[B-Greek] Question about "apple of the eye"

Ben Crick ben.crick at argonet.co.uk
Tue Jun 27 18:13:29 EDT 2006


On Tue 27 Jun 2006 (12:36:17), yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net wrote:
> Marion referenced an English idiom that translates a LXX/Hebrew  
> phrase that I had been already mulling over later and wondered if  
> anyone on the list knows something about.
 [snippage]

 The Apple of the Eye is the Eyeball in English; compare the German Augapfel.
 The pupil of the eye is the black spot in the centre of the eye; 'i$oWN `eYNoW
 the pupil of his eye; /pupillam oculi sui/ (Vulgate). This is the figure of
 speech known as Synecdoche or /pars pro toto/, the part for the whole.

 God treats his people as gently as one treats one's eyeball, avoiding
 grit or specks or splinters, even "motes and beams" (Matthew 7:3-5; Luke
 6:41-42). In the desert sandstorm environment special care is taken to
 keep sand out of the eyes; Psalm 17:8 alludes to this. Lamentations 2:18
 gives the Eyeball as the source of tears. In Zechariah 2:12 he that touches
 God's people has touched God's eyeball, his most sensitive part, so to speak:
 this is bound to provoke a reaction to remove the irritant.

 There is also the metaphorical use of the "apple of the eye" as the
 object of one's desire, as in Proverbs 7:2. Is this how Eve viewed the
 forbidden fruit?

 ERRWSQE
 Ben
-- 
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