View source for Covering of the eyes

The phrase "'''covering of eyes'''" is found in {{bibleverse||Genesis|20:16}}. It is translated literally in [[Young's Literal Translation]]. The [[King James Version]] inserts the definite article "the", absent in the original text. Almost all other versions treat it as a figurative expression, and translate it according to the meaning, not the individual words.
==The verse==
The verse appears when king [[Abimelech]] of [[Gerar]] is speaking to [[Abraham]] and his wife [[Sarah]] whom he [[Wife-sister narratives in the Book of Genesis|had taken as his wife thinking her Abraham's sister]]:
<blockquote>
וּלְשָׂרָה אָמַר, הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי אֶלֶף כֶּסֶף לְאָחִיךְ--הִנֵּה הוּא-לָךְ כְּסוּת עֵינַיִם, לְכֹל אֲשֶׁר אִתָּךְ; וְאֵת כֹּל, וְנֹכָחַת.
</blockquote>
The [[King James Version]] translates as follows:
:And unto [[Sarah]] [[Abimelech|he]] said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.
One commentator<ref name="Eastons Covering">''[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/easton/ebd2.html?term=Covering%20of%20the%20eyes#c-p445 Covering of the eyes]'' in [[Easton's Bible Dictionary|''The Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', Third Edition]], by [[Matthew George Easton]] M.A., D.D, 1897</ref> has interpreted the phrase as implied advice to Sarah to conform to a supposed custom of married women, and wear a complete [[veil]], covering the eyes as well as the rest of the face, but the phrase is generally taken to refer not to Sarah's eyes, but to the eyes of others, and to be merely a metaphorical expression concerning vindication of Sarah ([[New American Standard Bible|NASB]], [[Revised Standard Version|RSV]]), silencing criticism ([[God's Word Translation|GWT]]), allaying suspicions ([[New Jerusalem Bible|NJB]]), righting a wrong ([[Bible in Basic English|BBE]], [[New Living Translation|NLT]]), covering or recompensing the problem caused her ([[New International Version|NIV]], [[New Life Version|NLV]], [[Today's New International Version|TNIV]], [[Jerusalem Bible|JB]]), a sign of her innocence ([[English Standard Version|ESV]], [[Contemporary English Version|CEV]], [[Holman Christian Standard Bible|HCSB]]). The final phrase in the verse, which [[King James Version|KJV]] takes to mean "she was reproved", is taken by almost all other versions to mean instead "she was vindicated", and the word "הוא", which KJV interprets as "he" (Abraham), is interpreted as "it" (the money).
Abimelech's statement to Sarah about the giving of 1000 pieces of silver is interpreted in the [[midrash]]{{Citation needed|date=May 2007}}, and sometimes elsewhere{{Citation needed|date=May 2007}}, as a curse and re-translated "... his eyes", in order to interpret it as the reason for [[Isaac]]'s later blindness in his old age. Such a curse was seen as righteously carried out, since Abraham's deliberate deceit was to blame for Abimelech's innocent error, and hence its visitation on Abraham's son was considered just. More modern critical readings view it{{Citation needed|date=May 2007}} simply as an instruction to purchase a veil for Sarah, so that she would be clearly identified as being married, in which case it forms a sly reproach against her for not already wearing one.
''[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]''<ref name="Jewish">{{JewishEncyclopedia
|article=Atonement
|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=2092&letter=A#6426
|author=[[Kaufmann Kohler]]
}}</ref> agreeing with the general view, namely that the phrase has nothing to do with a material veil, states that Abimelech wants his wrongdoing overlooked in exchange for silver in a kind of [[ransom]] (''kofer-nefesh'', similar to the Teutonic ''[[Weregild]]'').
===Current usage===
In some Arabic countries, ''Ghitaa' al-'Ain'' (Arabic:غطاء العین) is a [[veil]] which covers the eyes, as well as the rest of the [[face]]. This kind of veil was traditionally worn by married [[Muslim]] women in the [[Middle Ages]]. Some [[Salafi]] women in the [[Arab]] countries of the [[Persian Gulf]] such as [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Yemen]], [[Qatar]], [[Bahrain]], [[Oman]] and [[UAE]] and parts of [[Iran]] may still continue to wear eye-veils, but even in those countries this practice is no longer widespread.
[[Salafi movement|Salafiyyah]] is the only [[Islamic theology|Islamic school of thought]] and [[Islamic jurisprudence|jurisprudence]] that believes that a woman's ''[[Intimate parts in Islam|awrah]]'' in front of unrelated men is her entire body including her face and hands.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/beliefs/niqab_1.shtml Niqāb - Introduction] BBC - Religion and Ethics. 16 October 2003. Retrieved 14 April 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/beliefs/niqab_5.shtml Matter of Choice] BBC - Religion and Ethics. 16 October 2003. Retrieved 14 April 2007.</ref> In 2008, the religious authority in [[Mecca]], [[Mohammad Habadan]] called on women to wear veils that reveal only one eye, so that women would not be encouraged to use eye make-up.<ref>{{Cite news
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7651231.stm |title=Saudi cleric favours one-eye veil |date=3 October 2008 |author= |publisher=BBC |accessdate=2008-06-02}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Niqab]]
* [[Purdah]]
==References==
{{Eastons|wstitle=}}
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Veils]]
[[Category:Biblical phrases|Genesis 20:16]]