Beware the Evil Eye I: Introduction, Mesopotamia and Egypt

Description

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus of Nazareth makes reference to one of the oldest beliefs in the ancient world – the malignity of an Evil Eye. The Bible in its original languages contain no less than twenty-four references to the Evil Eye, although this is obscured by most modern translations. John H. Elliott’s ‘Beware the Evil Eye’ describes this belief and associated practices, its history, its voluminous appearances in ancient cultures, and the extensive research devoted to it over the centuries in order to unravel this enigma for readers who have never heard of the Evil Eye and its presence in the Bible. This is the first of a four-volume work on the Evil Eye. John H. Elliott is Professor Emeritus of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Francisco. He is the author of ‘Conflict, Community, and Honour’ 2007.