It seems that generosity leads to
a shamelessness, audacity that's bold.
Where one is not concerned for what folk do
or do not think of oneself - truth be told!
It ends up sticking its own neck out for
the others round about, because it wants
to "give"; in fact it "gets" to just give more.
It tries to copy God, trusts his response!
This God is not the stingy, careful kind,
who gives you just a little less than need
would have. And he himself is not so blind,
or "bad eyed", that he's blinded by his greed!
He's not that kind of vengeful envious,
or stingy, dark eyed, person; jealously
protective of his fame and glorious
old reputation. He's ahead of me!
And no-one lights a lamp to just hide it.
It's meant to shine it's light so folk can see.
The "giving out" of "good eyed" folk guided
their bodily experience, they're free!
For all their body is so full of light,
the light of love, and understanding truth.
Their whole worldview will then attain the height
of grace, and kindness, from toe up to tooth.
So see your "leading edge", your attitude,
ain't jealous stinginess, that shrinks your life.
Appreciate what's good (not just in food),
and give from what you're given, which is rife!
Evil eye: Stingy, jealous, envious, and greedy. Or
Good eye: generous, peacemaker.
Then Jesus said to them, ‘Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.” And suppose the one inside answers, “Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.” I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. ‘So I say to you: ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. ‘Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’
Luke 11:5-13 NIVUK. https://bible.com/bible/113/luk.11.5-13.NIVUK
‘The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
‘No-one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.’
For Jewish usage of the terminology "good eye", & " bad eye": https://juchre.org/articles/eye.htm :
"Commenting on Matthew 6:22, David Bivin writes:
"'If your eye is good' is an idiomatic way of saying in Hebrew, 'if you are generous.' But our English translators have not recognized this Hebrew idiom…"
From the Jewish New Testament Commentary by David Stern, p. 32, commenting on his own translation of Matthew 6:22-23: "If you have a 'good eye.' This is in the Greek text, but the explanation, that is, if you are generous, is added by me the translator because in Judaism 'having a good eye,' an ayin tovah, means 'being generous,' and 'having a bad eye,' an ayin ra'ah, means 'being stingy.' That this is the correct translation is confirmed by the context, greed and anxiety about money being the topic in both the preceding and following verses. This passage is another link in the chain of evidence that New Testament events took place in Hebrew..."
Avi ben Mordechai, in discussing the term "peacemaker" in Matthew 5:9 (another interesting word study by the way), touches upon the phrase "good eye": "This term 'peacemaker' is interesting in that it has been redefined through the centuries since the Messiah, thus contributing to the wrong sense of the idea today. In Y'shua's day, a 'peacemaker' was one filled with generosity, also known as having a 'good-eye.' The antithesis of a 'good-eye' was an 'evil-eye,' or stinginess. Y'shua addresses both of these concepts in Mattityahu 6:19-34.
"According to Oral Torah, having a 'good-eye' meant giving 1/30th (or perhaps 1/40th) of the corners of your field (Hebrew: Peah) to the poor. Having an 'evil-eye' meant giving only the bare minimum of 1/60th according to the letter of mishnaic law. An 'average-eye' or 'neutral-eye' meant giving 1/50th." (Messiah, Understanding His Life and Teachings in Hebraic Context, Vol. 1, Avi ben Mordechai, pp. 184-185).
Avi ben Mordechai's explanation of these verses is so enlightening when one realizes that Y'shua's "Sermon on the Mount" is better referred to as Y'shua's "Midrash (teaching) on Torah Observance."
One of the verses Mordechai suggests that Y'shua was probably drawing his words from is Proverbs 22:9 — "He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor." The word translated in the KJV as "bountiful" is "tob" in the Hebrew (Strong's 2896, towb or tobe) which means "good." Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary (pp. 99-100) explains tob as meaning "good; favorable; festive; pleasing; pleasant; well; better; right; best." The commentary then goes on to say that "this adjective denotes 'good' in every sense of that word," and "tob is often used in conjunction with the Hebrew word ra'ah ('bad; evil')" which is sometimes intended as a contrast. (Also consider Prov 28:22 — He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him. In the NIV, "evil eye" is translated as "stingy." Also see Deut. 15:8-9)
["The stingy are eager to get rich and are unaware that poverty awaits them." Proverbs 28:22 NIVUK. https://bible.com/bible/113/pro.28.22.NIVUK
"If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards them. Rather, be open-handed and freely lend them whatever they need. Be careful not to harbour this wicked thought: ‘The seventh year, the year for cancelling debts, is near,’ so that you do not show ill will towards the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open-handed towards your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land."
"Beware that there be not a base thought in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou give him nought; and he cry unto Jehovah against thee, and it be sin unto thee." Deuteronomy 15:9 ASV. https://bible.com/bible/12/deu.15.9.ASV ]
This contrast of "good" vs "evil" is noted in the parable of the landowner. Commenting on words of the landowner in Matthew 20:15 — "Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?" — Brad Young, in Jesus the Jewish Theologian, p. 136, writes:
"The saying of the magnanimous landowner alludes to the Hebrew expressions 'evil eye' and 'good eye' which suggested the sharp contrast between a generous person full of kindness and a stingy, selfish individual. The generous person with a 'good eye' is driven by a concern to help others and to see their needs met. The selfish person is consumed by one interest: what belongs to him or her."
And finally from the Soncino Talmud:
Mas. Shabbath 146a — The phrase "...perhaps his intention is to be generous..." is explained in the footnotes as meaning, literally, "a good eye."
Mas. Sotah 38b — "R. Joshua b. Levi also said: We give the cup of blessing for the recital of the Grace after meals only to one who is of a generous disposition [footnote: Lit., 'good of eye', the opposite of bad of eye, i.e., envious], as it is said: He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed, for he giveth of his bread to the poor..."
See a Graeco-Roman usage of the phrase "the eye is bad" : http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0259-94222009000100023
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