Midvash

עַיִןʻayin

עֹוֵן: see עין (1 Samuel 18:9)

Pronunciation: ah'-yin · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H5869

Meanings

עַ֫יִן: eye

1. literally as physical organ

f. see (Genesis 45:12; Psalms 11:4; Deuteronomy 3:27)

i. as growing dim (Genesis 48:10; 1 Samuel 4:15; 1 Kings 14:4)

j. open, keep awake (Job 27:19; 2 Kings 4:35; Proverbs 20:13)

k. revive

wink (Psalms 35:19; Proverbs 10:10; Proverbs 6:13)

m. roll (Job 15:12)

n. whet eyes against (Job 16:9)

o. put out

p. paint, eyes (Deuteronomy 16:12; Song of Solomon 4:9; Song of Solomon 7:5)

q. apple of the eye

r eyebrows (Leviticus 14:9)

2.

a. eyes as shewing mental qualities (Isaiah 2:11; Isaiah 5:15; Psalms 101:5)

b. desire of the eyes, abominations of the eyes (Ezekiel 24:16; Ezekiel 24:21; Ezekiel 24:25)

3. figurative of mental and spiritual faculties, acts and states

a. id. (Genesis 3:5; Genesis 3:7; Isaiah 42:7)

b. bountiful, niggardly one (Ezekiel 6:9; Ecclesiastes 1:8; Ecclesiastes 4:8)

c. in the view, opinion, of (Genesis 16:4; Genesis 16:5; Genesis 21:11)

d. without the knowledge of, sandals (Leviticus 4:13; Numbers 5:13; Job 28:21)

4. Transferred meanings

a. surface (Exodus 10:5; Exodus 10:15; Numbers 22:5)

b. appearance, id. (Leviticus 13:5; Leviticus 13:37; Leviticus 13:55)

c. gleam, sparkle (Ezekiel 1:4; Ezekiel 1:7; Ezekiel 1:16)

5. Other phrases are (Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21)

עַ֫יִן: (of water), Particular springs are

b. partridge-spring, id. (Judges 15:19)

d. dragon-spring (Nehemiah 2:13; Nehemiah 2:14; Nehemiah 3:15)

: eye (Ezra 5:5; Daniel 7:8; Daniel 7:20; Daniel 4:31)

Same root

Where it appears

Appears 887 times in the Bible.

  • Genesis 3:5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
  • Genesis 3:6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.
  • Genesis 3:7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
  • Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor with the Lord.
  • Genesis 13:10 Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord or the beautiful land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
  • Genesis 13:14 After Lot had gone, the Lord said to Abram, “Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west.
See every passage

Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).