By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support local journalism.
Where Did That Come From?- As far as the eye can see
Stan St. Clair

This very old self-explanatory expression has become cliché when referring to a view which expands over a great distance, usually applied to a particular type of terrain or property belonging to one family or group. It likely originated with the Bible passage in Genesis 13:15, KJV, 1611:

14. And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:

15. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

Then in "The Apostasy of the Latter Times," by Cambridge minister, Joseph Mede, 1644, in Bible commentary on II Chronicles 33, we find an even closer reference to this saying on page 62, still in reference to the land inherited by the descendants of Abram, later called Abraham:

“…when the ten Tribes were carried captive, and but Judah and Benjamin only left, and they, as far as the eye of man can see, wholly and generally fallen from the Lord their God…”

The earliest known citation to the exact saying, however, is not in biblical context or commentary, and is from "A Tour in Ireland" by Arthur Young, Second Edition, Volume I, 1780, page 126:

“It is a glorious prospect, all waving hills of wheat as far as the eye can see, with the town of Atherdee in a wood in the vale.”



If you have a phrase you would like to see featured here, please text Stan at 931-212-3303 or email him at stan@stclair.net