ὄμμα G3659
eyes, the organs of sight
The eyes, particularly emphasized in poetic or elevated discourse. This poetic term appears twice in the Synoptic healing narratives: Jesus touches a blind man's eyes (Matthew 20:34) and puts saliva on another's eyes (Mark 8:23). The elevated vocabulary (versus the more common 'ophthalmos') may reflect the Gospel writers' stylistic variation or sensitivity to the sacred nature of healing—Jesus touching the organs that mediate light and sight, opening eyes that had never seen. The term appears frequently in the Septuagint, carrying biblical-poetic resonance.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Eyes, the organs of vision, used in elevated or poetic style. Classical usage appears primarily in poetry and literary prose, less commonly in everyday speech. The Gospel occurrences in healing contexts may elevate the narrative tone—these are not clinical medical procedures but divine acts of new creation, giving sight to the blind. Cross-linguistic renderings are uniform (Spanish 'ojos,' French 'yeux'), recognizing the synonymy with more common eye-terms while noting the poetic register. 2×
AR["أَعيُنَهُما", "عَيْنَيْهِ"]·ben["চোখগুলি", "চোখে"]·DE["ὀμμάτων", "ὄμματα"]·EN["eyes"]·FR["yeux"]·heb["עֵינֵיהֶם", "עֵינַיִם"]·HI["अअनखोन-को", "आंखों"]·ID["mata"]·IT["occhio"]·jav["mripat"]·KO["눈들", "눈들-을"]·PT["olhos"]·RU["глаз", "глаза"]·ES["ojos"]·SW["macho", "yao"]·TR["gözlerine"]·urd["آنکھوں", "آنکھوں-کو"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ὄμμα, Aeolic dialect ὄππα Refs 7th c.BC+: τό:— eye, poetry word, rare in Prose Refs 8th c.BC+ only use plural, κατὰ χθονὸς ὄμματα πήξας Refs 8th c.BC+ —Phrases: ὀρθοῖς ὄμμασιν ὁρᾶν τινα look straight at, Refs 5th c.BC+; also οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὄμμασιν ποίοις βλέπων πατέρα ποτ᾽ ἂν προσεῖδον how I could have looked him in the face,Refs 5th c.BC+; ποῖον ὄ. πατρὶ δηλώσ; Refs; τέοισί με χρὴ ὄμμασι.. φαίνεσθα;…