EYELID

i'-lid: Eyes and eyelids in Hebrew are sometimes used synonymously, as in the parallelism of Proverbs 4:25 (compare Proverbs 6:4; 30:13):

"Let thine eyes look right on,

And let thine eyelids look straight before thee."

(Compare Job 41:18; Psalms 11:4; Jeremiah 9:18.) The alluring power of the wanton woman is conceived of as centered in her eyes (Proverbs 6:25; Isaiah 3:16): "Neither let her take thee with her eyelids." Painting the eyelids was resorted to to intensify the beauty, antimony (which see) being used for darkening the lashes (2 Kings 9:30; Jeremiah 4:30; Ezekiel 23:40).

George B. Eager

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.