where does the saying turn a blind eye come from
Turning a blind eye The phrase to turn a blind eye is attributed to an incident in the life of Admiral Horatio Nelson. Nelson was blinded in one eye early in his Royal Navy career. During the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 the cautious Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, in overall command of the British forces, sent a signal to Nelson's forces ordering them to discontinue the action. Naval orders were transmitted via a system of signal flags at that time. When this order was brought to the more aggressive Nelson's attention, he lifted his telescope up to his blind eye, saying, "I have a right to be blind sometimes. I really do not see the signal," and most of his forces continued to press home the attack.[1][2] The frigates supporting the line-of-battle ships did break off, in one case suffering severe losses in the retreat.[3]
Eye for an eye First referenced in the Code of Hammurabi, (which predates the Hebrew bible.) In the Hebrew Law, the "eye for eye" was to restrict compensation to the value of the loss. Thus, it might be better read 'only one eye for one eye'.[3] The biblical phrase "an eye for an eye" in Exodus and Leviticus (עין תחת עין‬, ayin tachat ayin) literally means 'an eye in place of an eye' while a slightly different phrase (עַיִן בְּעַיִן שֵׁן בְּשֵׁן, literally "eye for an eye; tooth for a tooth") is used in another passage (in Deuteronomy) of the Hebrew Bible, specifically, in the first of its three subdivisions, the Torah.[9][10][11] For example, a passage in Leviticus states, "And a man who injures his countryman – as he has done, so it shall be done to him [namely,] fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Just as he has injured a person, so it shall be done to him." (Lev. 24:19–21)[9]