The Eyes

Many texts make use of the word eyes, far more in Hebrew than in English. The following texts make use of eyes:

Genesis 16:6  But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee.

Genesis 18:3  And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant.

Genesis 23:11  Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead.

Genesis 31:35  And she said to her father, Let it not displease my lord that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me. And he searched, but found not the images.

Examine these same texts from the Hebrew:

Genesis 16:6 And Avram said unto Sarai, “Behold thy slave-girl is in thine hand. Do to her the good in thine eyes.”

Genesis 18:3 And he said, “My lords, if, pray, I found favour in thine eyes, do not cross-over from upon thy servant.”

Genesis 23:11 “No, my lord, hearken to me. I gave the field to thee, and the cave that is in him. I gave her to thee. I gave her to thee to the eyes of the sons of my people, a sepulcher of thy dead-one.”

Genesis 31:35 And she said unto her papa, “He will not be heat in the eyes of my lord that I will not be able to arise from thy faces. For a way of women is to me.”

Children learn about eyes long before they can speak. They also communicate with their eyes. Observant parents and guardians can often tell what a child will do next by the child’s eyes. If something is ‘good in the eyes of the child,’ the child will express this or will go toward it. If it is bad, another expression will be forthcoming.

The ‘Old Testament’ uses some form of eye over 900 times. Many of these portray a ‘childism,’ as the above texts. Many adults have become insensitive to the eyes of others, and some in some cultures do not look straight into the eyes of others. Hiding and lowering one’s eyes can show humility. This is also a characteristic behaviour of shy children.

Yehovah’s eyes are very important in the Bible:

Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of Yehovah.

Deuteronomy 13:18 When thou shalt hearken to the voice of Yehovah thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Yehovah thy God.

1 Samuel 26:24 And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of Yehovah, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.

2 Chronicles 14:2 And Asa did good and right in the eyes of Yehovah his God.

Yehovah’s eyes are everywhere (omnivident):

Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of Yehovah are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

Yehovah’s eyes are always on the Land of Israel:

Deuteronomy 11:12 …a land that Yehovah thy God careth for. The eyes of Yehovah thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

Children naturally use and respond to eyes in the same way Biblical characters and usages do. If Yehovah’s eyes are always on the land of Israel, do the eyes of your church (its pastor) also focus on the centrality of Israel in the plan of God, or does he manage to overlook Israel, except to refer to Israel’s unbelief? Yehovah’s eyes see, and He remembers. I have seen the look of hatred when I have spoken of Israel’s importance to the Bible. Doesn’t it make sense to look where Yehovah looks?