…haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, -Proverbs 6:17
“You have haughty eyes,” he exclaimed.
“Well, thank you. I have always thought my eyes were one of my better features,” she retorted.
I must confess that the word “haughty” is one that has largely escaped my vocabulary. I might tell my wife that she is a “hottie” but I get the feeling from the context that “haughty” has a different meaning. In this list in Proverbs 6, having haughty eyes is one of the things which God hates. It would behoove me, then, to learn what this word means.
The Hebrew word translated haughty is a word which is often used to indicate that someone is taking a proud, exalted, and lifted up position. Picture here a schoolyard bully puffing out the chest, standing on tip toes, and attempting to be superior to the one being bullied. The Cambridge Dictionary defines it simply as “unfriendly and seeming to consider yourself better than other people.”[1] The Hebrew carries a similar meaning.
That’s easy enough. But why mention the eyes? What does it mean to have arrogant eyes?
If we look at the surrounding verses, we see other body parts involved. And it seems that the author of this proverb is taking us from the top to the bottom. In each instance the body part is the instrument that is used for the particular sin mentioned. The tongue is the instrument we use to spread lies. But, how are the eyes related to pride?
I scoured several of my resources looking for a Hebrew idiom on “prideful eyes’ or the like. I didn’t come up with much. All I found is a Korean idiom where “high eyes” means having high standards. That’s hardly the meaning here. I also stumbled upon the concept of the “evil eye”, and this might provide us some help—though I’m not certain it was in Solomon’s mind when this verse was written. (Though he does mention an evil eye in Prov. 23:6 and 28:22, as well as the good eye in Proverbs 22:9).
The concept of the evil eye dates back to at least the 2nd century. It was thought that a covetous person could give an “evil eye” to someone or their property and call a curse upon it. Consider this:
The ancient Greeks, for instance, argued that light from within the eye shot forth, connected with objects, and then returned to the eye. The eye’s light collected information about the objects it interacted with, but it could also negatively influence the environment.[5]
Certain individuals, typically widows or strangers, namely, those who did not fit into the normal constraints of society, were thought to possess an eye so powerful that its light could “harm or destroy any object, animate or inanimate, on which it falls.” Whether acquired naturally or through an unknown supernatural force (a deity or demon), they were believed to use their evil eye to take from others what they themselves could not have.[2]
A ”good eye” was connected with having a giving and generous heart. An evil eye was consumed with greed. An evil eye feels an entitlement to the possession of others. In a word, the evil eye is rooted in pride. Could this be at least partially connected with “haughty eyes”?
I’m not entirely certain that a concept like this is floating around in the background of this text. But I do know that the core principle here is that God hates our pride. And this pride often manifests itself in the eyes. The eyes truly are the window of the soul. This is why we have phrases like “looking down upon someone”.
We think of the eye as passive. That’s not how Solomon would have thought of them. They are active. They can be just as powerful as a lying tongue or hands that shed innocent blood. When pride and self-centeredness mark our lives, we know that such a posture evidences that we aren’t living in redemption. Humility and not pride is to mark the believer.
We see this in Jesus in Philippians 2. Rather than having haughty eyes, Jesus had eyes of compassion. Jesus, though God Himself, didn’t consider that something to be held onto. He didn’t set His eyes there—His eye was fixed upon redemption and accomplishing the will of the Father. As such, He won the redemption of prideful sinners like you and I. But not for those who continue to hang onto their pride. Such a one will never willingly bow a knee to Jesus.
What are your eyes saying?
Are you looking at people with disdain and superiority? Or are you looking at people through the lens of the gospel? Do you view people as Jesus viewed them?
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[1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/haughty
[2] https://www.thetorah.com/article/does-the-bible-believe-in-the-evil-eye
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