Look closely at this photo of a human eye.
Look at the pupil.
Do you see the “little person” in the pupil.
In dozens of languages, the etymological meaning of pupil is “little person”. Take English as an example. The word pupil in English comes from the Latin word pūpilla, which means “little girl or doll.” The root word in Latin is pupa which means “girl,” and the Latin diminutive pūpilla means “little girl.”
This double meaning in Latin is preserved in English, where pupil means both “schoolchild” as well as “the dark central portion of the eye within the iris” where “the little person” can be seen.
In ancient Babylon (c. 1800-1600 BC), the expression “the protective spirit of the eye” spoke of the protective spirit of the one who kept the eye focused on you in love. Like a mother gazing at her infant, or a father at his son, or a person at their lover, “the little person” in the eye represented the love, protection, and care for the one upon whom the eye gazed.
Now let’s look at the Bible and biblical Hebrew.
For this is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says, “Whoever injures you injures the pupil of my eye.” (Zechariah 2:8, ISV)
This verse is translated in the King James Version as:
For thus saith the Lord of hosts; “He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of My eye. (Zechariah 2:8, KJV)
This phrase “apple of my eye” occurs in several places throughout the King James Bible:
- Deuteronomy 32:10: “He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye“.
- Psalm 17:8: “Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings”.
- Proverbs 7:2: “Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye“.
- Lamentations 2:18: “Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease“.
But the English word “apple” does not properly convey the Hebrew in the four above passages. The Hebrew word is better translated into English as “pupil.” The Hebrew word is iyshown which means “little man” or “little person,” for it is the diminutive of the Hebrew word iysh, which means man. Like in Latin, the Hebrew word “pupil” represents the center of the eye where “the little person” resides as the eye gazes at someone in love and concern.
God is Spirit and is everywhere at once. To attribute to God physical characteristics is called anthropomorphism.
God is not like us, but to understand Him, it does us well to consider Him in terms we can comprehend. So, let me describe God and His love for you as the Bible does.
The Helix Nebula, called The Eye of God, 700 light years from earth.
- Deuteronomy 32:10: “He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the little person in His eye“.
- Psalm 17:8: “Keep me as the the little person in Your eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings”.
- Proverbs 7:2: “Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the the little person of Thine eye“.
- Lamentations 2:18: “Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the little person of Thine eye cease
God has a “protective spirit” over His people. God has a protective Spirit over you.
The only verse in the English Old Testament where “little person” (Hebrew iyshown) is NOT used in the translation “apple of thine eye” is Zechariah 2:8. The Hebrew word translated “apple” is bava, and most Hebrew scholars generally regard this phrase as simply referring to the “eyeball”.
So get this. Hang on to what comes next.
God’s gaze on you is like a mother’s on her infant, the father’s gaze on the son he loves, the lover’s gaze on the one cherished. God’s gaze on you is a “protective spirit,” for you are “the little person (pupil) in God’s iris.”
And the person who injures you, POKES GOD IN THE EYE.
Have you been wronged? Has your reputation been unjustly smeared? Has someone taken advantage of you and hurt you? Do you feel all alone and abandoned?
Take heart. Rest easy.
The LORD is on your side, and you can rest assured that, He will come to your defense and healing.
God’s protective eye watches over you. You are “the little person” in His iris. When you are injured, He’s poked in the eyeball.
It’s a wonderful comfort to know yourself as “the little person in God’s eye.”
“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me. . . . ”
(lyric from ‘His Eye Is On the Sparrow’ by Civilla Martin)
The beloved gospel singer, Ethel Waters, used to sing this hymn at Billy Graham Crusades in days gone by.
Pray for the ones who have contempt for others, pray for the ones who fail to see the image of God in ‘those other sinners’. . . . . They are in far more trouble than the ones they intend to stone.
“And the person who injures you, POKES GOD IN THE EYE.
Have you been wronged? Has your reputation been unjustly smeared? Has someone taken advantage of you and hurt you? Do you feel all alone and abandoned?
Take heart. Rest easy.
The LORD is on your side, and you can rest assured that, He will come to your defense and healing.
God’s protective eye watches over you. You are “the little person” in His iris. When you are injured, He’s poked in the eyeball.”
It is in the fruit of the Holy Spirit that reveals itself within us as a grace from God, that we know the extent of just how much God heals our wounded souls.
It in the mysterious ways that God comes to our defense against enemies that is the true healing for our wounded hearts, this:
“”The Holy Spirit teaches us to love our enemies in such way that we pity their souls as if they were our own children.”
— St. Silouan the Athonite
“And the person who injures you, POKES GOD IN THE EYE.
Have you been wronged? Has your reputation been unjustly smeared? Has someone taken advantage of you and hurt you? Do you feel all alone and abandoned?
Take heart. Rest easy.
The LORD is on your side, and you can rest assured that, He will come to your defense and healing.
God’s protective eye watches over you. You are “the little person” in His iris. When you are injured, He’s poked in the eyeball.”
It is in the fruit of the Holy Spirit that reveals itself within us as a grace from God, that we know the extent of just how much God heals our wounded souls.
It in the mysterious ways that God comes to our defense against enemies that is the true healing for our wounded hearts, this:
“”The Holy Spirit teaches us to love our enemies in such way that we pity their souls as if they were our own children.”
— St. Silouan the Athonite
“Whoever will not love his enemies cannot know the Lord and the sweetness of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit teaches us to love our enemies in such way that we pity their souls as if they were our own children.”
(Silouan the Athonite)
Wade,
Great article! The picture you show reminds me of how disappointed Judy was when she looked in the mirror after cataract surgery; WRINKLES! 😊
John 3:16 tells how much God loves us, and anybody or anything that hurts us; hurts Him.
Wade,
We had a family reunion. Afterwards, my brother-in-law, Rollie and my sister, Raynell, went to eat at a restaurant. There was a family eating there. Raynell, who never meets a stranger, started talking to them. She goes on and on. After Rollie sees the family is getting agitated, he tells them:
“You’ll have to excuse Raynell, this morning she was released from a mental institution.”
Wade,
Rollie teaches an older women’s Sunday school class. After attending our church, he told us it was the worst song service he’d ever heard.
Our song leader is from a different country. About all you hear is his loud guitar and him singing seven words about Jesus repeated eleven times. He writes many of the songs. The congregation’s singing is drowned out by the speaker system.
Rollie’s complaint has started a questionnaire to be given to the church.
One question: Should the invitation song be praise to Jesus or more like “Jesus is calling”.
Wade,
Our song leader is from a different country. About all you hear is his loud guitar and him singing seven words about Jesus repeated eleven times. The congregation’s singing is drowned out by the speaker system.
A questionnaire is to be given to the church.
One question: Should the invitation song be praise to Jesus or more like “Jesus is calling”.
Our mother taught first grade. A boy came wearing new cowboy boots. She said, “Those sure look nice, but you have them on the wrong feet.”
“Aw, Mrs. Ray, dees is the only feets I got.”
CHRISTIANE,
You quoted someone on how to treat our enemies.
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty give him something to drink. In doing this you will heap burning coals of shame on his head.” (Romans 12:20 NLT)
A friend and I are thinking about swimming the English Channel. 😊
Hey out there, REX RAY
yes, I know that verse well. And there is a story in Judaism about a rabbi who was going door to door collecting money for the poor of the village. He came to the door of the richest man who responded by punching the rabbi full in the face! The rabbi got up from the ground and calmly said to the rich man: “that was for me. Now do you have something to give for the poor?’
The rich man was shamed by the rabbi’s humility. He donated a large sum of money as a result.
Yes, I know that wonderful verse, REX RAY.
What is it that changes peoples’ minds? What is it about the ‘fruit of the Holy Spirit’ that opens the way for grace to come into peoples’ lives?
Humility seems a simple thing, but it is not ‘weakness’, no. 🙂
Now, REX RAY, what’s this about you and your ‘friend’ swimming the English Channel? Are you SERIOUS ? Or are you threatening to convert to the Anglican Church?
Hint: the meme ‘swimming the Tiber’ is code for converting to the RC. 🙂
REX RAY, I would never discourage you from exercise by swimming, as it is the BEST form of exercise for our age group . . . but the entire English Channel?
There is a story there, I’m thinking. 🙂
CHRISTIANE,
I hate swimming in cold water, and years ago I told my wife, Belle, that with Global warming, by the time I got to be 90 the English Channel would be warm.
She said, “By that time you’ll probably be crazy enough to try it.”
CHRISTIANE,
The Sea of Gallie is 19 miles at its wideset. When I was seventy, my family and I were at the lower end. I told them to drive around to the other side, and I was going to swim across. There was a large mountain at the edge of the lake that looked like it was a mile away, but it was 4 miles.
Years later, I told a guy I was halfway when I realized how far it was. He said, “Did you make it?” I should have told him, “No, I had to walk the rest of the way.
Two good stories, REX RAY
Four miles IS a swim! I was never a distance swimmer myself, so I can appreciate your effort there, but it was not like you had a choice. Half-way there is ‘committed’, you bet.
September is coming and we should get some relief from all this heat. How are you managing in Texas?
CHRISTIANE,
Swimming the English Channel is not for me. Registration fee is $450, and the pilot boat is $4,400.
CHRISTIANE,
Today, our newspaper had WAR STORIES. Our Dad, was a Chaplain and a Captain. His assistant, Jack was a Private. Once, Jack wanted to skip breakfast and sleep in his foxhole, but Dad made him get up and eat. A few minutes later a German shell blew his Bible to pieces. It was under his pillow.
None of the men had a mustache except Jack. Dad asked him to shave it off many times, but he wouldn’t. The others resented him refusing Dad’s request.
After weeks of sleeping in foxholes, they came to a barn full of hay and slept like dead men. But some got fresh droppings from a chicken pen, and smeared Jack’s mustache.
Next morning, they started telling how bad the barn smelled. They were disappointed when Jack didn’t say anything but laughed their heads off when he went outside saying the whole world stinks!” He shaved it off.
Summited by Rex Ray
CHRISTIANE,
Today, our newspaper had WAR STORIES. Our Dad was a Chaplain and a Captain. His assistant, Jack was a Private. Once, Jack wanted to skip breakfast and sleep in his foxhole, but Dad made him get up and eat. A few minutes later a German shell blew his Bible to pieces. It was under his pillow.
Today, our newspaper had WAR STORIES. Our Dad was a Chaplain and a Captain. His assistant, Jack was a Private. Once, Jack wanted to skip breakfast and sleep in his foxhole, but Dad made him get up and eat. A few minutes later a German shell blew his Bible to pieces. It was under his pillow.
REX RAY,
the fact that you already checked these stats out tells me a lot about you, LOL.
The only discouraging thing to me would have been that the distance is 20 miles (?) and I’m not sure about that !
So, in the UK, there is a whole industry built up around catering to those who want to ‘swim the channel’ . . . . I did not know that, but if money is to be made, there are plenty willing to do it.
The most laps I ever ‘swum’ (?) in my pool at the old house was around twenty to thirty at one time,
mostly because I swam in the mornings and had to be at work on time.
(good excuse)
But no kidding, swimming is good for older folks as it doesn’t jar the muscles and joints as badly as other forms of exercise. A water work-out is really a positive for us old folks, you bet.
Build a pool. Since you are in Texas, you won’t need to heat it, you can probably use it for 8 months out of 12 months. Make it large enough so you can get a good lap going, but not so deep, they have to dive down to save you if, God forbid, you cramp up and go under. No diving board for you. Get a professional company to build it and supervise it. (It will be an investment.) Go for it! 🙂
CHRISTIANE,
Many years ago, I paid a guy to make a 500-foot dam across a creek. It made a ten-acre lake that’s 50-foot deep. There’s a 30-foot walkway that connects to a dock that many barrels keep it floating. Swimming is fun.
🙂
I KNEW there would be a story to come! Now THAT’S a place to swim. 🙂
CHRISTIANE,
New plan for Dave Watson and me to swim:
https://www.odysseyopenwater.com/alcatraz
OMG, REX RAY !!
with your history of ‘good angels’ keeping watch over you when you do stupid stuff,
I think you just might try it . . . ..
what I know is that the USCG has to approve and they are some of our nation’s better angels of whom my youngest son is one, so under their guidance they might consider pros and cons
trust the USCG to decide if you can try this swim – they will look out for you
BTW – weren’t those waters around Alcatraz supposed to be SHARK INFESTED ????? I had heard they were, yep. Sharks. Large. Big sharks.
Lots of sharks.
Whoah!
CHRISTIANE,
I haven’t been swimming in five years until today. I thought I’d go about a hundred yards and come back to the dock where Judy was. I always swim with a mask and snorkel, gut this old mask leaked water so bad, I only went ten feet.
To make matters worse, as I wasn’t doing a good job of climbing up the ladder, ‘sharks’ started biting my stomach. Well, the sharks were only four inches long, but they hurt.
CHRISTIANE,
This week’s Leader newspaper had “War Stories: Our Dad, Dave Ray was a Chaplin, and Jack was his assistant. Once, Jack wanted to sleep in his foxhole, but Dad made him get up and eat. A German shell blew his pillow to pieces.
None of the men had a mustache except Jack. They resented Jack refusing Dad’s request to shave it off. After weeks of sleeping in foxholes, they came to a barn full of hay and slept like dead men. But some got droppings from a chicken pen, and smeared Jack’s mustache.
Next morning, the told Jack how bad the barn smelled. They were disappointed when he didn’t say anything but laughed their heads off when he went outside saying, “The whole world stinks!” (He shaved it off.)