Abstract
John H. Elliott carefully identifies and examines the concept of the ‘Evil Eye’ in biblical and related sources in his third volume of four on the Evil Eye. This is part of Elliott’s four-volume study on evil eye: volume 1, Introduction, Mesopotamia, and Egypt (2015); volume 2, Greece and Rome (2016); volume 3, bible and related sources (2017); and, volume 4, Post-biblical Israel and Early Church through Late Antiquity (2017).
Volume 3 is structured as two lengthy chapters. Chapter one covers the OT and related sources, while chapter two does the same for the NT and related sources. The breadth of research is difficult to overstate as Elliott guides readers through a myriad of diverse source materials, from Ancient Near East material culture and texts to Hebrew texts to early Christian and patristic sources. Where more detailed background is needed, Elliott provides brief summaries and refers readers to prior volumes.
Elliott’s goals are twofold. First, Elliott aims to correct what he determines is a consistent trend of mistranslating evil eye citations, obscuring occurrences of evil eye that produce inferior interpretations. Elliott builds his corpus of evil eye texts by careful identification and analysis for both ‘evil eye’ and bask- word group (and equivalents in other languages). Elliott also explores ‘A Good Eye’ and ‘Anti-Evil Eye’ apotropaics. Second, Elliott examines the development of carefully crafted matrices of belief and practice concerning evil eye in the OT and NT worlds.
The results are illuminating. What Elliott finds particularly noteworthy in the biblical references to evil eye is ‘the focus on the Evil Eye of humans, with no reference to an Evil Eye demon, and the treatment of both Evil Eye and good eye as moral phenomena’, but also had a physiological reality. (pp. 9; 278; cf. pp. 108–110; p. 273) The wide-ranging evidence, Elliott concludes, reveals ‘ancient Israelites and Christians shared with their pagan neighbors the ubiquitous fear of the Evil Eye and a constant concern for avoiding or warding off its destructive power’ within biblical literature, though with varying nuances of belief (p. 15). Contra surrounding cultures that dreaded the evil eye, biblical writing ‘arouses less dread than disapproval, depreciation, denunciation, and condemnation’ (p. 273). Elliott’s careful analysis of evil eye in Matthew 6:22–23 and Luke 11:33–36 was particularly insightful (pp. 120–168).
This delightful volume is full of insights and source materials, though darkened by some editorial blemishes. These include numerous glaring typos (cf. table of contents, pp. 17, 52, 66, 181, 198, 239, to note but a few) and some wordiness at times; a key word or subject index would be helpful. However, these do not take away from the significance of this volume. Readers are indebted to Elliott for crafting a careful and insightful analysis evil eye’s presence and use in the bible and related sources.