eyelids

My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;

By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.

The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids,

Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids.

Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.

There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.

And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.

The whoredom of a woman may be known in her haughty looks and eyelids.

And Azâzêl taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all colouring tinctures.

'O that mine eyes were springs, And mine eyelids a fount of tears.

Let sleep be withdrawn from his eyelids at night; Let him fail dishonorably in every work of his hands.

Covering the eyelids o'er. O blessed servants

For then neither brother pities brother, nor man wife, nor children parents, nor friends friends, nor a slave his master; for he who is the adversary of men shall come up from Tartarus, and shall show men many things. What shall I make of you, Esdras? And will you yet plead with me? And the prophet said: Lord, I shall not cease to plead with You. And God said: Number the flowers of the earth. If you shall be able to number them, you are able also to plead with me. And the prophet said: Lord, I cannot number them. I wear human flesh; but I shall not cease to plead with You. I wish, Lord, to see also the under parts of Tartarus. And God said: Come down and see. And He gave me Michael, and Gabriel, and other thirty-four angels; and I went down eighty-five steps, and they brought me down five hundred steps, and I saw a fiery throne, and an old man sitting upon it; and his judgment was merciless. And I said to the angels: Who is this? And what is his sin? And they said to me: This is Herod, who for a time was a king, and ordered to put to death the children from two years old and under. And I said: Woe to his soul! And again they took me down thirty steps, and I there saw boilings up of fire, and in them there was a multitude of sinners; and I heard their voice, but saw not their forms. And they took me down lower many steps, which I could not measure. And I there saw old men, and fiery pivots turning in their ears. And I said: Who are these? And what is their sin? And they said to me: These are they who would not listen. And they took me down again other five hundred steps, and I there saw the worm that sleeps not, and fire burning up the sinners. And they took me down to the lowest part of destruction, and I saw there the twelve plagues of the abyss. And they took me away to the south, and I saw there a man hanging by the eyelids; and the angels kept scourging him. And I asked: Who is this? And what is his sin? And Michael the commander said to me: This is one who lay with his mother; for having put into practice a small wish, he has been ordered to be hanged. And they took me away to the north, and I saw there a man bound with iron chains. And I asked: Who is this? And he said to me: This is he who said, I am the Son of God, that made stones bread, and water wine. And the prophet said: My lord, let me know what is his form, and I shall tell the race of men, that they may not believe in him. And he said to me: The form of his countenance is like that of a wild beast; his right eye like the star that rises in the morning, and the other without motion; his mouth one cubit; his teeth span long; his fingers like scythes; the track of his feet of two spans; and in his face an inscription, Antichrist. He has been exalted to heaven; he shall go down to Hades. At one time he shall become a child; at another, an old man. And the prophet said: Lord, and how do You permit him, and he deceives the race of men? And God said: Listen, my prophet. He becomes both child and old man, and no one believes him that he is my beloved Son. And after this a trumpet, and the tombs shall be opened, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. Then the adversary, hearing the dreadful threatening, shall be hidden in outer darkness. Then the heaven, and the earth, and the sea shall be destroyed. Then shall I burn the heaven eighty cubits, and the earth eight hundred cubits. And the prophet said: And how has the heaven sinned? And God said: Since...there is evil. And the prophet said: Lord, and the earth, how has it sinned? And God said: Since the adversary, having heard the dreadful threatening, shall be hidden, even on account of this will I melt the earth, and with it the opponent of the race of men. And the prophet said: Have mercy, Lord, upon the race of the Christians. And I saw a woman hanging, and four wild beasts sucking her breasts. And the angels said to me: She grudged to give her milk, but even threw her infants into the rivers. And I saw a dreadful darkness, and a night that had no stars nor moon; nor is there there young or old, nor brother with brother, nor mother with child, nor wife with husband. And I wept, and said: O Lord God, have mercy upon the sinners. And as I said this, there came a cloud and snatched me up, and carried me away again into the heavens. And I saw there many judgments; and I wept bitterly, and said: It is good for a man not to have come out of his mother's womb. And those who were in torment cried out, saying: Since you have come hither, O holy one of God, we have found a little remission. And the prophet said: Blessed are they that weep for their sins. And God said: Hear, O beloved Esdras. As a husbandman casts the seed of the grain into the ground, so also the man casts his seed into the parts of the woman. The first month it is all together; the second it increases in size; the third it gets hair; the fourth it gets nails; the fifth it is turned into milk; and the sixth it is made ready, and receives life; the seventh it is completely furnished; the ninth the barriers of the gate of the woman are opened; and it is born safe and sound into the earth. And the prophet said: Lord, it is good for man not to have been born. Woe to the human race then, when You shall come to judgment! And I said to the Lord: Lord, why have You created man, and delivered him up to judgment? And God said, with a lofty proclamation: I will not by any means have mercy on those who transgress my covenant. And the prophet said: Lord, where is Your goodness? And God said: I have prepared all things for man's sake, and man does not keep my commandments. And the prophet said: Lord, reveal to me the judgments and paradise. And the angels took me away towards the east, and I saw the tree of life. And I saw there Enoch, and Elias, and Moses, and Peter, and Paul, and Luke, and Matthias, and all the righteous, and the patriarchs. And I saw there the keeping of the air within bounds, and the blowing of the winds, and the storehouses of the ice, and the eternal judgments. And I saw there a man hanging by the skull. And they said to me: This man removed landmarks. And I saw there great judgments. And I said to the Lord: O Lord God, and what man, then, who has been born has not sinned? And they took me lower down into Tartarus, and I saw all the sinners lamenting and weeping and mourning bitterly. And I also wept, seeing the race of men thus tormented. Then God says to me: Do you know, Esdras, the names of the angels at the end of the world? Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Gabuthelon, Aker, Arphugitonos, Beburos, Zebuleon.

And they knew not what they had done but they continued to look at the beauty of Joseph, and did not turn their eyelids from him.

And all the women saw their hands, and behold they were full of blood, and their blood flowed down upon their garments, and they said unto her, this slave in your house has overcome us, and we could not turn our eyelids from him on account of his beauty.

Such are not the inferiors, who in themselves have redness, and blackness, and whiteness—three colours; and are not always open, for there are eyelids as a protection over these eyes.

And in both (the eyebrows) are contained seven hundred times a thousand lords of inspection who reside above the eyelids.

In the eyelids radiate one thousand four hundred myriads (of hairs), which adhere to the edges and form the eyelashes; and far above these is the inspection of the eye of the Ancient of Days.

And as often as those eyelids (of Microprosopus) are raised, the same eye (i.e., that of Macroprosopus) appeareth, just as when the eyes of any man are opened when he awaketh from sleep.

In the skin which is above the eyes (the eyelids) are the eyelashes, and thereunto adhere thousand thousands Lords of Shields.

The eyelids (of Microprosopus) are not found when (His eyes) desire to behold the colours. But here (it is said), “Thine eyes shall behold Jerusalem.” Entirely for good, entirely in mercy.

And Sisan, the king, found a spring of water in Dréghin, and he made a white horse and set it over it, and those who bathed in the water used to worship the horse. And from that time the Persians began to worship that (sic) horse. And Nimrod went to Y6ékdé6ra of Nédh, and when he arrived at the Lake (or Sea) of Atras, he found there Y6nt6n, the son of Noah. And Nimrod went down and bathed in the Lake, and he came to Y6ontén and did homage unto him. And Yonton said, “ Thou art a king; doest thou homage unto me?” And Nimrod said unto him, “‘ It is because of thee that I have come down here’”’; and he remained with him for three years. And Yont6n taught Nimrod wisdom, and the art of revelation (divining?), and he said unto him, ‘“‘ Come not back again to me.” And when Nimrod went up from the east, and began to practise the art of divining, very many men marvelled at him. And when IdhAshir (Ardeshir?), the priest who ministered to the fire that ascended from the earth, saw that Nimrod was practising these exalted courses, he entreated the devil, who appeared in connection with that fire, to teach him the wisdom of Nimrod. And as the devils were in the habit of destroying those who came nigh unto them by sin, the devil said unto the priest, “A man cannot become a priest and a Magian until he hath known carnally his mother, and his daughter, and his sister.” And idhdshir the priest did this, and from that time the priests, and the Magians, and the Persians take their mothers, and their sisters, and their daughters [to wife]. And this Idhdshir, the Magian, was the first to begin to study the Signs of the Zodiac, and [omens concerning] luck, and fate, and happenings, and motions of the eyes and eyelids, as well as all the other arts of the learning of the Chaldees. Now, all this learning is the error of devils, and those who practise it shall receive, together with the devils, the doom of the Judgment. And because this art of divination, which was employed by Nimrod, was taught to him by Yéntén, none of the orthodox doctors have suppressed it; nay, they have even practised it. Now the Persians call it “ Gelyana ” (i.e. Astronomy”). But that [knowledge] which the Magians have, viz. astrology, is sorcery and the teaching of devils. There are some who say that it doth indeed [teach concerning] luck, and happenings (i.e. future events), and fate, but these are in error. Now Nimrod builded Strong cities in the east, Babel, and N ineveh, and R4sdn (Ras ‘Ain), and Selik (Seleucia), and Ctesiphon, and Adhorbaighan; and he made three fortresses.

If one pares his nails with each other or with his teeth, likewise [if one plucks] his hair, likewise his mustache, likewise his beard; And likewise if [a woman] braids [her hair], likewise if she paints [her eyelids] likewise if she puts rouge on [her face]: Rabbi Eliezer makes them liable, But the rabbis forbid [these actions] because of “shevuth.” If one picks [something] from a perforated pot, he is liable. If it is unperforated, he is exempt. Rabbi Shimon exempts in both cases.

If there were two bright spots, one unclean and the other clean, and they broke out from one to the other, and then [a nega] broke out covering all of his skin, he is clean. [If the bright spots] were on his upper lip and lower lip, or on two of his fingers, or on his two eyelids, even though they cleave together and appear as one, he is clean. If it broke out covering all his skin except white scurf, he is unclean. If the ends of his limbs reappeared in the color of white scurf, he is clean. If the ends of his limbs reappeared to the extent of less than a lentil: Rabbi Meir rules that he is unclean, But the sages rule that a piece of white scurf less in size than a lentil, is a sign of uncleanness in the beginning, but it is not a sign of uncleanness at the end.

MISHNAH: One does all that is needed for a corpse, one anoints, and rinses, on condition that none of his limbs be moved. One takes away the pillow under him and lays him on sand so he can wait. One ties the jaw, not to lift it but lest it descend. Similarly, if a beam broke one supports it by a bench or the long logs of a bed-frame, not to lift it but lest it descend. One does not close the eyelids of a corpse on the Sabbath, nor on a weekday at the moment of death. Anybody who closes the eyes at the moment of death is spilling blood.

Rebbi Jacob bar Idi in the name of Rebbi Joshua ben Levi: It happened that the Sages visited Rebbi Dosa ben Hyrkanos to ask him about the daughter’s co-wife. They said to him, are you the one who permits co-wives? He said to them, what did you hear? Dosa ben Hyrkanos? They said to him, ben Hyrkanos. He said to them, my brother Jonathan is exceedingly sharpminded and of the students of the House of Shammai. Be careful with him, he has three hundred arguments about the daughter’s co-wife. They went to him. He sent and wrote to him, be careful because the Sages of Israel will visit you. They came and he placed them before him. He lectured but they did not understand, repeatedly. They started to get drowsy. He said to them, why are you getting drowsy? He started pelting them with pebbles. But some people said, they entered in one door and left in three. He sent to say to him, why did you send to me, the people want to learn and you said to me, these are the Sages of Israel? They came to him and said to him, what do you say in the matter? He said, on this stone sat the prophet Ḥaggai and testified to three things: On the daughter’s co-wife that she can be married into priesthood, on Ammon and Moab that they tithe for the poor in a Sabbatical year, and on proselytes of Palmyra that they are acceptable to marry into the congregation. He said, lift my eyelids so I can see the Sages of Israel. He saw Rebbi Joshua and said to him: “To whom will one teach knowledge?” I remember that his mother brought his crib to the Synagogue that his ears should cling to the words of the Torah. [He saw] Rebbi Aqiba, and said to him: “Lion cubs will be poor and hungry.” I know of him that he is a man strong in Torah. He saw Rebbi Eleazar ben Azariah and said to him: “I was a youth but became an elder.” I know of him that he is the tenth generation from Ezra and their eyes are similar. Rebbi Ḥanina from Sepphoris said, Rebbi Tarphon also was with them and he addressed him as he did Rebbi Eleazar ben Azariah.

May one have one’s eyelids painted by them? Rav said, anybody who wants to be blinded may be blinded. Levi said, anybody who wants to die may die. Rav never had his eye painted; Levi had his eye painted. Rebbi Abba said, but do we not see that they taste this collyrium? We may say that they taste it if it is good. If it is no good it keeps and blinds. Opium is dangerous. Treacle, Rebbi Simon says it is forbidden; Rebbi Joḥanan says it is permitted.

As the Rabbis departed from the school of R. Ammi (another version: R. Hannina's school), they said to him: Mayest thou see thy world in thy life-time, and may thine end be in the life of the world to come and thy hope throughout the generations. May thy heart meditate in understanding, thy mouth speak wisdom, thy tongue abound in joyful songs, thine eyelids set thy glance straight before thee, thine eyes be illumined with the light of the Torah, thy countenance shine like the splendour of the firmament, thy lips utter knowledge, thy reins exult with up-rightness, and thy feet run to hear the words of the Ancient of days.

Who goes in to sleep upon his bed says from "Hear, O Israel" to "And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently" ; then he says : "Blessed... Who makest the bands of sleep to fall upon mine eyes, and slumber upon mine eyelids, and givest light to the apple of the eye. May it be Thy will, O Lord my God, to suffer me to lie down in peace and place my portion in Thy Torah ; and do Thou accustom me to the performance of the commandments and not to transgression ; and bring me not into the power of sin, iniquity, temptation or contempt ; and let the good impulse have dominion over me but not the evil impulse ; and do Thou deliver me from evil occurrence and sore diseases ; and let not evil dreams and lustful thoughts trouble me; and let my bed be perfect before Thee, and give light to mine eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, Who givest light to the whole world in Thy glory."

When he wraps himself with the Sisit let him say : "Blessed... Who hast sanctified us by Thy commandments and hast commanded us to enwrap ourselves in the fringed garment." When he places the Tefillin upon his arm let him say : "Blessed... Who hast sanctified us by Thy commandments, and hast commanded us to lay the Tefillin" ; upon the head let him say : "Blessed... Who hast sanctified us by Thy commandments, and hast commanded us concerning the precept of the Tefillin." When he has washed his hands let him say : "Blessed... Who hast sanctified us by Thy commandments and commanded us concerning the washing of the hands." When he has washed his face let him say : "Blessed... Who removest the bands of sleep from mine eyes and slumber from mine eyelids. May it be Thy will, O Lord my God, to accustom me to Thy Torah and cause me to cleave to Thy commandments, and lead me not into the power of sin, iniquity, temptation or contempt ; and subdue my will that it be subservient to Thee ; and keep me far from an evil man and evil companion ; and cause me to cleave to the good impulse and a good companion in Thy universe ; and let me obtain this day, and every day, grace, favour and mercy in Thine eyes and in the eyes of all who behold me; and bestow loving kindnesses upon me. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, Who bestowest lovingkindnesses upon Thy people, Israel."

Because it is something that can be classed with the enjoyment of meat and wine. An objection was raised against Raba. We read: "A maiden that has reached maturity should not neglect herself during the days of her mourning for her father." This statement indicates that a maiden who did not reach maturity is in duty bound to neglect herself. Now, in what respect is she supposed to neglect herself? By abstaining from warm baths? And is not a mature maiden allowed to neglect herself in this way? Did not R. Ḥisda say, a mourner is not allowed to put even a finger into warm water? You must therefore admit that the prohibition of self-neglect refers only to bathing in cold water (which proves that to other mourners cold bathing, too, is forbidden)! Answer: No, by neglect is meant only painting the eyelids and fixing the hair.

Some give the passage in the following version: Raba said, a mourner is not allowed to bathe either in warm or in cold water during the seven days. Why should bathing be different from the enjoyment of meat and wine? In the case of meat and wine, indulgence is permitted because it is done merely to lessen the mourner's suffering, while bathing is a matter of (avoidable) pleasure. Is not Raba's statement supported by the following passage: "A maiden that has reached maturity should not neglect herself during the days of her mourning for her father?" This wording certainly indicates that a maiden who did not yet reach maturity is in duty bound to neglect herself. Now, what is meant by neglect? Does it mean abstaining from bathing in warm water? Is a maiden of maturity, then, not allowed so to neglect herself? Did not R. Ḥisda say, a mourner is not allowed to put even a finger into warm water? You must therefore admit that the prohibition of neglect refers only to bathing in cold water! Answer: No, by neglect is meant painting her eyelids and fixing her hair.