Rabbi Daniel Rendlemen

 

If looks could kill
 
 When people look at others with a cold stare or squinting eyes, more is being communicated than just a nasty glance. Envy and jealousy can easily be seen through the windows of the eyes. This is just the issue our Rabbi Yahshua dealt with on many occasions throughout the Gospels.
 
 Unfortunately, for many years translators and teachers have struggled with the Hebraic concept of the "evil eye." This idiom has created many problems, and has been misunderstood, because the Hebrew culture has been misunderstood. "The light of the body is the eye; If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness," Matthew 6:22-23a, KJV.
 
 The people who heard Yahshua speak these very words immediately recognized what Yahshua meant when he talked of the evil eye.
 
 This idea was and is common in the Hebraic culture. Yet, just pick up any different Bible translation and in it will be a quagmire of different words used to express this hidden Hebrew idiom. Each translation seems to deal with the issue differently. A few examples include, eye be whole, eye be simple, eye be sound, eye be plain, eye be healthy, sincere, clear, honest, or eye be good. This is very confusing! What did Yahshua really mean? Hebraically, what is an evil eye?
 
 To answer these questions and bring clarity to this idiom, let's look at the context of Yahshua's words and consult two pillars of the Hebrew culture, the Tanakh and the Talmud.
 
 First, let's look at the context. The very next verse after the evil eye quotation, explains exactly what the evil eye squints at. "But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. 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 both Elohim and Money," Matthew 6:23,24 NIV. When he spoke of the bad eye, Yahshua wasn't talking about bad eye sight or the need for lasik surgery! From the context it is easy to grasp that Yahshua was using a Hebrew expression to comment on people's greed. Each time Yahshua spoke of the eye being good or evil, or "plucking out the eye," he was speaking of the issue of greed. An evil eye is a greedy eye. A person with an evil eye is controlled by the desire to receive for self.
 
 The writings and the words of the Rabbis explain this issue further. "he that has a good eye shall be blessed; for he gives of his bread to the poor," Proverbs 22:9. Again, if your eyes is good or 'tov' then you are not greedy. The opposite is also true. If your eye is evil then you shall not be blessed because you withhold from the poor. Traditional Judaism agrees with this. "A good eye gave fortieth, the house of Shammai say, the thirtieth part; a middling one, the fiftieth; and an evil one, the sixtieth part," Mishnah Trumopt, 4:3. Upon these words, the Jewish commentators say, a 'good eye' means one that is liberal, and an 'evil eye' the contrary. The Talmud reads of 'trading, dedicating' and 'giving with a good' or an evil eye. "A good eye and a humble spirit and a lowly soul, those who have these are disciples of Abraham our father," Mishnah Aboth 5:19.
 
 From a Hebraic viewpoint it is now easy to grasp the difficult words of Yahshua. "And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire," Matthew 18:9. Yahshua was not literally suggesting his followers mutilate themselves. Such a literal suggestion and teaching would be a direct contradiction and violation to Torah. "You are the children of the YHWH your Elohim. Do not cut yourselves," Devarim 14:1. Yahshua in the previous verse was suggesting that we run away from greed and idolatry. We should take precautions to guard and protect ourselves from the evil eye of want, to get rid of the evil eye of desire. 
 

  29. For the mistakes we committed before You with eye movements. Sometimes we can harm others without even saying a word. For instance, the Talmud discusses the illegality of staring into someone else's home or yard.

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