Apples! I love apples! …I remember the taste of crunchy, sweet apples fresh off the tree in the backyard of our small-town home when I was growing up. The smell of apples cooking as Mom busied herself about the kitchen making apple butter and jelly, pies, and applesauce still lingers in my mind! Those wonderful summer days of gathering apples, listening to the neighbor’s honeybees about their work, and resting in the cool shade of their boughs are forever etched in my memory. I can still hear the sounds of laughter as my three brothers and I played, worked, and ate our fill of those apples!
Have you ever wondered where the phrase “the apple of my eye” came from? The writer of Deuteronomy says that God found his people in a desert land, “a barren and howling waste,” but cared for them and guarded them “as the apple of his eye.” The psalmist prayed to God, “Keep me as the apple of your eye”! This phrase is literally translated “the little man of the eye.” …If you look closely into the eyes of someone, you can see your own image reflected in that round central circle of their pupil. Think about it. Our very image is reflected in the eye of God! How awesome is that?!
God watches over us. Cherishes us. He keeps our very image before Him! Like those childhood memories, He brings comfort and joy to His children.
The Still Small Voice 
So, do you think there was some confusion in translation regarding “apple” and “fruit” and “evil” In the verses in Genesis? I have done no study or translation on that but that’s what I thought of when I read the comments.
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I had not thought of that! Interesting! There could well be some tradition or association there and in other passages.
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I was curious how the word “apple” came to be used in English translations of the Old Testament, and learned through Wikipedia the following: “The origin of the popular identification with a fruit unknown in the Middle East in biblical times is found in confusion between the Latin words mālum (an apple) and mălum (an evil), each of which is normally written malum.” Isn’t that interesting?
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Yes, it’s interesting how words evolve and change (and can get confused). I did go back and add a bit more of an explanation about the Hebrew translation as you can see. Also, an additional meaning is “black” or “middle of the night” (from the black pupil). Thanks!!
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