Apple of my eye
Encyclopedia
The apple of my eye is a phrase commonly used in English
.
, AD 885, called Gregory's Pastoral Care.
Shakespeare also used it in the 1590s when he wrote A Midsummer Night's Dream
:
It also appears in the King James Bible Translation from 1611:
Deuteronomy
32:10
in the Book of Psalms
17:8
in Proverbs 7:2
Lamentations 2: 18
as well as in Zechariah
2:8
The original Hebrew for this idiom, in all but Zechariah 2:8, was 'iyshown 'ayin (אישון עין), and can be literally translated as "Little Man of the Eye." This is a reference to the tiny reflection of yourself that you can see in other people's pupils. Other KJV translations of the word 'iyshown include dark and obscure, as a reference to the darkness of the pupil.
This Hebrew idiom is surprisingly close to the Latin version, pupilla, which means a little doll, and is a diminutive form of pupus, boy, or pupa, girl (the source also for our other sense of pupil to mean a schoolchild.) It was applied to the dark central portion of the eye within the iris because of the tiny image of oneself, like a puppet or marionette, that one can see when looking into another person's eye.
In Zechariah 2:8, the Hebrew phrase used is bava 'ayin (בבה עינ). The meaning of bava is disputed. It may mean "apple"; and if so, the phrase used in Zechariah 2:8 literally refers to the "apple of the eye." However, it appears that most Hebrew scholars think this Hebrew phrase communicated the meaning conveyed by the English word, "eyeball" (E.g., see The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, vol. 1, p. 107).
The earliest recorded use in Modern English
is in Sir Walter Scott's Old Mortality
, 1816:
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Origin
Apart from the first references in the Bible (see below), this phrase first appeared in Old English in work attributed to King Aelfred (the Great) of WessexWessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
, AD 885, called Gregory's Pastoral Care.
hwæt on ðæs siwenigean eagum beoð ða æpplas hale, ac ða bræwas greatigað, forðam hie beoð oft drygde for ðæm tearum ðe ðær gelome of flowað, oððæt sio scearpnes bið gewird ðæs æpples.
The pupils of the bleared eyes are sound, but the eyelashes become bushy, being often dried because of the frequent flow of tears, until the sharpness of the pupil is dulled.
Shakespeare also used it in the 1590s when he wrote A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
:
"Flower of this purple dye, / Hit with Cupid's archery, / Sink in apple of his eye".
It also appears in the King James Bible Translation from 1611:
Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...
32:10
He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
in the Book of Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
17:8
Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings
in Proverbs 7:2
Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.
Lamentations 2: 18
Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease.
as well as in Zechariah
Book of Zechariah
The Book of Zechariah is the penultimate book of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew and Christian Bible, attributed to the prophet Zechariah.-Historical context:...
2:8
For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
The original Hebrew for this idiom, in all but Zechariah 2:8, was 'iyshown 'ayin (אישון עין), and can be literally translated as "Little Man of the Eye." This is a reference to the tiny reflection of yourself that you can see in other people's pupils. Other KJV translations of the word 'iyshown include dark and obscure, as a reference to the darkness of the pupil.
This Hebrew idiom is surprisingly close to the Latin version, pupilla, which means a little doll, and is a diminutive form of pupus, boy, or pupa, girl (the source also for our other sense of pupil to mean a schoolchild.) It was applied to the dark central portion of the eye within the iris because of the tiny image of oneself, like a puppet or marionette, that one can see when looking into another person's eye.
In Zechariah 2:8, the Hebrew phrase used is bava 'ayin (בבה עינ). The meaning of bava is disputed. It may mean "apple"; and if so, the phrase used in Zechariah 2:8 literally refers to the "apple of the eye." However, it appears that most Hebrew scholars think this Hebrew phrase communicated the meaning conveyed by the English word, "eyeball" (E.g., see The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, vol. 1, p. 107).
The earliest recorded use in Modern English
Modern English
Modern English is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel Shift in England, completed in roughly 1550.Despite some differences in vocabulary, texts from the early 17th century, such as the works of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible, are considered to be in Modern...
is in Sir Walter Scott's Old Mortality
Old Mortality
Old Mortality is a novel by Sir Walter Scott set in the period 1679–89 in south west Scotland. It forms, along with The Black Dwarf, the 1st series of Scott's Tales of My Landlord. The two novels were published together in 1816...
, 1816:
"Poor Richard was to me as an eldest son, the apple of my eye."
Sources
- http://www.phrases.org.uk
- http://www.idiomsite.com/appleofmy.htm
- http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-app1.htm
- King Alfred's West-Saxon Version of Gregory's Pastoral Care
- Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 73, 1942