Blind
Blind
(, ivver’, ). The frequent occurrence of blindness in the East has always excited the astonishment of travellers. Volney says that out of a hundred persons in Cairo he has met twenty quite blind, ten wanting one eye, and twenty others having their eyes red, purulent, or blemished (Travels in Egypt, i, 224). This is principally owing to the Egyptian ophthalmia, which is endemic in that country and on the coast of Syria. Small-pox is another great cause of blindness in the East (Volney, 1. c.). Still other causes are the quantities of dust and sand pulverized by the sun’s intense heat; the perpetual glare of light; the contrast of the heat with the cold sea-air on the coast, where blindness is specially prevalent; the dews at night while people sleep on the roofs; old age, etc.; and perhaps, more than all, the Mohammedan fatalism, which leads to a neglect of the proper remedies in time. Ludd, the ancient Lydda, and Ramleh, enjoy a fearful notoriety for the number of blind persons they contain. The common saying is that in Ludd every man is either blind or has but one eye. Jaffa is said to contain 500 blind out of a population of 5000 at most. There is an asylum for the blind in Cairo (which at present contains 300), and their conduct is often turbulent and fanatic (Lane, Mod. Eg. i, 39, 292). In the New Testament blind mendicants are frequently mentioned (Mat 9:27; Mat 12:22; Mat 20:30; Mat 21:24; Joh 5:3), and “opening the eyes of the blind” is mentioned in prophecy as a peculiar attribute of the Messiah (Isa 29:18, etc.). The Jews were specially charged to treat the blind with compassion and care (Lev 19:4; Deu 27:18).
The blindness of Bar-Jesus (Act 13:6) was miraculously produced, and of its nature we know nothing. Some have attempted (on the ground of Luke’s profession as a physician) to attach a technical meaning to and (Jahn, Bibl. Arch. 201), viz. a spot or “thin tunicle over the cornea,” which vanishes naturally after a time; for which the same term, , is made use of by Hippocrates (, ii, 215, ed. Kuhn), who says that will disappear provided no wound has been inflicted. Before such an inference can be drawn, we must be sure that the writers of the New Testament were not only acquainted with the writings of Hippocrates, but were also accustomed to a strict medical terminology. In the same way analogies are quoted for the use of saliva (Mat 8:23, etc.) and of fish-gall in the case of the of Tobias; but, whatever may be thought of the latter instance, it is very obvious that in the former the saliva was no more instrumental in the cure than the touch alone would have been (Trench, On the Miracles at Mat 9:27). The haziness implied by the expression may refer to the sensation of the blind person, or to the appearance of the eye, and in both cases the haziness may have been referable to any of the other transparent media as well as to the cornea. Examples of blindness from old age occur in Gen 27:1; 1Ki 14:4; 1Sa 4:15. The Syrian army that came to apprehend Elisha was suddenly smitten with blindness in a miraculous manner (2Ki 6:18), and so also was Paul (Act 9:9). Blindness is sometimes threatened in the Old Testament as a punishment (q.v.) for disobedience (Deu 28:28; Lev 26:16; Zep 1:17). Blindness wilfully inflicted for political or other purposes was common in the East, and is alluded to in Scripture (1Sa 11:2; Jer 22:12). That calamities are always the offspring of crime is a prejudice which the depraved nature of man is but too prone to indulge in, and the Jews in the time of our Lord were greatly under the power of this prejudice. A modern traveller says, ” The Hindoos and Ceylonese very commonly attribute their misfortunes to the transgressions of a former state of existence, and I remember being rather struck with the seriousness of a cripple, who attributed his condition to the unknown faults of his former life.” On seeing a man who had been born blind, the disciples of our Lord fell into the same mistake, and asked him, “Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (Joh 9:2). Jesus immediately solved the difficulty by miraculously giving him the use of his sight. SEE EYE.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Blind (2)
(, ivver’, ). The frequent occurrence of blindness in the East has always excited the astonishment of travellers. Volney says that out of a hundred persons in Cairo he has met twenty quite blind, ten wanting one eye, and twenty others having their eyes red, purulent, or blemished (Travels in Egypt, i, 224). This is principally owing to the Egyptian ophthalmia, which is endemic in that country and on the coast of Syria. Small-pox is another great cause of blindness in the East (Volney, 1. c.). Still other causes are the quantities of dust and sand pulverized by the sun’s intense heat; the perpetual glare of light; the contrast of the heat with the cold sea-air on the coast, where blindness is specially prevalent; the dews at night while people sleep on the roofs; old age, etc.; and perhaps, more than all, the Mohammedan fatalism, which leads to a neglect of the proper remedies in time. Ludd, the ancient Lydda, and Ramleh, enjoy a fearful notoriety for the number of blind persons they contain. The common saying is that in Ludd every man is either blind or has but one eye. Jaffa is said to contain 500 blind out of a population of 5000 at most. There is an asylum for the blind in Cairo (which at present contains 300), and their conduct is often turbulent and fanatic (Lane, Mod. Eg. i, 39, 292). In the New Testament blind mendicants are frequently mentioned (Mat 9:27; Mat 12:22; Mat 20:30; Mat 21:24; Joh 5:3), and “opening the eyes of the blind” is mentioned in prophecy as a peculiar attribute of the Messiah (Isa 29:18, etc.). The Jews were specially charged to treat the blind with compassion and care (Lev 19:4; Deu 27:18).
The blindness of Bar-Jesus (Act 13:6) was miraculously produced, and of its nature we know nothing. Some have attempted (on the ground of Luke’s profession as a physician) to attach a technical meaning to and (Jahn, Bibl. Arch. 201), viz. a spot or “thin tunicle over the cornea,” which vanishes naturally after a time; for which the same term, , is made use of by Hippocrates (, ii, 215, ed. Kuhn), who says that will disappear provided no wound has been inflicted. Before such an inference can be drawn, we must be sure that the writers of the New Testament were not only acquainted with the writings of Hippocrates, but were also accustomed to a strict medical terminology. In the same way analogies are quoted for the use of saliva (Mat 8:23, etc.) and of fish-gall in the case of the of Tobias; but, whatever may be thought of the latter instance, it is very obvious that in the former the saliva was no more instrumental in the cure than the touch alone would have been (Trench, On the Miracles at Mat 9:27). The haziness implied by the expression may refer to the sensation of the blind person, or to the appearance of the eye, and in both cases the haziness may have been referable to any of the other transparent media as well as to the cornea. Examples of blindness from old age occur in Gen 27:1; 1Ki 14:4; 1Sa 4:15. The Syrian army that came to apprehend Elisha was suddenly smitten with blindness in a miraculous manner (2Ki 6:18), and so also was Paul (Act 9:9). Blindness is sometimes threatened in the Old Testament as a punishment (q.v.) for disobedience (Deu 28:28; Lev 26:16; Zep 1:17). Blindness wilfully inflicted for political or other purposes was common in the East, and is alluded to in Scripture (1Sa 11:2; Jer 22:12). That calamities are always the offspring of crime is a prejudice which the depraved nature of man is but too prone to indulge in, and the Jews in the time of our Lord were greatly under the power of this prejudice. A modern traveller says, ” The Hindoos and Ceylonese very commonly attribute their misfortunes to the transgressions of a former state of existence, and I remember being rather struck with the seriousness of a cripple, who attributed his condition to the unknown faults of his former life.” On seeing a man who had been born blind, the disciples of our Lord fell into the same mistake, and asked him, “Who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (Joh 9:2). Jesus immediately solved the difficulty by miraculously giving him the use of his sight. SEE EYE.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Blind
Blind beggars are frequently mentioned (Matt. 9:27; 12:22; 20:30; John 5:3). The blind are to be treated with compassion (Lev. 19:14; Deut. 27:18). Blindness was sometimes a punishment for disobedience (1 Sam. 11:2; Jer. 39:7), sometimes the effect of old age (Gen. 27:1; 1 Kings 14:4; 1 Sam. 4:15). Conquerors sometimes blinded their captives (2 Kings 25:7; 1 Sam. 11:2). Blindness denotes ignorance as to spiritual things (Isa. 6:10; 42:18, 19; Matt. 15:14; Eph. 4:18). The opening of the eyes of the blind is peculiar to the Messiah (Isa. 29:18). Elymas was smitten with blindness at Paul’s word (Acts 13:11).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Blind
Cruelty to, forbidden
Lev 19:14; Deu 27:18
Hated by David
2Sa 5:8 Blindness
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Blind
Exo 23:8 (a) If the judge is bribed with gifts, then he fails to execute true judgment and his decisions are not righteous. You will note that when “Justice” is seen in sculpture or in painting, she has no hands and her eyes are blindfolded. This is to teach us that justice takes no bribes, and is not affected by the standing or the relationship of the person who is being judged.
Lev 19:14, (c) This describes the condition of those who teach wrong doctrines or evil practices, especially those who are ignorant of GOD’s Word and GOD’s ways.
Isa 29:18 (b) These people are those who have eyes to see, but do not have the necessary information nor understanding. Somehow or sometime they shall have their understanding enlightened so that they can see and know GOD’s truth. (See also Isa 35:5; Isa 42:7).
Isa 42:16 (a) We learn here that GOD leads those who do not see clearly. They have willing spirits and honest hearts. but they have not been taught nor informed by godly teachers. These are described further in verses Isa 42:18-19.
Isa 43:8 (b) This figure describes those who have heard the Word of GOD, have been reared in Christian surroundings, but have failed to see either their own need or the provision that the Lord has made.
Isa 56:10 (a) These people are religious leaders who are ignorant of GOD’s plans and do not understand GOD’s words. (See also Mat 15:14; Mat 23:16; Luk 6:39).
Joh 9:39 (a) The time may come in a human life, or in national life when GOD will hide Himself because of the constant and definite rejection of His Word. He binds men to their decisions. He hides Himself from those who continually reject Him.
Joh 12:40 (a) GOD closes the mind and the understanding of those who willingly remain ignorant of GOD’s truth, and do not want GOD’s revelations. (See Rom 11:7, Rom 11:25).
Rom 2:19 (b) This describes those who are groping for the light and need someone to teach them the truth and to guide them to JESUS CHRIST.
2Pe 1:9 (b) This is the description of one who has been instructed in the way of righteousness, has learned the precious provisions of the Lord but has failed to take advantage of the blessings thus offered.
Rev 3:17 (a) There are those who pretend to know GOD’s truth, and yet are in the darkness of ignorance. These invent new religions based on their own philosophies. They have never seen the light of life.