Blindness

Blindness was extremely common in the ancient Near East and appears frequently in biblical narrative, law, poetry, and prophecy. The primary physical causes included trachoma (a bacterial eye infection spread by flies), ophthalmia, vitamin A deficiency, trauma, and the effects of intense desert sunlight. Mosaic law protected the blind: you shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind (Leviticus 19:14); the blind were not to be turned aside from the right way (Deuteronomy 27:18). Blind animals were prohibited as sacrifices (Leviticus 22:22; Malachi 1:8), and physical defects including blindness disqualified priests from temple service (Leviticus 21:18).

Blind beggars appear throughout the Gospels as recipients of healing: Bartimaeus at Jericho (Mark 10:46–52), the man born blind in John 9, and the blind men of Galilee (Matthew 9:27–31). These healings fulfilled Isaiah's messianic prophecy that the eyes of the blind would be opened (Isaiah 35:5; 42:7; 61:1–2; Luke 4:18). Spiritual blindness — the inability to perceive God's truth — is a major metaphor in both Testaments (Isaiah 6:10; John 9:39–41; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 3:17). Paul was struck blind on the road to Damascus as a prelude to his conversion (Acts 9:8–9).