O'Donoghue MTh_Thesis-FinalCopy.pdf - South African Theological ...

a) Deuteronomy 28:54-55 shows a person with an evil eye is a person notprepared to share with his family in a time of need.b) Proverbs 23:6-7 talks of a person with an evil eye as a person who “…hastensafter riches.”Deuteronomy 15:19 makes a direct connection between an evil eye and thedisposition of the heart (Brown 1993:168). Deuteronomy 15:19 reads as follows,“Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The Seventh year, theyear of release, is at hand,’ and you eye be evil against your poor brother and givehim nothing…” The teaching on giving in this passage shows that God is concernednot just about His people obeying His command to do good to the poor amongstthem, but is also concerned about the disposition of the giver.The bad eye is therefore the opposite of the good eye. Where the good eyecorrelates to a generous attitude to others, the bad eye correlates to a stingy attitudetowards others. The results of having a generous heart out of obedience to God arealso in contrast to disobedience to God characterised by a stingy heart. As opposedto a person characterised by light, the person with a bad eye will be characterised bydarkness.According to Talbert’s model, Part Two then moves to a conclusion (Talbert2006:121). The conclusion is found in verse 23b where Jesus says that if the lightwithin a person is dark how great that darkness must be. At this point it seems thatTalbert’s model for the division of the text may not fit well, as it is unclear as to howthis verse concludes the saying of the good and bad eye.It would perhaps be better to view this verse as an additional assertion or a thirdinference. The verse seems to address a person who is deceived or disillusioned.This verse makes the point that the darkness that can characterise a person isespecially bad if the person believes that their darkness is actually light (Carson1994:86). Thus if the bad eye (a stingy heart) believes it is generous and appropriate47