עַ֫יִן
eye
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Construct-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
Gender
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
- Singular
- One.
Grammatical forms
- Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Absolute 2 times (40%)
- Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct 2 times (40%)
- Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Construct 1 time (20%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 5 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H5870 appears — 4 distinct verses across 2 books. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Ezra 1 verse
Daniel 3 verses
- Daniel 4:34 עַיְנַ֣/י n c fs cs + sfx pers 1cs At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him who lives forever; for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to generation.
- Daniel 7:8 עַיְנִ֜ין כְּ/עַיְנֵ֤י n c fp prep + n c fp cs I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.
- Daniel 7:20 וְ/עַיְנִ֣ין conj + n c fp and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other [horn] which came up, and before which three fell, even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, whose look was more stout than its fellows.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
עין (ʻayin) is a Hebrew noun most often rendered “eye.” With only 4 verses it sits in the long tail of Hebrew Bible vocabulary. Daniel dominates its distribution — 3 of 4 verses. Debuting at Ezra 5:5, it then recurs through the corpus. Related forms include עין, מעין and עון. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H5870 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 4
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 4 distinct verses.
- 2 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 2 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #3,337
- by frequency
- Top 5000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 3,337 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 4 occurrences in the concordance →
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 4 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 4 verses · 100%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 3 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Eye 1×, Eyes 1×, Had eyes 1×
- American Standard Version†: Eye 1×, Eyes 1×, Had eyes 1×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Eye 1×, Eyes 1×, Had eyes 1×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Eyes 2×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H5870 across 5† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H5870 across 5† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H5870 across 5† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H5870 across 6† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 4 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
39 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 39 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
עין I
- 1. lit. as physical organ,
- a. of man Ex 21:6(×3) (E), Gn 3:6 (J) +, Lv 21:20; 24:20(×2); 26:16 (H; very rarely P, e.g. Dt 34:4, 7), 2 K 4:34(×2) +; once שְׁתֵּי עֵינַי Ju 16:28. e.g. Exodus 21:6
- b. anthropomorph. of י׳ ψ 33:18; 34:16 (אֶל) +. e.g. Psalms 33:18
- c. of idols ψ 115:5; 135:16. e.g. Psalms 115:5
- d. of beasts Gn 30:41 (J), Jb 40:24 (hippop., si vera l., but prob. crpt. Di Siegf Bu Du where see conj.), 41:10 (crocod.); bird Jb 28:7; 39:29; Pr 1:17. e.g. Genesis 30:41
- e. in wheels Ez 1:18 cf. 10:12; on stone Zc 3:9 (all in visions). e.g. Ezekiel 1:18
- f. subj. of ראה see Gn 45:12(×2) (E), + (often Dt), c. חזה ψ 11:4; men see בְּע׳ Dt 3:27; 2 K 7:12 +; especially נָשָׂא ע׳ + ראה Gn 13:10, 14 (J) +; cf. לְכָל־מַרְאֵה עֵינֵי הַכֹּהֵן Lv 13:12 = as far as the priest can see, מַרְאֵה ע׳ Dt 28:34 what is seen by the eyes = v 67 Ec 6:9. e.g. Genesis 45:12
- g. as affected by sleep, v. שֵׁנָה sub [יָשֵׁן].
- h. as weeping, ע׳ מְקוֹר דִּמְעָה Je 8:23, ע׳ נִגְּרָה La 3:49, דָּֽלְפָה ע׳ Jb 16:20; v. also Je 31:16 ψ 116:8, and ירד Qal 3 c. e.g. Jeremiah 8:23
- i. as growing dim, v. I. כָּהָה, חָשַׁךְ 3; c. כָּבֵד Gn 48:10 (E), קוּם 1 S 4:15 1 K 14:4, שָׁעַע Is 32:3; 6:10 (Hiph.); c. כָּלָה pine, languish, v. כ׳ Qal 2 b, Pi. 2 b, c. דָּאַב ψ 88:10, עָשַׁשׁ 6:8; 31:10, דָּלַל Is 38:14. e.g. Genesis 48:10
- j. c. פָּקַח open, after sleep Jb 27:19, sleep of death 2 K 4:35; = keep awake Pr 20:13 (opp. שֵׁנָה); of new power of vision Gn 3:5, 7 (J), given by God 21:19 (E), 2 K 6:17(×2); so (c. וַיְגַל) Nu 22:31 (JE); = give sight to blind 2 K 6:20(×2); Is 35:5; 42:7 ψ 146:8; of God (י׳) opening his eyes, פָּקַח ע׳ 2 K 19:16 = Is 37:17, Dn 9:18, + עַל־ Je 32:19; Zc 12:4; Jb 14:3 שִׂים ע׳ עַל Gn 44:21 (J) Je 39:12; 40:4, + לטובה 24:6, + לרעה Am 9:4; c. פָּתַח, + אֶל־ 1 K 8:29 = 2 Ch 6:20; 1 K 8:52; Ne 1:6, + ל 2 Ch 6:40; 7:15; + inf. Ne 1:6. e.g. Job 27:19
- k. אוֹר ע׳ etc., = revive, v. אור vb. Qal, Hiph.; noun, 10.
- l. קָרַץ ע׳ = wink ψ 35:19; Pr 10:10, ק׳ בְּע׳ 6:13. e.g. Psalms 35:19
- m. יִרְזְמוּן ע׳ Jb 15:12 i.e. roll (in anger). e.g. Job 15:12
- n. לָטַשׁ ע׳ ל׳ Jb 16:9 whet eyes against = ‘look daggers at.’ e.g. Job 16:9
- o. put out eye, v. עִוֵּר, נקר.
- p. as feature of beauty, יְפֵה ע׳ Dt 16:12; cf. Ct 4:9; 7:5, ע׳ יוֹנִים 1:15; 4:1 and 5:12 (כְּיוֹנִים); on other hand, ע׳ לֵאָה רַכּוֹת Gn 29:17 (E); וַתָּשֶׂם בַּפּוּךְ ע׳ †2 K 9:30 (v. פּוּךְ), cf. Je 4:30, כָּחַל ע׳ Ez 23:40 paint the eyes †. e.g. Deuteronomy 16:12
- q. apple of the eye, v. אִישׁוֹן, [בָּבָה], בַּת 6.
- r. גַּבֹּת ע׳ Lv 14:9 eyebrows. e.g. Leviticus 14:9
- s. חַכְלִילִי ע׳ מִיָּ֑יִן Gn 49:12, חַכְלִילוּת ע ׳ Pr 23:29 (v. ח׳); מְאוֹר ע׳ Pr 15:30, v. Toy.—v. שׁתם for Nu 24:3, 15. e.g. Genesis 49:12
- 2.
- a. eyes as shewing mental qualities: arrogance ע׳ גַבְהוּת Is 2:11, ע׳ גְבֹהִים 5:15, גְּבַהּ־ע׳ ψ 101:5, תִּפְאֶרֶת רוּם ע׳ Is 10:12; c. רוּם also ψ 18:28 (so read also ‖ 2 S 22:28 Hup HPS), 131:1 Pr 6:17; 21:4; humility, שַׁח ע׳ Jb 22:29; mockery, ע׳ תִּלְעַג לְ Pr 30:17; cf. רָעָה ע׳ בְּ Dt 15:9 (grudging), 28:54, 56 (id.); especially (עַל) ע׳ אַל־תָּחֹס not have pity on Dt 7:16 + 4 times Dt, Ez 5:11 + 8 times Ez, Is 13:18, also Gn 45:20 (E; = not regret); cf. נֹחַם יִסָּתֵר מֵע׳ Ho 13:14. e.g. Isaiah 2:11
- b. מַחְמַד ע׳ Ez 24:16 desire of the eyes, so v 21, 25; שִׁקּוּצֵי ע׳ 20:7 abominations of the eyes, so v 3.—ψ 73:7 v. חֵלֶב. e.g. Ezekiel 24:16
- 3. Fig. of mental and spiritual faculties, acts and states:
- a. תִּפָּקַחְנָה ע׳ Gn 3:5, 7 (J) Is 42:7, גִּלוּי ע׳ Nu 24:4, 16 (JE); also טַח מֵרְאוֹת ע׳ Is 44:18; ע׳ אֶל־י׳ ψ 123:2 (see v 2(×2) for origin of fig.), +; of י׳, 33:18 (i.e. his favour) 34:16 (id.) +. e.g. Genesis 3:5
- b. ע׳ הַזֹּנוֹת Ez 6:9; תִּשְׂבַּע ע׳ Ec 1:8; 4:8; שָֽׁאֲלוּ ע׳ 2:10; ע׳ לְנֹכַח יַבִּיטוּ Pr 4:25; טוֹב־ע׳ 22:9 = bountiful, רַע עָ֑יִן 23:6 = niggardly one, so 28:22; eye as avenue of temptation Jb 31:1, 7; שִׁית ע׳ ψ 17:11 = design. e.g. Ezekiel 6:9
- c. especially בְּעֵינֵי, c. adj. and intrans. verbs, in the view, opinion, of Gn 16:4, 5 (J), 21:11, 12 (E), 34:18 (P), + often; c. act. vb. 2 S 10:3 = 1 Ch 19:3; Est 1:17; 3:6; הַטּוֹב בְּע׳ Gn 16:6; 19:14 (J), +, i.e. what one pleases, Nu 36:6 (P) whom they please; הַיָּשָׁר בְּע׳ Dt 12:8, 25 +, הַטּוֹב וְהַיָּשָׁר בְּע׳ v 28 Jos 9:25 (D), הָרַע בְּע׳ Ju 2:11; 3:7; Dt 4:25 + especially D and K (RD); so לְנֶגֶד עיניו 2 S 22:25 = ψ 18:25; אַחֲרֵי עֵינֵיכֶם Nu 15:39 = according to your wish, fancy (+ לְבַבְכֶם). e.g. Genesis 16:4
- d. נֶעְלָם מֵע׳ Lv 4:13 i.e. hid from knowledge of, so Nu 5:13 (both P), Jb 28:21; מֵע׳ Nu 15:24 (P) without the knowledge of; אַעְלִים ע׳ מִן Is 1:15 = disregard, pay no attention; cf. Lv 20:4 (H) Ez 22:26; without מִן, abs., Pr 28:27; נִסְתְּרוּ מֵע׳ Is 65:16, וַיַּסְתֵּר עָמָל מֵע׳ Jb 3:10; אַעְלִים ע׳ בּוֹ (i.e. בַּכֹּפֶר) 1 S 12:3 (נעלים sandals + ענו בי 𝔊 Th We Kit, cf. Ecclusxlvi. 19; Bu HPS ins. ענו בי); הַשֹּׁחַד יְעַוֵּר ע׳ Dt 16:19, cf. כְּסוּת ע׳ Gn 20:16 (E). e.g. Leviticus 4:13
- 4. Transferred meanings:
- a. visible surface of earth Ex 10:5, 15 (J) Nu 22:5, 11 (JE). e.g. Exodus 10:5
- b. appearance Lv 13:5 (P; reading בְּעֵינוֹ Di Kau Dr-Wh), v 37 (P; reading id.), v 55 (P) Nu 11:7(×2) (JE); so appar. dual 1 S 16:7. e.g. Leviticus 13:5
- c. gleam, sparkle (of metal, jewels, etc.) Ez 1:4, 7, 16, 22, 27; 8:2; 10:9 Dn 10:6; of wine Pr 23:31. e.g. Ezekiel 1:4
- 5. Other phrases are: ע׳ תַּחַת ע׳ Ex 21:24 (E) = Lv 24:20 (H), = ע׳ בְּע׳ Dt 19:21, all = an eye for an eye; ע׳ בְּע׳ = eye to eye, Nu 14:14 (P) Is 52:8 (fig.), cf. וְע׳ אֶת־ע׳ תִּרְאֶינָה Je 32:4; 34:3; especially לְעֵינֵי in the presence of, in full view of Gn 42:24 (E) 47:19 (J) Ex 4:30 (J) Nu 19:5 (P), + often of business transaction Je 32:12(×2); Gn 23:11, 18 (P); so נֶגֶד ע׳ Jo 1:16, לְנֶגֶד ע׳ Jb 4:16, בְּע׳ Jos 3:7; 4:14 1 S 21:14 Ezr 3:12; נִגְרַזְתִּי מִנֶּגֶד ע׳ ψ 31:23; בֵּין ע׳ = on the forehead Ex 13:9, 16 (JE) Dt 6:8; 11:18; 14:1; Dn 8:5, 21. e.g. Exodus 21:24
עין II spring (of water) (connexion with i. ע׳ dub.
- a. ע׳ חֲרֹד Ju 7:1 (on loc. cf. GFM). e.g. Judges 7:1
- b. ע׳ הַקּוֹרֵא (partridge-spring) Ju 15:19 (cf. id.). e.g. Judges 15:19
- c. ע׳ רֹגֵל near Jerus. (early sanctuary RSSem i. 157, 2nd ed. 172) 2 S 17:17 cf. 1 K 1:9, on border of Judah Jos 15:7, and Benj. 18:16. e.g. 2 Samuel 17:17
- d. ע׳ הַתַּנִּין (dragonspring) Ne 2:13 (= c.? so RSl.c.).—On שַׁעַר הָעַיִן Ne 2:14; 3:15; 12:37 v. שַׁעַר. e.g. Nehemiah 2:13
עין III loc.
- 1. לָעָ֑יִן, on NE. border of Can. Nu 34:11, 𝔊 ἐπὶ πηγάς. e.g. Numbers 34:11
- 2.
- a. in Negeb of Judah Jos 15:32 (+ וְרִמּוֹן), Levit. city 21:16 (but 𝔊B Ασα read עָשָׁן, as 1 Ch 6:44), appar. = e.g. Joshua 15:32
- b. 19:7 (+ ר׳; assigned to Simeon), וָע׳ ר׳ 1 Ch 4:32 (read prob. וְעֵין ר׳); prob. mod. Umm er-Ramāmīn, c. 18 mils SW. from Hebron, BuhlGeogr.183.—Vid. עֵין רִמּוֹן. e.g. 1 Chronicles 19:7
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. n.f. Gn 3:7 and (Zc 3:9; 4:10 AlbrZAW xvi (1896), 75) m. eye (ancient Sem. word; √ and relation to ii. ע׳ unknown; NH id.; Ph. ען; 𝔗 עֵינָא, עַיְינָא; Palm. עינא, Zinj. sf. עיני, עינך; Syriac ܥܰܝܢܳܐ; Assyrian ênu, enu, TelAm. sf. inaya and (appar. Can. gloss) ḫinaya; Arabic عَيْنٌ; Ethiopic ዐይን );—abs. ע׳ Ex 21:4 +, cstr. עֵין v 26 +; sf. עֵינִי Gn 44:21 + (2 S 16:12 read עָנְיִי Vrss Comm.), עֵינֵךָ Dt 7:16 +, עֵינֵנוּ ψ 35:21 (2 S 20:6 v. נצל Hiph.); sf. 3 mpl. עֵינָם Is 13:18 (Zc 5:6 read עֲוֹנָם 𝔊 We Gr Now), עֵינֵמוֹ ψ 73:7 (but read עֲוֹנָמוֹ v. Comm.); usually du. עֵינַיִם Gn 20:16 +, עֵינָ֑יִם Is 3:16 +, especially cstr. עֵינֵי Gn 3:7 +, עֵנֵי Is 3:8; sf. עֵינַי Gn 31:10 +, עֵינֶיךָ Ju 6:17 +, etc. (Ho 10:10 read עֲוֹנֹתָם) cf. 𝔊 𝔙 Che We Gr Now);—eye:
II. n.f. spring (of water) (connexion with i. ע׳ dub.; NH id., Ph. ען; Assyrian ênu, înu; Arabic عَيْنٌ; Ethiopic ዐይን; Palm. עינא, 𝔗 עֵינָא, עַיְינָא; Syriac ܥܰܝܢܳܐ );—abs. ע׳ 1 S 29:1 +, עָ֑יִן Gn 49:22 +, הָעַ֫יְנָה 24:16, 45; cstr. עֵין v 13 +; pl. עֲיָנֹת Dt 8:7, -וֹת 2 Ch 32:3; cstr. עֵינוֹת Ex 15:27 = Nu 33:9, עִינוֹת Pr 8:28 (Ges§93 v);—spring Gn 16:7; 24:16, 29, 30, 42, 45 (all J) 49:22 (poem in J), 1 S 29:1; עֵין הַמַּיִם Gn 16:7; 24:13, 43 (J), cf. Ex 15:27 (J) Nu 33:9 (P); נַחֲלֵי מַיִם ע׳ וּתְהֹמֹת Dt 8:7; מֵימֵי הָעֲיָנוֹת 2 Ch 32:3; ע׳ תְּהוֹם Pr 8:28 (i.e. of the sea); fig. עֵין יַעֲקֹב Dt 33:28 (poem), i.e. Jacob’s descendants. Particular springs are:
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from עין (ʻayin) (H5869) — eye.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
עַיִן
- 1. eye, sight, look. Kidd. 24ᵃ בשן וע׳, v. יָצָא. Ib. 24ᵇ הכהו על עֵינוֹ וכ׳ if the master struck him on his eye and made it blind. B. Kam. 83ᵇ (ref. to Ex. XXI, 24) אימא ע׳ ממש may not the text mean that he who injures a person’s eye must really suffer the same injury? Sabb. 108ᵇ bot. יד לע׳ וכ׳ an unwashed hand (in the morning) touching the eye deserves to be cut off. Taan. 8ᵇ סמוי מן הע׳, v. סָמָא. Ib. דבר שאין הע׳ שולטת בו something which the eye cannot look at (being stored away), v. infra; a. v. fr.—[Y. Ned. IX, end, 41ᶜ עשה לה ע׳ של זהב, a corrupt dittography of עשה לה שן של זהב.]—ע׳ טובה (also יפה) a benevolent eye, good will, liberality, opp. ע׳ רעה or עֵין הרע (abbr. עה"ר), also ע׳ צרה ill-will, selfishness, envy. Ab. II, 9. Sabb. 74ᵃ משום ע׳ יפה וכ׳ he intended to show his good will. Tosef. Ḥall. I, 7 שעינו יפה בעיסתו he is liberal with his dough (is glad to give the priest’s portion), opp. עינו צרה. Esth. R. to I, 4 היתה עינו צרה בממונו he was jealous of his wealth (unwilling to leave it to his heirs to be enjoyed by them). Ab. V, 13 עינו רצה בשל אחרים he is illiberal with regard to other people’s money (begrudges them the privilege of giving charity), ע׳ רעה בשלו he is illiberal with his own money (is too greedy to afford himself the pleasure of giving charity). Ib. II, 11, v. יֵצֶר; a. fr.—צַר ע׳ (= רַע ע׳) selfish, opp. טוב ע׳ liberal, selfless. Sabb. 108ᵇ שדורי … צר ע׳ אנא I send you (the salve), lest you say that I am selfish. Sot. 38ᵇ אפי׳ העופות מכירין בצָרֵי ע׳ even birds recognize selfish men. Ib. כל הנהנה מצרי ע׳ וכ׳ he who accepts benefits from self-seeking men, transgresses a law (ref. to Prov. XXIII, 6). Ib. אין … לטוב ע׳ the cup of benediction must be handed to none but an unselfish person (with ref. to Prov. XXII, 9); a. e.—Esp. ע׳ רעה, עֵין הרע (abbrev. עה"ר), or only עַיִן, the evil eye, an envious glance that brings harm to the person looked at, bewitchment. B. Mets. 107ᵇ (ref. to Deut. VII, 15) זו ע׳ that means the effect of an evil eye. Ib. תשעים … בע׳ רעה וכ׳ ninety-nine persons die of an evil eye against one in the natural course. Gen. R. s. 91 שלא תשלוט בכם עה"ר that the evil eye may have no power over you. Ib. לא הייתם … מפני הע׳ were you not afraid of the evil eye? Ber. 20a ע׳ שלא … אין עה"ר שולטת בי no evil eye can affect him whose eye refused to feed on what was not his (to look at the charms of a married woman); a. fr.—שקל ע׳ בע׳ to balance the scales exactly, to allow no overweight (v. עוּן, a. כָּרַע). B. Bath. V, 11; a. fr.—בע׳ visible to the eye, discernible; in natural form. Y. Ber. VI, 10ᵃ אע"פ ששחוקין בעֵינָן הן although they are ground, they are still discernible. Ib. אם בעַיְינָן הן if they are in their natural form (not mashed); a. fr.—כְּעֵין like the appearance of, similar to, a sort of (cmp. גַּוָּון). Ib.ᵇ כל שהוא כע׳ סולת וכ׳ whatever resembles a pudding or dumpling. Ber. 58ᵃ (in Chald. dict.) מלכותא דארעא כע׳ וכ׳ the government on earth is like the government in heaven (inspires reverence); a. fr.—מֵעֵין a reflection of, of the nature of; an abstract of. Snh. 105ᵇ (ref. to the preposition מ in I Kings I, 47) מע׳ קאמר ליה he means, ‘as a reflection’ (of thy name, thy throne). Ib. (ref. to Jud. V, 24) מע׳ קאמר it means ‘similar to’ (the blessings of Sarah &c.). Ber. IV, 3 מע׳ י"ח an abstract of the eighteen benedictions. Y. ib. 8ᵃ bot. שבע מע׳ י"ח seven benedictions embodying the eighteen. Ib. VI, 10ᵇ ברכה אחת מע׳ שלש one benediction embodying the three. Gen. R. s. 11, a. e., v. דּוּגְמַטְרִין.—Du. עֵינַיִים, עֵינַיִם. Bekh. VII, 4 עֵינָיו גדולות וכ׳ if his (the priest’s) eyes are as large as those of a calf. Ib. 3. Ber. 58ᵃ, a. e. נתן עיניו בו וכ׳ he put his eyes on him, and he was turned into a heap of bones. Y. Hor. III, end, 48ᶜ נתנו עֵינֵיהֶן בשמואל וכ׳ they directed their attention to Samuel &c.; a. fr.—אחז את הע׳, v. אָחַז. e.g. Exodus 21:24
- 2. anything resembling the eye, hole, ring &c. Kel. VIII, 7 ע׳ של תנור the ‘eye’ of an oven (the fire-place under the oven, Maim.; the opening for the escape of the smoke, which may be closed to retain the heat, R. S.). Ib. IX, 8 תנור שניקב מעינו an oven in the eye of which is a defect. Ib. XXI, 2 ע׳ the ring-shaped pad around an animal’s neck (a halter of soft material). Ib. ע׳ של מתכת a metal hame (cmp. עוֹנָתָא). Tosef. Kel. B. Bath. I, 7 העיין שבמצעד the ring attached to an adze; a. fr.
- 3. spring, well. Keth. I, 10; a. fr.—[Frequ. עֵין in pr. n. pl., as ע׳ סוכר, ע׳ טב; v. respective determinants].
עַיִן ²
- 1. eye, sight &c. Targ. Lev. XXIV, 20. Targ. O. Ex. XXII, 2. Ib. X, 5; a. fr.—Ḥull. 96ᵃ, a. fr. טביעות ע׳, v. טְבִיעוּתָא.—בע׳ (v. preced.) discernible, in natural form. Pes. 75ᵃ top בְּעֵינֵיה, v. קִיּוּהָא.—כְּעֵין, מֵעֵין, v. preced. Targ. Deut. XXXIII, 28. Targ. Josh. XXIV, 27; a. e.—ע׳ בישא (or only ע׳) evil eye. Targ. Y. Gen. XLII, 5.—Ber. 20ᵃ. Pes. 50ᵇ שלטא בהו ע׳ the eye controls them (they cannot be hidden from sight; v. Taan. 8ᵇ, quot. in preced.). B. Mets. 30ᵃ משום ע׳ (Ms. M. ע׳ בישא) because it attracts the (evil) eye; a. v. fr.—Ned. 50ᵃ the ram (figure-head, v. אֵילָא) דכל ספינתא עבדין ליה מן ע׳ which all ships have attached (as a protection) from the evil eye (and which the losers paid a high price for redeeming; cmp. Sm. Ant. s. v. Insigne) [comment. explain differently].—Pl. עֵינִין, עַיְינִין. Targ. Gen. III, 6; a. fr.
- 2. ring, collar; hole. M. Kat. 10ᵃ בת עינא (he cuts out) the hole for the hopper, v. כָּבַשׁ.—Pl. as ab. Targ. Hos. X, 10, v. עוֹנָתָא
- 3. [guide,] guide-post on cross-roads (only in pl.). Targ. O. Gen. XXXVIII, 14 פרשות ע׳; ib. 21 ע׳ (ed. Berl. עֵינַיִם, as pr. n. pl.; Y. סכות ע׳).
- 4. spring, well. Targ. Gen. XVI, 7; a. fr.—Targ. Y. I Ex. XV, 27 ענווא (some ed. עניא, read: עֵינָא or עַיְינָא).—Pl. עַיְינִין, עֵינָוָון, עֵינָוָן, עֵינְוָתָא; עֵינָתָא. Targ. Y. I, II ib. Targ. II Chr. XXXII, 3. Ib. 4 עַיְינָוָתָא. Targ. Y. I Num. XXXIV, 9, sq. (טירת) עֵינְוָותָא pr. n. pl. Ṭirath ‘Envatha (h. text חצר עינן); Targ. Y. II ib. (דירת) עַיְינוּתָא, v. עַיְנוּתָא.—Bekh. 55ᵃ sq. והאיכא עינתא מידליין but are there not springs higher than the Euphrates?
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 5 distinct written forms H5870 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| וְ/עֵ֣ין | Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct | Ezra 5:5 | 1 |
| וְ/עַיְנִ֣ין | Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Absolute | Daniel 7:20 | 1 |
| כְּ/עַיְנֵ֤י | Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Construct | Daniel 7:8 | 1 |
| עַיְנִ֜ין | Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Absolute | Daniel 7:8 | 1 |
| עַיְנַ֣/י | Noun, Common, Feminine, Singular, Construct | Daniel 4:34 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H5870, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
- עין ʻAyin H5871 Ain
- עין גדי ʻÊyn Gedîy H5872 En-gedi
- עין גנים ʻÊyn Gannîym H5873 En-gannim
- עיןדאר ʻÊyn-Dôʼr H5874 En-dor
- עין הקורא ʻÊyn haq-Qôwrêʼ H5875 En-hakkore
- עין חדה ʻÊyn Chaddâh H5876 En-haddah
- עין חצור ʻÊyn Châtsôwr H5877 En-hazor
- עין חרד ʻÊyn Chărôd H5878 En-harod
- עינים ʻÊynayim H5879 Enam
- עין משפט ʻÊyn Mishpâṭ H5880 En-mishpat
- עינן ʻÊynân H5881 Enan
- עין עגלים ʻÊyn ʻEglayim H5882 En-eglaim
- עין רגל ʻÊyn Rôgêl H5883 En-rogel
- עין רמון ʻÊyn Rimmôwn H5884 En-rimmon
- עין שמש ʻÊyn Shemesh H5885 En-shemesh
- עין תנים ʻÊyn Tannîym H5886 dragon well
- עין תפוח ʻÊyn Tappûwach H5887 En-tappuah
- ענים ʻÂnîym H6044 Anim
- ענם ʻÂnêm H6046 Anem
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 23 — not the complete family. 19 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 3 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 4 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
