The Evil Eye in the Bible and Ancient World - Postbiblical Israel and Early Christianity through Late Antiquity

In four volumes, this is the first comprehensive study of the Evil Eye in the Bible and the biblical communities, tracing evidence of Evil Eye belief and practice from ancient Mesopotamia (circa 3000 BCE) to Late Roman Antiquity (circa 600 CE). The final volume examines the literary and material evidence of the continued belief in the Evil Eye in Israel after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 CE (chapter 1) and in early Christianity (chapter 2) through Late Antiquity (500-600 CE), with a brief reference to Evil Eye lore in early Islam. There are numerous cross-references to the previous three volumes, and a concluding Epilogue (chapter 3) offers final thoughts on the survey of Evil Eye belief and practice in antiquity and their role in conceptualizing and combatting evil forces in daily life.

In addition to presenting the first full-scale monograph on the Evil Eye in the Bible and the biblical communities (volumes 3 and 4), the volumes also summarize a century of research since Siegfried Seligmann's milestone two-volume study, "Der bose Blick und Verwandtes" (1910). They describe the ecological, historical, social, and cultural contexts within which the biblical texts are best understood. Throughout the study, the Evil Eye in antiquity is treated not as vulgar superstition or deluded magic, but as a physiological, psychological, and moral phenomenon whose operation was deemed explicable on rational grounds.

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