In the third volume of his epic exploration of the use of the Evil Eye motif in ancient texts, John H. Elliott turns his attention to biblical writings. A repeated theme in the Old Testament, which contains around twenty explicit references, mentions of the Evil Eye also appear in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as in the writings of Philo and Josephus. Evil Eye belief and practice continued into the early Jesus movement, appearing not only in the Gospels but in Paul's letter to the Galatians. The Evil Eye in the ancient world acted in a number of ways - physiological, psychological, economic, social and moral - and the place it occupied was not easily usurped. Beware the Evil Eye is a fascinating analysis of one of the most prevalent superstitions in the ancient world and its cultural influence.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus of Nazareth makes reference to one of the oldest beliefs in the ancient world - the malignity of an Evil Eye. The Holy Scriptures in their original languages contain no less than twenty-four references to the Evil Eye, although this is obscured by most modern Bible translations. John H. Elliott's Beware the Evil Eye describes this belief and associated practices, its history, its voluminous appearances in ancient cultures, and the extensive research devoted to it over the centuries in order to unravel this enigma for readers who have never heard of the Evil Eye and its presence in the Bible. This is the first of a four-volume work on the Evil Eye.

In Volume 2 of Beware the Evil Eye, John H. Elliott addresses the most extensive sources of Evil Eye belief in antiquity: the cultures of Greece and Rome. In this period, features of the belief found in Mesopotamian and Egyptian sources are expanded to the point where an "Evil Eye belief complex" becomes apparent. This complex of features associated with the Evil Eye - human eye as key organ of information, eye as active not passive, eye as channel of emotion and dispositions, especially envy, arising in the heart, possessors, victims, defensive strategies, and amulets - is essential to an understanding of the literary references to the Evil Eye. Elliott here illuminates the context for examining Evil Eye belief and practice in the Bible and the biblical communities.