes on the portent; Diod S 3, 18, 5 ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς=before their eyes). κατʼ ὀφθαλμούς τινος before someone’s eyes, in someone’s sight (2 Km 12:11; 4 Km 25:7; Jer 35:5; Ezk 20:14, 22, 41; 21:11; 22:16; 36:23): οἷς κατʼ ὀφθαλμοὺς Ἰ. Χριστὸς προεγράφη before whose eyes Jesus Christ was portrayed Gal 3:1. πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν before (someone’s) eyes (Hyperid. 6, 17; SIG 495, 120 [c. 230 B.C.]; BGU 362 V, 8; LXX; EpArist 284): πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν λαμβάνειν (Polyb.; Diod S 26, 16b [s. FKrebs, Die Präp. bei Polyb. 1882, 38]; 2 Macc 8:17; 3 Macc 4:4) place before one’s eyes 1 Cl 5:3. πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχειν (JosAs 7:6; Lucian, Tyrannici. 7; OGI 210, 8; PGiss 67, 10; Just., D. 20, 1 al.) keep one’s eyes on someth. MPol 2:3. πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν τινος εἶναι (Dt 11:18) be before someone’s eyes 1 Cl 2:1; 39:3 (Job 4:16).—B. 225. DELG s.v. ὄπωπα. M-M. EDNT. TW.