EYESALVE

A substance meant to be applied to the eyes for its healing properties; used in a figurative sense in the Bible. The spiritually blind Christians in the Laodicean congregation were urged to buy ‘eyesalve, to rub in their eyes that they may see.’ (Re 3:17, 18) The Greek word for eyesalve (kol·louʹri·on) literally means a roll or cake of coarse bread, suggesting that the salve was likely made up into small cakes or rolls. As Laodicea was famous for its medical school and probably also produced the eye medicine known as Phrygian powder, the recommendation to buy eyesalve would have been very meaningful to the Christians there.