Isaiah 42:20
in Isaiah 42Though seeing many things, you do not keep watch. Though your ears are open, you do not hear.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou seest many things, but thou observest not; his ears are open, but he heareth not.
KJV
Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.
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This verse in Isaiah 42
Commentary
12 notes on this verseHe reports how they became the blind and dull by saying, "They see many things but do not observe." These things were previously communicated [in Isaiah]: "Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand. Make the mind of this people dull." … You see that all these things he says about the people, he means concerning those of the circumcision. But "the Lord was pleased, for his righteousness' sake, to magnify his praise."
This site's exposition
Listen, you deaf ones; look, you blind ones
on Isaiah 42:18-20
The chapter turns to Israel, Listen, you deaf ones. The question is startling, Who is blind but My servant, or deaf like the messenger I am sending? The title servant names the one who opens blind eyes in verses 1 to 7 and a blind Israel in verse 19.
This site's exposition
Though seeing many things
Eusebius hears the charge of 6:9-10 again, a people seeing and hearing without understanding. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown note that the Hebrew turns from you to he within the verse, as the LORD speaks of His servant. Open ears and idle eyes are the charge.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
(Verse 20) You who see many things, will you not observe? You who have open ears, will you not hear? LXX: You have seen many things, but you have not observed them: your ears are open, but you do not hear. To whom it is said: O Israel, who sees many things, and has many prophets through whom you may know the commandments of God, will you not keep the precepts that have been given to you?
The Medieval Church1 voice
You that have ears open: hear, O foolish people, and without understanding: who have eyes, and see not: and ears, and hear not (Jer 5:21); above: blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy (Isa 6:10).
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The verse before may be understood as spoken to the Gentile idolaters, whom he calls deaf and blind, because they worshipped gods that were so. "But," says he, "no wonder you are deaf and blind when my own people are as bad as you, and many of them as much set upon idolatry." 1. He complains of their sottishness--they are blind; and of their stubbornness--they are deaf.
The care God will take of the honour of his own name, notwithstanding their blindness and deafness, especially of his word, which he has magnified above all his name. Shall the unbelief and obstinacy of men make the promise of God of no effect? No, though they are blind and deaf, God will be no loser in his glory (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Called thee - To declare my righteousness, or faithfulness. With-hold - Will give thee counsel and strength for the work. Give thee - To be the mediator in whom my covenant of grace is confirmed with mankind.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Seeing many things, but thou observest not,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Seeing many things “Thou hast seen indeed” - The text has ראית רבית raith rabith, which the Masoretes in the marginal Keri have corrected to ראות רבות reoth rabboth; as indeed one hundred and seven MSS., and five editions, now have it in the text. This was probably the reading of most of the MSS. of their time; which, though they approved of it, out of some superstition they would not admit into their standard text.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
105:1-45). he--transition from the second to the third person. "Opening . . . ears," that is, though he (Israel) hath his ears open (see on Isa 6:10). This language, too (see on Isa 42:19), applies to Messiah as Jehovah's servant (Isa 50:5;
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Seeing many things - That is, the people, the Jews, spoken of here as the servants of God. They had had an opportunity of observing many things pertaining to the law, the government, and the dealing of Yahweh. They had often witnessed his interposition in the days of calamity, and he often rescued them from peril. These things they could not but have observed, much as they had chosen to disregard the lessons which they were calculated to convey. But thou observest not - Thou dost not keep them (תשׁמר tı̂shmor); thou dost not regard them. Opening the ears - Thou hast thine ears open. They heard the words of the law, and the instructions conveyed by tradition from their fathers, but they did not lay them to heart, or give heed to them (see the note at Isa 6:10).
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רָא֥וֹת | raita | you have seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| רַבּ֖וֹת | rabot | many [things] | H7227 → | 454 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִשְׁמֹ֑ר | tishmor | you keep [them] | H8104 → | 468 times |
| פָּק֥וֹחַ | pakoach | they are open | H6491 → | 20 times |
| אָזְנַ֖יִם | ʾazenayim | ears | H241 → | 187 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יִשְׁמָֽע׃ | yishma' | he listens | H8085 → | 1159 times |
רָא֥וֹתyou have seen
raitaH7200 →1300 times
רַבּ֖וֹתmany [things]
rabotH7227 →454 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
תִשְׁמֹ֑רyou keep [them]
tishmorH8104 →468 times
פָּק֥וֹחַthey are open
pakoachH6491 →20 times
אָזְנַ֖יִםears
ʾazenayimH241 →187 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
יִשְׁמָֽע׃he listens
yishma'H8085 →1159 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 1:3The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.”
it leads to
- Jeremiah 8:7
Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 4:22
“For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”
- Isaiah 44:18
They do not comprehend or discern, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
- Matthew 13:13–15
This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’
- Isaiah 5:12
At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.
- Jeremiah 8:7
Through
Psalms 107:43Let him who is wise pay heed to these things and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.
it leads to
- Hosea 14:9
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the LORD are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in…
- Jeremiah 9:12
Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so…
- Psalms 64:9
Then all mankind will fear and proclaim the work of God; so they will ponder what He has done.
- Hosea 14:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
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About Isaiah
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 2:23; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.