Evil Eye in Matthew 20

 In our September 20th Gospel reading (Mt. 20:1-16) there is a mentioning of Evil Eye (v. 15 - ESV puts it as "do you begrudge my generosity?"). It was (and in some places still IS) a deep rooted cultural construct in the Ancient World. I'll give you just a few examples where it is mentioned in the Bible: Deut. 15:9,10; Pr. 23:6 [ESV stingy - lit. whose eye is evil], Mt. 6:22-23. 

In this connection I need to refer to one name: Rev. Dr. John H. Elliott is Professor Emeritus of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Francisco. He published the 4 vols. on "Beware the Evil Eye: The Evil Eye in the Bible and the Ancient World", Cascade Books, Eugene, Oregon (2016). His third volume is "the Bible and related sources", where he spent 30 pages (pp. 168-198) on our text from Matthew. His observations are based on variety of sources - Biblical, rabbinical, Greek Ancient philosophy, Church Fathers etc.

To boil down his conclusion: (1) the reference to the Evil Eye should not be dismissed or substituted in translation due to it's importance as a "technical term"; (2) there is a very strong connection between Evil Eye and  envy [envy itself should not be mistakenly take as jealousy - two very different things]; (3) reading the parable (of the owner and the workers in the vineyard) with connection to Evil Eye helps to see the stability in the structure of the story as a whole presented by Jesus; (4) the story presents God's generosity as something that fights and overtakes not only "spiritual" shortcomings  of human existence, but social and psychological as well.